Latin 403, Roman Epic

Fall, 1996
Dept. Of Classical Studies
Walt Stevenson
U. Of Richmond

Syllabus

Course Description:

 Few poems have been read steadily for over 2000 years. Fewer still have survived the burden of "classic" and continued to delight. Vergil's Aeneid has been loved as a piece of Roman propaganda, as an indictment of Roman imperialism, as a call to Christian virtue, as a source of mystical prophecy, as an adventurous fable for children and a sober reminiscence for the old, but always as the most subtly musical verse achieved in 1500 years of Latin poetry. This course will attempt to reveal the enduring appeal of the Aeneid through study of all aspects of the poem, but especially Vergil's use of style and meter, since these can only be appreciated in Latin.

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Course Requirements:

This course will require above all steady attention to Vergil's Latin and active use and discussion of this Latin in class. More specifically there will be a series of exercises and projects designed both to build Latin skills and increase familiarity with Vergil and Latin epic. In addition a midterm and final will be given to help students synthesize the various passages of Latin read in class.

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Exercises:

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Projects

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Grading

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Important Dates:

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Texts

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Daily Sight Readings:

The purpose of this exercise is to foster faster and more enjoyable reading techniques. If you are doing your at home reading carefully, these should be quite easy. If you are not, you will still benefit by at least doing some reading in class. These short quizzes will look something like this:

Aeneas while fleeing the Greeks with his son and father loses his wife, Creusa

namque avia cursu
dum sequor (Aeneas talking) et nota excedo regione viarum,
heu misero coniunx fatone erepta Creusa
substitit, erravitne via seu lapsa resedit,
incertum...

avia=neut. pl. "off-road" cursus=running
coniunx=wife
fatum=fate
eripio=to snatch away
subsisto, sister, substeti=to stand still
labor, labi, lapsus=to slip

I. Translate accurately into English

II. Answer the following questions:
quo currit Aeneas?

quare Aeneas Creusam non secum habet?

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Exercise on Epic Proems: Vergil compared with predecessors and followers

By clicking on "epic proems" above you will reach a collection of ancient epic proems, each presented in their ancient form in writing and sound, and in an English translation. Make yourself familiar with these while pondering Vergil's place in the tradition. What did Veril use from his predecessors? Did he influence his followers? What role do Muses or gods play in the beginning of these poems? What metrical devices are used? What tone is intended? How does the poet state his theme?

After you've pondered these questions and your own, prepare a short presentation (2-3 minutes) for the class that will argue a clear thesis about ancient epic proems. After these presentations are made, we will discuss Vergil's proem, as well as the interesting trends shown in ancient epic proems.

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Vocabulary Exercise:

as a service to future Vergil scholars, and in order to prepare students for the high-tech 21st century, we will each create a World Wide Web Aeneid vocabulary map. A sample vocabulary map can be seen by clicking here. We will spend a class period in Jepson Hall learning how to do this.

Click here to access the Image Map helper page. back to the top