Intro to Roman Literature

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

A survey of ancient Latin literature from the late republic and early empire (c. 200BC- 150 AD) and its reception. Authors such as Caesar, Livy, Horace, Ovid, and Apuleius will be covered in detail, focusing on themes such as religion, gender and politics in light of artistic strategies. A major topic of the course will be the profound importance of Vergil's Aeneid: we will study the poem itself, its literary background, and then consider subsequent reactions to and interpretations of it, and what those points reveal about Roman literary strategies and thought. In the process, we will pay attention to formal aspects of the works that are common to so much literature.