00567 - Latin Literature (A-C)

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to present authors and genres of the literature of Rome in their historical development and to provide the basic tools (phonetics, morphology, syntax, prosody and textual criticism) for interpreting Latin texts and documents. Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to competently demonstrate: 1. knowledge of Roman literature (main genres, authors and works set in their historical and literary context); 2. knowledge of Latin language (phonetics, morphology, syntax), of Latin prosody and of the basic concepts of textual criticism as appearing in the mentioned texts; 3. capacity to translate the Latin texts listed in the programme; 4. capacity to carry out a literary and linguistic analysis of the listed in the programme.

Course contents

To make the study of Latin Literature more effective, classes will provide an overview of different literary genres. The course will be thus divided into two parts: the first one will be held by prof. Francesco Citti (starting on 18^th September 2023); the second by prof. Antonio Ziosi (starting on 9^th November 2023).

I. SPECIAL FOCUS COURSE (lectures in class)
The course presents an introduction to Latin literature and its literary genres through a selection of texts dealing with the theme of the Underworld and Afterlife.
• module I (F. Citti): Philosophical Prose, Theatre and Lyric Poetry (readings from Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, Seneca's Consolatio ad Marciam, Plautus' Amphitryon, Seneca's Oedipus, Horace's Odes).
• module II (A. Ziosi): Didactic poetry, Epic and Elegy (readings from Lucretius' De rerum natura III, Virgil's Aeneid VI and Propertius' Elegies)
A detailed list of the passages, whose translation (from Latin) will be required during the final examination, will be specified in the online teaching materials.

II. HISTORY OF LATIN LITERATURE
The notions on genres and authors, presented during the lectures, should be integrated by a general historical framework. In particular, the knowledge of the literary history regarding the following authors is required: Augustine, Apuleius, Catullus, Caesar, Cicero, Ennius, Juvenal, Hieronymus, Livius Andronicus, Livy, Lucan, Lucilius, Lucretius, Martial, Naevius, Horace, Ovid, Petronius, Plautus, Pliny the Elder, Propertius, Quintilian, Sallust, Seneca, Statius, Suetonius, Tacitus, Terence, Tibullus, Virgil.

III. LATIN LANGUAGE AND SYNTAX, TEXTUAL CRITICISM, METRE
In addition to the notions presented during the lectures, the seminars and in the online tools, students are required to have a good knowledge of the Latin grammar (morphology and syntax), of elements of textual criticism and Latin metre (hexameter and elegiac couplet).

IV. AUTHORS
1. Cicero: Pro Archia.
2. Virgil: Aeneid, Book 4.
Both are to be studied and analysed in their entirety; Aeneid 4 must be read in metre, with scansion.

V. UNSEEN TRANSLATION
The examination also includes an oral translation of a short sentence, from an unfamiliar text (not listed in the syllabus), from Latin into Italian.

TIMETABLE: Monday, 11-13 (aula Tibiletti, via Zamboni 38); Thursday 11-13 (aula Tibiletti, via Zamboni 38); Friday 11-13 (aula V, via Zamboni 38). Lectures will start on Monday 18^th September 2023.

SEMINARS: online seminars (on MS Teams) devoted to the authors (Cicero, Virgil and the hexameter) will be available for students (time t.b.c.).

STUDENTS WHO DO NOT ATTEND THE LECTURES are required to replace the texts analysed in the special focus course with the study of Virgil, Aeneid 6, and Seneca, The brevity of Life. Recommended editions: A. Albertini (Eneide, libro 6, Roma, Ed. Alighieri, 2005) and A. Traina (La brevità della vita, Bologna, BUP, 2017). All the other parts of the programme (essays, literarary history, grammar, translation) remain unaltered.

Readings/Bibliography

I. SPECIAL FOCUS COURSE
Texts: The Latin texts will be uploaded online, in the ‘Teaching materials’.
Virgil, Aeneid, Book VI and Seneca, Oedipus must be read in their entirety in translation. English translations of Virgil, Seneca and other Latin authors are available at https://www.loebclassics.com/

Critical essays:
1) G.B. Conte, Il genere tra empirismo e teoria, in Id., Generi e lettori, Milano 1991, 145-173 (or S.J. Harrison, Generic Groundwork, in Id., Generic Enrichment in Vergil and Horace, Oxford 2007, 1-33)

2) G. B. Conte-A. Barchiesi, Imitazione e arte allusiva, in Lo spazio letterario di Roma antica, I, La produzione del testo, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 1989, 81-114.

3) At least 1 essay from this list:
F. Citti, Est procul ab urbe lucus ilicibus niger. Il paesaggio infero nell'Edipo senecano, in Lucrezio, Seneca e noi. Studi per Ivano Dionigi, Bologna, Patron, 2021, 263-280; I. Dionigi, L'Inferno è qui. Un esempio di lettura lucreziana (De rerum natura 3, 978-1023), in Latina Didaxis XII, Genova 1998, 19-34; A. Setaioli, voce Inferi, loci, in Enciclopedia Virgiliana, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1985, vol. II, 955-963; oppure 1 capitolo tratto dai seguenti volumi: R. Danese - et al. (edd.), Acheruntica. La discesa agli Inferi dall'antichità classica alla cultura contemporanea, Urbino, Argalia, 2020; B. Gladhill, M.Y. Myers (edd.), Walking through Elysium: Vergil's Underworld and the poetics of tradition, Toronto, TUP, 2020.

NB: Please note that the reading of the critical essays is compulsory also for the students who do not attend the lectures.

II. HISTORY OF LATIN LITERATURE
G.B. Conte, Letteratura latina. Manuale storico dalle origini alla fine dell'impero romano, Firenze: Le Monnier, 2002 [in English: G.B. Conte, Latin Literature: A History, Baltimore, The John Hopkins UP, 1994].

III. LANGUAGE, TEXTUAL CRITICISM, METRE
Language: I. Dionigi, E. Riganti, L. Morisi, Il latino, Bari, Laterza 2011 is recommended. For Latin syntax: A. Traina, Sintassi normativa della lingua latina, Bologna: Pàtron, 2015. As an alternative, Allen and Greenough's New Latin grammar, Ginn & Company, Boston-NY-Chicago, 1903 (both for syntax and morphology). For specific problems of phonetics, morphology and syntax: A. Traina - G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario, Bologna, Pàtron, 2007, chapt. II-VI.

Textual criticsm and Latin metre: A. Traina, G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario, Bologna, Pàtron, 2007, chapt. VII-VIII.

IV. AUTHORS
Cicero: Il poeta Archia, a cura di E. Narducci, traduzione di G. Bertonati, Milano, Rizzoli BUR, 2000.
Virgil: Eneide, IV, from Eneide, introduzione di A. La Penna, traduzione e note di R. Scarcia, Milano, Rizzoli BUR, 2002; or Virgilio, Eneide, traduzione di M. Ramous, introduzione di G.B. Conte, commento di G. Baldo, Venezia, Marsilio, 1998.

Teaching methods

Lectures in class, complemented by seminars (where students will interact with the teachers; individual research will be discussed and essays and tests corrected).

Assessment methods

In the viva voce examination, the students will be tested on Latin phonetics, morphology, syntax and literature through the reading and translation of the Latin texts analysed in class and listed in the programme.
The ability to translate a short sentence from an unfamiliar text (without vocabulary, with the help of the teacher for non-basic vocabulary) will also be assessed.

Please note that, as far as the viva voce examination is concerned, the course can be divided into two parts: the core course, i.e. parts II, III and IV (to be completed first), and the focus course (part I and V). Two examining sessions at most are allowed between the taking of these two parts.

The assessment criteria are thus explained:
failing grades: lack of basic linguistic knowledge and inability to produce a correct translation and interpretation of the text. Lack of knowledge of Latin literature
passing grades: language proficiency at an intermediate level; translation and literary interpretation of the texts are mostly correct, but inaccurate and lacking in autonomy
excellent grades: language proficiency at an upper-mid level; translation and interpretation of the texts are not only correct, but carried out with autonomy and precision. Good knowledge of Latin prosody and metre.

The evaluation of oral translation from unfamiliar text (syllabus item V) will affect the overall oral grade according to a range from a maximum reward of 2 points (autonomous recognition of vocabulary and constructs, full understanding of the text, production of a translation in correct Italian) to a maximum penalty of 2 points (inability to analyse the text and failure to understand it).

Teaching tools

Lectures are complemented by seminars on different aspects of Latin Literature (please see the course programme). Teaching materials will uploaded online (including a video tutorial dedicated to Latin hexameter).

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Ziosi

See the website of Francesco Citti