Winter

Course readings include satires of Horace and Juvenal in Latin together with selections in English from the long tradition of their European reception history. 

Several months after the death of his beloved daughter and just two years before his own death in 43 BC, Cicero composed a dialog with an imaginary interlocutor arguing that death, pain, grief, and other perturbations were an unimportant part of the big picture.  A reading of this famous contribution to the genre of consolation literature (all of it to be read in English, selections in Latin) affords an opportunity to weigh his many examples and his arguments for ourselves.  

Course readings include satires of Horace and Juvenal in Latin together with selections in English from the long tradition of their European reception history. 

Several months after the death of his beloved daughter and just two years before his own death in 43 BC, Cicero composed a dialog with an imaginary interlocutor arguing that death, pain, grief, and other perturbations were an unimportant part of the big picture.  A reading of this famous contribution to the genre of consolation literature (all of it to be read in English, selections in Latin) affords an opportunity to weigh his many examples and his arguments for ourselves.   

Immerse yourself in real writings from Ancient Rome, and the long subsequent tradition of Latin literature. Readings this quarter concentrate on selections of Roman poetry (for instance, by Ovid). The class involves discussion of poetic language, the literary and historical context of Roman poetry, and study of grammar and vocabulary as necessary.  

This course is intended for students with some experience in Latin to quickly review what they know and upgrade their skills in reading and understanding Latin. In this course, students will expand their vocabulary, learn more advanced grammar, and practice extensive reading

For centuries people have learned this language to go deeper into the thoughts and worlds of Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. In this course sequence, you too can begin to learn this language. LATN 102 continues the study of basic Latin. Course work involves reading Latin, writing individual sentences and coherent stories, formal study of grammar and vocabulary, and other linguistic skills as necessary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Latin texts. Students who complete this course will be able to understand complex sentences and combine them into larger units of meaning. 

In this course we will read a broad range of Greek hymnic poetry, starting with Hesiod’s invocation to the Muses in the Theogony, followed by a selection from the Homeric Hymns, the Orphic hymns, and later literary or philosophical hymns by Callimachus and Proclus. Close readings will explore matters of language, genre, and literary tropes, as well as the evolving religious and cultural context of the hymns through the long chronological span in which the genre was productive in Greek antiquity. 

Does not fulfill PhD Writing requirement (no paper required)

From rapacious bird-women to a serpent-haired petrifactrix, monstrous women pervade ancient Greco-Roman mythology. Why are so many women portrayed as monsters or monstrous? In a 2013 essay, classicist Debbie Felton wrote these monstrous women “all spoke to men’s fear of women’s destructive potential. The myths then, to a certain extent, fulfill a male fantasy of conquering and controlling the female.” In a word, misogyny. In this course, we will interrogate the mutual influence of monstrousness and misogyny in ancient Greek and Roman mythology and its legacy in the intervening millennia. Through critical analysis of ancient source materials and their modern reception, we will explore and evaluate the monstrosity and misogyny of three case studies from ancient Greco-Roman mythology and its reception: Medea, the Furies, and Medusa. We will ask questions such as: how does mythologizing and storytelling encode cultural expectations onto women; how has media been used to support and subvert the patriarchy; what role does intersectionality play in Greco-Roman female monstrosity; how have monstrous women in Greco-Roman mythology influenced modern feminist and critical theory? We will also explore monstrous women in antiquity beyond Greco-Roman mythology, including monstrous portrayals of real women in Greco-Roman antiquity and depictions of monstrous women from other ancient cultures. Students will be assessed through regular discussion and/or blog posts, reflection writings, quizzes, a midterm essay, and a final project. The final project will allow students to synthesize and apply their knowledge with a topic of their own choice from Greco-Roman or other world mythologies in an analytic and/or creative format of their choice, such as a short podcast series, a digital museum exhibit, or a piece of creative writing.

CW: gender- and race-based violence, sexual violence, graphic violence, murder, incest, bestiality, child and animal abuse, suicide, domestic abuse.

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.