https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141710 Fri, 24 Apr 2026 01:44:14 GMT 2026-04-24T01:44:14Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142203 Title: Fr Albert M. Grech O.P. (1883-1942) : a Latin-to-Maltese literary and religious translator Authors: Said, Ivan Abstract: The 1930s are considered to be a crucial era for modern Maltese: In 1934, the British Colonial Government recognised Maltese as an official language, together with English, ending once and for all the great Language Question which had dragged on since the previous century. Thus, Maltese became one of the official languages of the colony’s administration, used throughout the Law Courts and the Civil Service at the expense of the long-established Italian language. From the literary point of view, this decade gave us some of the best Maltese classics, both in prose and in poetry, particularly in 1938, the year our national poet Dun Karm completed his magnum opus Il-Jien u Lilhinn Minnu, Karmenu Vassallo published his book of poems Nirien and the year when Ġino Muscat Azzopardi, Ġużè Aquilina, Ġużè Ellul Mercer and Ivo Muscat Azzopardi published their novels in Maltese. It was during this same year that Fr Albert M. Grech O.P., a Dominican Latinist, finished the translation from Latin to Maltese of the first two books of L-Enejjija, Vergil’s Aeneid. Two years earlier, this fervent lover of Maltese published L-Għanjiet dwar l-Ewkaristija, a translation from Latin of St Thomas Aquinas’ five Eucharistic hymns. [excerpt] Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142203 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141975 Title: Maltese productions of Classical theatre in the post-WWII period Authors: Xuereb, Paul Abstract: In this short survey of Maltese post-War theatre productions of works by the great dramatists of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, I shall say but a few words on what was produced in the first years following the end of WWII, since Carmel Serracino has published two fine studies of this period. I shall only say that it was two members of the newly set-up branch of Britain's Virgil Society, Frank and George Mifsud Montanaro, who persuaded the Society to produce Plautus's Captivi in 1947 and the Orestes of Euripides in the same year. The productions received encouraging reviews in The Times, but clearly had shortcoming especially in many of the actors' English intonation and pronunciation. What was clearly a much better production was that of Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis, performed in 1948 by the fairly new theatre group, B.I. Players, and directed by Alec Cathcart Bruce, director of the British Institute, who had had experience of classical drama in performance when a student in Britain. [excerpt] Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141975 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141960 Title: Katullu, Poeżija Nu. 3 Abstract: This contribution presents Poeżija Nru. 3 by Gaius Valerius Catullus (Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque), one of the poet’s most celebrated elegiac pieces. The poem is translated into Maltese by Jessica Farrugia. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141960 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141932 Title: Crime and punishment : Achilles in Homer’s Iliad Authors: Azzopardi, Samuel Abstract: Homer’s Iliad is commonly thought of as the story of the siege and the fall of Troy, and many, who have not yet read the book for themselves but are familiar with the name of the bard and the work ascribed to him, might be surprised to find out that the book does not feature Achilles being pierced in the ankle by Paris’ arrow or, even more shockingly, that the Trojan Horse is altogether absent in the Iliad itself.; The Iliad, however, makes it abundantly clear from as early as its very first line that the true subject of its tale is not the war itself, which really and truly becomes merely the setting in which the primary story-arc plays out, and much less its completion, but rather Achilles and his character development as a result of his quarrel with Agamemnon and its consequences. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/141932 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z