Curriculum: Latin courses
The following information is taken directly from the current college catalogue.
Courses in Latin Language and Literature
I. Introductory
105a-106b. Elementary Latin (1)
Introduction to the language. Readings in classical prose and poetry. Instructor to be announced.
Open to all classes; four 50-minute periods.
II. Intermediate
215a. Republican Literature (1)
Selected readings from authors such as Plautus, Cicero, Catullus, Caesar, Sallust, and Virgil. The selection of readings is designed to consolidate knowledge of grammar, provide an introduction to the translation of continuous, unadapted Latin, and highlight interesting features of Roman culture in the last two centuries of the Republic. Successful completion of the course qualifies students for Latin 220. Mr. Brown.
220b. Literature of the Empire (1)
Authors may include Horace, Livy, Ovid, Seneca, Petronius, Suetonius, and Virgil. Readings are selected to illustrate the diversity of literary forms that flourished in the early Empire and the interaction of literature with society, politics, and private life. Mr. Lott.
298a or b. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)
III. Advanced
Latin 301 and 305a-306b are offered every year, Latin 302-304 in rotation; the topic of Latin 301 changes annually. Prerequisite for all advanced courses: 2 units in 200-level courses in the language or special permission.
301b. Topics in Latin Literature (1)
The course involves close reading of texts from a single genre or author or texts which have a common thematic interest. Study of the texts and of secondary material allows us to explore various features of ancient society. For example, the course might take as its topic a genre such as Roman satire or the Roman novel, the relationship between the diverse works of a single author like Horace or Seneca, or a theme such as the depiction of slaves, the revolution of love poetry, or Roman attitudes toward death. Since the topic changes every year, the course may be taken for credit more than once.
Topic for 2008/09: The Latin Epigram. The typical Latin epigram is a succinct and witty poem in the elegiac meter on a theme relating to everyday social life. Its themes include personal and political invective; jokes; ridicule of pernicious social types such as the social-climber, lecher, and legacy-hunter; detailed descriptions of objects, places, and events; and the seamier aspects of love and sex. These it purveys in a style marked by humor, an unsentimental realism, and racy language. The course surveys the history of the genre from the 2nd century BCE until late antiquity, concentrating on its finest exponents, Catullus (c. 84-54 BCE) and Martial (c. 40-104 CE), who brought the epigram to its artistic culmination. Mr. Brown
[302a. Virgil] (1)
Selections from the Eclogues, Georgics, or Aeneid of Rome’s greatest poet. Subjects of study include the artistry of the Virgilian hexameter, the relationship of Virgil’s works to their Greek models, and general topics such as his conception of destiny, religion, and the human relation to nature.
Not offered in 2008/09.
303a. Tacitus (1)
Close readings from the works of the imperial historian and ethnographer Tacitus. In connection with further developing students’ reading skills, the class focuses on particular literary, cultural, or historical issues. Mr. Lott.
[304a. Roman Lyric and Elegy] (1)
Poems of Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Catullus and Ovid with attention given to poetic form, the influence of poets on each other, and the view they give us of Roman society in the first century BCE.
Not offered in 2008/09.