Graduate

The Consolation of Philosophy, which Boethius wrote in prison after a life of study and public service, offers a view on Roman politics and culture after Rome ceased to be an imperial capital.  The Consolation is also a poignant testament from a man divided between Christianity and philosophy. About 45 pages of the text are read in Latin, and all of it in English.   Secondary readings provide historical and religious context for the early sixth century AD. 

With emphasis on major stylistic trends in our authors.

We shall read extended selections from poetry writers of recognized importance to the Latin tradition. Our sampling of texts will emphasize writers of the Late Republic and Early Principate. 

The Practice of Carolingian Saints’ Tales. Spoken “Lingua Romana rustica” departed from canonical Ancient Latin long before the late eighth century. But at this time the renewed study of the Classics and grammar soon prompted scholars and poets to update the stories of their favorite saints and to inscribe some for the first time. We shall examine examples of ninth-century Carolingian “réécriture” and of tandem new hagiography in both prose and verse by authors such as Lupus of Ferrières, Marcward of Prüm, Wandalbert of Prüm, Hildegar of Meaux, and Heiric of Auxerre. All source readings in Classical Latin adapted to new Carolingian purposes, which we shall also explore historically in their own right.

Readings include tragedies of Seneca the Younger along with their classical Greek precedents and their early modern English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish successors. Students taking this course as a Latin course will read at least one tragedy of Seneca in the original. Students taking it as a Comparative Literature course will read at least one non-English tragedy in the original language. Students taking it as as a Classical Civilization or Fundamentals course may read all the plays in English translation.

Latin reading will focus on Book 8 of the Aeneid together with selected passages from other books (especially 1, 6, 10, and 12). The remainder of the epic will be read in translation. Topics will include the representation of Augustus, civil war, vengeance and clemency, and whether the poem envisages Rome's refoundation under the new leader as leading to a more secure future. 

This course examines the development of the Latin elegy from Catullus to Ovid. Our major themes are the use of motifs and topoi and their relationship to the problem of poetic persona.

In this course we will read the Greek text of Philo’s de opificio mundi, with other brief excerpts here and there in the Philonic corpus. Our aim will be to use this treatise to elucidate the thought and character of one of the most prolific theological writers of the first century. We will seek to understand Philo as a Greek author and the nature and origins of his style, Philo as a proponent of middle Platonism, and Philo as a Jew in the context of Alexandrian Judaism. We will also examine his use of the allegorical method as an exegetical tool, and its implications for pagan, Jewish and early Christian approaches to sacred texts.

Now that you can read Greek pretty well, this course takes a step back to look at the system as a whole. What are the major ways in which Greek syntax is different from English (and Latin)? How does the case system work? Are there really twenty ways to use the dative? What more can we say about tense and aspect, and how do you go about making a linguistic argument? And what is the difference with philology, anyway? We are fortunate that two new grammars of Greek (one in English, one in Spanish) have recently come out. We will look closely at what has changed in Greek linguistics between Smyth and the new Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, and we will do our own corpus-based research. PQ: one year of Greek or consent of instructor; recommended for MA students. Students will present in class and write a final paper.

This is a course for intermediate and post-intermediate Greek students who are interested in exploring a less canonical genre and in developing their reading skills further. The novels give us glimpses of the Greek world and the wider Mediterranean that we do not often get elsewhere. What can we say about the world view of these authors and their audiences? We will read extensively in the various works (in Greek and in translation) and explore the scholarship around them. Student presentations should range widely from cosmopolitanism to gender roles, narratology, and the conventions of this emerging genre.