Readings in Latin Literature (310-0-2)
Topic
Writing Wrongs: Ovid's Heroides
Instructors
Abbe Walker
Meeting Info
Kresge 4364 Classics Sem Rm: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
In this course, students will read selections of Ovid's Heroides. While Ovid is perhaps best known for his grand epic of forms changed into new bodies and his didactic poems on love, he is less known for his experiments in the epistolary genre, including a set of letters written from the perspective of mythological women abandoned by their heroic lovers. In these letters, the persona of the poet steps back and lets the familiar women of Greco-Roman mythology—Penelope, Dido, Medea, Ariadne, among others—"write" their own stories from their own perspectives. Each letter creates a distinct voice for its heroine, shaped by her relationship with the absent lover and the larger mythological context, offering a range of tones from rage to longing to defiance.
Students will analyze how Ovid, working at the intersection of epic, elegy, and epistolography, crafts these deeply emotional and personal narratives. How does he have each heroine think about her role in the lives of powerful men? How do they choose to handle their mistreatment? How do the letters challenge or reinforce the ideal of the Roman matrona, and what does this reveal about Roman cultural expectations in light of Augustus' contemporary moral legislation? Should these letters be read as proto-feminist texts giving women a chance to speak back to both their oppressors and a literary tradition that has often marginalized them? By engaging with the Heroides, students will explore how Ovid's innovative use of genre and voice invites reflection on broader themes of gender, power, and cultural identity in the ancient world.
Class Materials (Required)
Knox, Peter, ed. Ovid Heroides: Select Epistles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 9781316256985
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area