LATN 395 - Topics in Advanced Latin Literature

FDR: HL
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: LATN 301 or equivalent. Selected subject areas in Latin literature. The topic selected varies from year to year. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.

Fall 2012 topic:

LATN 395: Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid (3). Prerequisite: One 300-level LATN or consent of the Classics Department’s head. This course explores the diverse genre of Roman elegy through a close reading of extensive selections of Ovid Amores I and the first book of Propertius, as well as excerpts from other authors. Our focus is on these works as love poems, and we examine how poets use a collection of texts to immortalize the objects of their affection and tell their readers what it is like to be in love. Themes to be discussed include different ideas about love, women in elegiac poetry, and relationships between the lover and his wider social and political environment. In addition, we learn about elegy’s place within the wider poetic tradition of the Greek and Roman world, ask ourselves how we can reconstruct what an ancient poetry book looked like, and think about how to tell stories and create characters in verse. Students enrolling in this course should have successfully completed at least one 300 level course in Latin, or have permission of the chair of the Classics Department. (HL) Koester.