Imperial Greek Poetry

Under the Roman Empire, Greek poetry flourished. The longest epic from Greece is not the Iliad or Odyssey but Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, weighing in at a whopping 48 books. Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica filled in the parts of the Trojan cycle Homer forgot to tell, and Musaeus’ gorgeous Hero and Leander is one of the most influential poems written in Greek. We will read selections from these and other poems at a gentle pace, aiming at a smooth transition for students fresh from the intermediate sequence.