Classicists Get Inked
Have you been inspired by Eidolon’s tattoo content over the last two weeks to get some classical ink of your own, and you’re ready to move on to figuring out what tattoo you want? Or perhaps you’re comfortable with your decision to keep needles away from your skin, but are still enjoying seeing the beautiful art your colleagues have been inked with? Look no further. Inspired by this excellent Twitter thread from a few months ago by Sententiae Antiquae, we decided to reach out to our readers on social media and ask them to send images of their classical tattoos. Here are some of our favorites!
Text classics tattoos
Joseph DePage
Motto of Porter College, UC Santa Cruz
Anonymous
Sappho fr. 130 L-P. I got it right before heading to the U.K. for my masters degree, and I still love it, despite the fact that there’s an accidental rough(ish) breathing on the first upsilon. The poor artist was trying to make a stencil from a Loeb! I chose the fragment because I love Sappho, and especially γλυκύπικρον — since she coined the word, as far as we know, it seems to me the perfect representation of the way in which she took a male-centered language and poetic tradition, and made it new, made it fit her.
Anonymous
I’m a HS Latin teacher in NJ. Early 30s. I’ve not only struggled with bipolar disorder for years, but I’m going on a full year of complete remission from a stage IV cancer I wasn’t expected to survive (yay, clinical trials!). I never thought I’d get a tattoo, but while in treatment for cancer, I had two nephrostomy bags and a port and felt that I needed to reclaim my body, so I got “Perge modo” tattooed on my left deltoid. It’s a favorite line of mine, because Venus doesn’t condescend to offer Aeneas any cheap consolation about the nobility or honor of suffering; “Just keep going.” Because we must. So, for me, it’s a more highbrow version of those damned semicolon tattoos.
Meghan Kiernan
“Quo vadis” is a phrase commonly found in the Bible. Its most famous reference was when Peter said it to the vision of Jesus going towards Rome. Peter knew seeing Jesus going to Rome meant he needed to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. Love everything it stands for!
Alicia Matz
The first is the prime of the Aeneid (wraps around my arm; also features the infusion site for my insulin pump). The second is a poop joke from Aristophanes’ Frogs (featuring my continuous glucose monitor)
Image classics tattoos
Leila Selchaif
As a Junior at Swarthmore College, I spent a semester studying at the Intercollege Center for Classical Studies in Rome. I had been searching for a good tattoo to memorialize the time, and I found it in the form of an archaic siren-shaped unguenatarium at the Museo Nazionale della Magna Graecia in Reggio Calabria. I got the tattoo as a way to keep a part of that trip and a part of Classics with me always, even as I start to move in other directions professionally. There’s also some strange, gut-level attachment that I have to this figure that can’t be reasoned. I love that this siren is not the Homeric one most people think of. She’s not a sexy lady (although those are definitely cool) — she’s a woman’s head on basically a duck’s body. Without needing to go into details, that sums up a lot of my own relationship with womanhood. I got her done when I returned home … and I have since added a stylistically matching pair on the other leg, of a selkie.
Hayden
my best friend Kelsey and I got matching tattoos of the Venus (woman) of Willendorf! We got it for many reasons, of course, but more importantly because of what she stands for and what she means to so many people, specifically women. The tattoo is timeless, as is she! I am a Classical Studied major and she’s an Art History major so it made since for us; it was something in the middle of both of our worlds that we love and share.
Anonymous
Mine is just a very simple laurel wreath on my forearm, but I designed it myself to commemorate my undying love of all things Classics, particularly Roman history, and I’m very proud of it.
Allie Roos
I’ve entitled this tattoo “Ancient Doggo Giving Himself a Scratch.” The image is from the base of an Athenian red-figure cup attributed to the Euergides Painter c. 500 BCE. The cup is currently on display at the Ashmolean Museum. Its a combination of two of my favorite things, red-figure pottery and puppies!
@ancientblogger
Had mine done back in 2002, Ajax carrying Achilles from the Francois vase.
Anita Bulan
The Argo, designed by Athena and the first ship to sail the seas. It’s on my weaker (left) shoulder to chart a course through all the chaos ahead.
Bob Darrah
Tattoo aged 14 years that reads ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον. It’s complicated so I’m going to have it redone with a new @EmilyRCWilson Odyssey-inspired theme.
Kelly McArdle
Daphne at the moment of her transformation. The tattoo artist is also a sculptor and drew some inspiration from Bernini’s Daphne & Apollo.
Anonymous
One of ten tattoos based on ancient Scythian designs on leather and gold.
Mike Beer
Prima Porta Augustus on left arm!
Max Savage
Some asphodel from Elysium, Ajax’s delphinium, and moly/snowdrop, with a quote from Anne Carson’s translation of Sophocles’ Elektra.
Matt Watton
My tattoo of Pythian Apollo. Got it in Philadelphia at the end of undergrad.
Michael Gulden
This is Tiresias popping his head out of the underworld to give some advice. Tattoo design is based off of the nekyia scene from the Odyssey. You can see him by Odysseus’s foot.
Why stop at one classics tattoo?
Ashley Chhibber
These are my Delphic maxims, one above each ankle — I don’t always manage to follow them (especially “mēden agan” can be tricky) but they’re a reminder to keep trying. I got the first one to help me through a particularly tricky period for my mental health. I’ve also got “Veritas vos liberabit” with what’s meant to be a phoenix feather quill on my upper arm, another life lesson I try to live by. This one’s about being true to myself and making sure to talk about things which might be going wrong in life. I’m a postgraduate classicist in the UK, working on Latin epic.
Serena Witzke
Propertius 4.8…Cynthia dominatrix and Ovid 1.6 in Roman cursive, a mosaic from Pompeii, and a Greek key from the Ara Pacis.
Katherine Blouin
I have 3 Antiquity-related tattoos, but none fits the traditional, more strict category of “classical”: A symbol of Tanit, the BM Burney or “queen of the night” relief; a design (lion smelling a lotus flower) found on a New Kingdom female mummy in Deir el-Medina. The later one is pretty cool (at least in my view!) cause I had it done on the same spot and in the same size as the original one, which was found on a female mummy by Anne Austin and Cédric Gobeil (Ifao mission at Deir el Medinah). I like to say it’s experimental archaeology 😜.
Jeff Brinkman
Right arm is Apollo, muses, Pythagoras, Plato. Left is almost finished and is Dionysus, Dante, Bacchae, satyrs, leopard, Thoth.
Evelyn Adkins
Tattoo1: Left hip, hippocamp (get it?), acquired 2010 to celebrate the completion of my master’s degree. Tattoo2: Right hip, leocampus , acquired 2018 just for the joy of it. Tattoo3: Left ankle, stylized donkey, acquired 2014 to celebrate the completion of my PhD (with a dissertation on Apuleius’ Metamorphoses). The words “gaudens obibam” were added in 2018 — they’re the last two words of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses and mean “I went about rejoicing.” Although I made the appointment to have the words added about two months in advance of getting the tattoo, the day of my appointment ended up falling the week after I accepted a tenure-track job, so I consider it a celebratory memento.
Kathryn Murphy
The first tattoo I got was my Egyptian tat on my left forearm. It is a little hard to see the full artwork as both the pyramids and hieroglyphs wrap around my arm. I completed my Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Auckland, NZ in 2016, and got inked at the end of the year before graduation. Throughout my undergrad, I studied a Double Major in Ancient History and Classics, and focused on the three ancient civilisations: Rome, Greece, and Egypt. Of these three, Egypt holds a special place in my heart, particularly the three pyramids of Giza. In 2013 (my first year) I had one of my essays published in a journal by AUEA (Auckland University Egyptological Association called ‘Words of Reed Pens’. The essay was called “Archaeological Evidence for Pyramid Building in the Old Kingdom’ whereby I focused on these three pyramids. In the middle is the Eye of Horus, a symbol of protection which is strongly connected to the Egyptian Kings who were at the centre of these pyramids. The dotted circle bringing the pyramids together is the Sun god Ra rising over from the East. The Hieroglyphs (which unfortunately you cannot see the whole picture) translates to “A well-taught heart listens readily”. It was written by Egypt’s first ‘philosopher’ Ptahhotep from Dynasty 4. This phrase was translated by my Egyptian lecturer and mentor Dr. Jennifer Hellum who inspired me throughout my degree and continues to remind me to go forth into my studies with a heart that’s thirsty for learning.
The second tattoo I got done after my Bachelor of Honours in Ancient History the following year (2017) at Auckland University. As shown, there is a warrior’s helmet framed by a victory wreath. Beneath it reads “VENI VIDI VICI” which translates as “I CAME I SAW I CONQUERED”, and beneath this is the date I graduated from my Bachelor of Arts where I received a postgraduate scholarship to fund my Honours, as well as a Senior Scholar Award. This tattoo relates to my dissertation which focused on Roman and Seleucid warfare, specifically the construction and reception of elephants in both these armies. Thus, the helmet reflects the many battles I analysed, and the victory wreath evokes the victories won. The Latin beneath is where the real symbolism and significance lies. This year was a particularly difficult year for me, not only because of the massive workload but also because my health was going downhill and was beginning to get in the way of my research. Long story short, I got better, mentally and physically, and I completed my Honours with First Class, thereby conquering my dissertation in military studies and achieving my biggest goal to date.
The third tattoo I got this year and is linked to my Masters which I am about to embark on in September when I move to Trinity College, Dublin. After studying elephants in ancient armies, as well as having worked at Auckland Zoo for a few years, I was interested in perusing a topic that involved animals. I have settled on a topic which focuses on the significance of lions in Roman spectacles such as Venationes. Although I got my other tattoos done after each degree, I chose to get my lion done before completing my Masters because I believe I will be needing a lot of courage and strength to take on this new degree! The lion is walking forward, just as I will be walking forward along this new path, into a new country, among new academics. And once this is complete… who knows what I’ll get if I embark on a PhD! … Credit to Seventh Day Studio who inked all three!
