LATIN 520 A: Seminar

Latin 520 The Neoterics

Winter 2022

TTh 2:30-4:20

Seminar Room

Instructor: James J. Clauss

E-mail; jjc@uw.edu

Office: M262F

Office Hours: After class and by appointment

Goal of the seminar

We will read A.S. Hollis’ Fragments of Roman Poetry to explore the literary portfolios of Roman poets of mid-First Century BCE and then conclude with a reading of Catullus’ liber to see how his literary output compared with his contemporaries.

In reading the testimonia, we will focus on the following questions:

How do we know what we know about the authors and their writings?

What are the sources we use in creating literary history, when do they come from and what might their dates tell us?

How do we reconstruct a portfolio from such disparate material?

We will create a literary portfolio for each of the poets examined. E.g., we might list for Catullus (1) lyrics; (2) epithalamia; (3) galliambic; (4) epyllion; (5) elegies; (6) epigrams.

In reading the fragments, we will focus on some of the following issues:

Subject choices

Genres

Manner of treatment

Word order

Word choice

Metapoetical moments

Literary allegiances

Contribution to Roman literature

Texts:

20. S. Hollis, Fragments of Roman Poetry. C. 60 BC-AD 20. Oxford 2007

Any text and commentary of Catullus you happen to own.

Requirements:

Read texts in Latin (except Catullus 64) and be ready to discuss the texts in class. NB, there will be a lot of reading in the class, but no exams.

Write a final essay, due Friday of exam week, in which you describe (1) what you learned in the class and whether or not this enhanced your understanding of Latin literature in general and the literature of the neoteric period (i.e, a reflection piece on the class); and (2) what research projects this course might lead you to pursue; describe in greater detail one such project and how you would go about working on it (topic, methodology, primary and secondary resources, and anticipated goals). This second question could well lead to an actual future project or give you insight into other projects you are currently working on or may take up in the future.

Syllabus:

                        Tuesday                                              Thursday

Week 1            Introduction                                        Egnatius-Aemelius Macer

Week 2            Cinna                                                  Bibaculus-Scaevola

Week 3            Calvus                                                 Cornificius-Volumnius, Octavian-Valgius Rufus

Week 4            Varro Atacinus                                   Domitius Marsus-Dorcatius

Week 5            Gallus-Varius Rufus                           Gracchus-Severus

Week 6            Julius Montanus-end (p. 419)             Catullus 1-15

Week 7            Catullus 16-35                                    Catullus 36-40

Week 8            Catullus 41-60                                    Catullus 61-62

Week 9            Catullus 63, 65                                    Catullus 66-67

Week 10          Catullus 68-80 , 95-96, 101                 Catullus 64 (in English)