Latin Epic (CLAM012A)
This module description relates to the academic year 2011/2.
| Lecturer(s) | Sharon Marshall |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 30.00 |
| ECTS Value | 15.00 |
| Pre-requisites | CLAM2254 or equivalent |
| Co-requisites | CLAM040 |
| Duration of Module | Terms 1 and 2 |
| Total Student Study Time | 300 hours, including one 2-hour weekly seminar |
Aims
Lucan's epic poem The Civil War, written during the rule of Nero and describing the civil wars of the previous century, is a powerful condemnation of civil war and the ensuing disintegration of society. This module takes Lucan's nihilistic and hyper-violent poem as the starting point for an in-depth examination of the developing genre of Roman epic in the original language. Reading Lucan's poem thematically alongside the works of his epic predecessors (especially Ennius' Annales, Virgil's Aeneid and Ovid's Metamorphoses) will enable us to explore the way texts draw on and rework literary traditions in order to reflect or resist dominant ideologies.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Module-specific skills:
On completing this module, a student will have an advanced understanding of the language, style, and content of the texts studied; a knowledge of the whole poems (in translation) from which set texts are taken; the ability to form independent, sophisticated critical interpretation of the texts; the ability to reflect on the overall character and cultural significance of the genre of the Latin epic.
Discipline-specific skills:
Advanced linguistic mastery of Latin; ability to evaluate scholarly interpretations and to form and present independent literary critical judgements; ability to reflect on the significance of literary genres in their own cultural context and across cultures.
Personal and key skills:
The ability to apply key bibliographical skills, CD-ROM database skills such as Ibycus, and the latest forms of information retrieval (World Wide Web), as well as word-processing skills. The ability to think autonomously and analytically on the basis of written texts; to construct and defend a sustained argument (both in written form and orally); to work with instructor and peers in an independent, constructive and responsive way.
Learning/Teaching Methods
Two-hour seminars consisting of detailed whole-group discussions of specified passages of set text prepared in advance by students; and brief student presentations of background topics and themes researched outside class; discussion and criticism of secondary material. Students read all of set texts in Latin in their own time as well as secondary material, but class work should provide a guide as to how these should be tackled, and a forum in which questions arising from their own work may be addressed.
Assignments
Two essays of 3,000 words each
Assessment
One three-hour examination paper (60% of module assessment), consisting of 5 passages for translation or comment (70% of exam) and one essay (chosen from a larger number) (30% of exam); two 3000-word module work essays (40% of module mark: 20% each).
Syllabus Plan
Term 1:
Early Roman epic
Lucan's prologue and the art of safe criticism
Characterisation of epic heroes
History and epic
Rome abandoned/The fall of Troy
Epic dreams and visions
Violation of the sacred grove
Lucan and Virgilian Underworlds
Term 2:
Aristeia and scenes of battle
Gender in epic
The grotesque
Stoicism in epic
Caesar at the site of Troy/Aeneas at the site of Rome
3 (Theban myths; Ovid's anti-Aeneid; boundary-crossing, divine anger and metamorphosis)
Metamorphoses 6.1-145 and 412-675 (Arachne & Philomela: the female art-voice)
Metamorphoses 8.52-259 (Daedalus)
Metamorphoses 10.243-397 (Pygmalion: the figure of the artist)
Metamorphoses 13.623-14.608 (Ovid's Aeneid)
Metamorphoses 15.143-478 and 745-879 (doctrines of Pythagoras; Julius Caesar)
Indicative Basic Reading List
Set Texts
Ennius, Annales (selected fragments to be provided)
Virgil, Aeneid (sections: 2.298-558, 2.624-804, 6.1-383, 6.752-901, 8.806-369 and 10.510-908)
Ovid, Metamorphoses (sections: 6.401-674, 8.738-878 and 12.210-535)
Lucan, A Lucan Reader: Selections from Civil War. Ed. Susanna Braund. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2009.
Further Reading
Toohey, Peter, Reading Epic (London 1992)
Boyle, A.J. (ed.), Roman Epic (London and New York 1993)
Hardie, P. The Epic Successors of Virgil (Cambridge University Press 1992)
John Henderson, 'Lucan/The Word at War' in A. J. Boyle (ed.) The Imperial Muse
F. Ahl, Lucan: An Introduction (Cornell U.P. 1976)
