Idea Transcript
Latin 580: 327 Latin Elegy THE COURSE Elegy has a distinguished history and comprises highly diverse kinds of writing. This course studies the major types of poetry written in elegiac couplets in Latin: love poetry, erudite poems written on a variety of topics, and epigrams. The course follows a roughly chronological scheme beginning with poetry written in the late republic and continuing into the age of Augustus in the early empire. The reading list includes the following. § Several of the ambitious longer elegies of Catullus (65, 66, and 68). § Poems by Tibullus, including 1.1, a programmatic elegy contrasting the life of the elegist with other lives; and 2.5, on the induction of M. Valerius Messalla Messalinus into the priestly college of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis. § The short love poems written by, or attributed to, Sulpicia, niece of M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus, and the only Roman woman whose poetry survives. § Bk. 1 of Propertius, consisting mostly of love poetry about Cynthia; and selected poems from bk. 4, longer elegies on a range of themes. § Finally, selections from Ovid's Amores. § Some attention may also be given to epigrams written in elegiac verse by other authors. SYLLABUS i. Fri. Sept. 8. Introduction. The elegiac meter. Greek elegy and epigram. Canon of Roman elegists. The Gallus fragment; Tibullus 1.1; Propertius 1.1. Some themes in Roman elegy and some distinctions among the elegists. Bibliography. Elegiac meter: Ross (1969), Platnauer (1951). Cornelius Gallus: Anderson, Parsons, and Nisbet (1979). ii. Fri. Sept. 15. Theme: The elegiac book (I). Propertius, Bk. 1. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. **1.1, 1.2, **1.3, 1.4, *1.5, *1.6, *1.7, 1.8, *1.9. Bibliography. Read the introduction in Goold (1990). iii. Fri. Sept. 22. Theme: The elegiac book (I). Propertius, Bk. 1. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. *1.10, *1.11, *1.12, 1.13, 1.14, *1.15, **1.16, *1.17, 1.18, *1.19, **1.20, *1.21, *1.22. iv. Fri. Sept. 29. Theme: Beginnings. Propertius and Tibullus. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. *2.1 and Bk. *3.1. Tibullus Bk. **1.1, 1.2, 1.3. v. Fri. Oct. 6. No class. vi. Tues. Oct. 10. Theme: Love and war. Propertius, Tibullus, and Gallus. Assignment (*in Latin). Tibullus Bk. *1.7, *1.10, *2.5. Propertius Bk. *2.7, Bk. *3.4, *3.5. *Gallus fragment (below). Bibliography. Read Anderson, Parsons, and Nisbet (1979) on Gallus; and, in translation, the Panegyricus Messallae. vii. Fri. Oct. 20. Theme: The elegiac book (II). Tibullus Bk. 1. Assignment (*in Latin). Tibullus Bk. **1.4, *1.5, *1.6, *1.8, *1.9. viii. Fri. Oct. 27. Theme: Mimetic poems. Propertius and Tibullus. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. *4.6, Tibullus Bk. *2.1. ix. Fri. Nov. 3. Theme: Sulpicia. Assignment (*in Latin). Lygdamus [Tibullus Bk. 3.1 through 3.6]. Sulpicia's Garland [Tibullus Bk. *3.8 (4.2), *3.9 (4.3), *3.10 (4.4), *3.11 (4.5), *3.12 (4.6)]. Sulpicia
[Tibullus Bk. **3.13 (4.7), **3.14 (4.8), **3.15 (4.9), **3.16 (4.10), **3.17 (4.11), **3.18 (4.12)]. Epigrams by unknown author [Tibullus Bk. 3.19 (4.13), 3.20 (4.14)]. Bibliography. Read Santirocco (1979) and Parker (1994). x. Fri. Nov. 10. Theme: Voices from the grave. Propertius. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. *4.7, *4.11. xi. Fri. Nov. 17. Theme: Early Rome. Propertius and Tibullus. Assignment (*in Latin). Propertius Bk. **4.1a, *4.4, *4.9. Tibullus Bk. *2.5 (re-read, esp. lines 15-66). xii. Tues. Nov. 21. xiii. Fri. Dec. 1. xiv. Fri. Dec. 8. Thurs. Dec. 21. 12:00-3:00. FINAL EXAMINATION.