Intro to Latin Literature:Poetry

Catalog description

In this course students will continue to hone their understanding of Latin vocabulary, morphology, and syntax through close study of select passages of poetry by authors including Catullus, Martial, Ovid, Propertius, Tibullus, and Vergil. Students will develop their skills at reading extensive selections of ancient Latin poetry and will learn how to scan and recite various poetic meters. Students will learn to identify poetic and rhetorical literary figures as used in ancient Latin and in modern English and will consider the challenges involved in translating ancient Latin poetry into English, evaluating the translation choices made by students and by professional translators. Students will learn about the indebtedness of ancient Latin poetry to earlier Greek literature and will become attuned to the interplay between artistry and history, between poetry and politics.