Readings in Latin Literature (310-0-1)

Instructors

Francesca Tataranni
847/491-8029
Kresge Hall 4363

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-335: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Book 7 of the "Aeneid" marks a turning point both in Aeneas's journey and the poem as a whole, inaugurating the so-called "Iliadic" half of the epic. At the beginning of the book, Aeneas reaches Latium, where he is fated to found a city and ultimately the Roman people. His world, however, is quickly engulfed by violent fury, when the goddess Juno unleashes a war that will consume Italy and dominate the rest of the poem. As Vergil announces, "maius opus moveo" (7.45), the subject matter of the second part of the poem will be grander and the stakes significantly higher. "How was [Vergil] to create a worthy prehistory for Rome? How to express his love of Italy while showing its ambiguous nature? How to paint the Trojan arrival as both a return home and an invasion? The war in Latium as both a civil war, a replay of the Trojan war, and a pre-enactment of historical Rome's fifth- and fourth-century Latin wars as well as the civil wars of the poet's own day?" [Sara Mack in "Reading Vergil's Aeneid," 1999, 128] Alongside these questions, we will explore the book's focus on female characters, from Aeneas's nurse Caieta at the beginning of the book to Lavinia, Amata and Allecto at its center, and to Camilla at its end.

Class Materials (Required)

Ganiban, Randall T. "Aeneid Book 7". Indianapolis. Hackett Publishing (The Focus Vergil Aeneid Commentaries). 2021. ISBN: 978-1-58510-994-4

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
SoC Additional Distro