Literatures of the Ancient World (250-0-1)

Instructors

Jennifer LeeAnne Cecelia Weintritt

Meeting Info

Shepard Hall B25: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This class introduces students to the genre of epic poetry and the most influential movements in their composition and their interpretation. No prior knowledge of Greek and Roman culture is required. In fact, this class is designed to offer the foundational knowledge (and then some!) that is often assumed of epics like the Odyssey or the Aeneid and the societies that produced them. In the style of a survey course, students will read widely in translation at home. In class, lectures will supply the historical context and interpretive lenses that help us understand the poems. Our goal is to trace broad trends and themes, define their limits, and push beyond "the big three" (the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid) into a fuller appreciation of the Greek and Roman epic tradition. To this end, we'll cover the young love of Medea and Jason in Apollonius' Argonautica, the godless conflict between Julius Caesar and Pompey in Lucan's Civil War, and the tantalizing contradictions of Statius' young Achilles in the Achilleid.

Class Materials (Required)

Alexander, Caroline. The Iliad. New York: Ecco, 2015. ISBN 978-0062046284.

Wilson, Emily R. The Odyssey. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2018. ISBN 978-0393417937.

Bartsch, Shadi. Vergil: The Aeneid. New York: Random House, 2021. ISBN 978-1984854100.

Lombardo, Stanley. Achilleid. Indianapolis ; Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc, 2015. ISBN 9781624664069.

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area