TR 1:40 PM - 3:00 PM WELLMN 00027
Instr: Kathleen Cruz
This course explores the wild world of Roman epic poetry, with a particular focus on Lucan's Civil War (which narrates the devastating civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey) and Statius' Thebaid, telling the tale of the war between Oedipus' sons. Across these two poems, we encounter governments wavering toward collapse, necromantic witches and ghosts, and powerful personal relationships being forged and broken. In this seminar, we'll open up how these poems work and what they make us feel; we'll also consider how they interact with earlier mythic and literary traditions, both Greek and Roman. We'll also develop our skills at analyzing these kinds of poetic texts and constructing rich literary arguments.
All readings for the course will be in English. There will also be optional opportunities to work with the original Latin for those interested.
General Education: Arts & Humanities (AH); Writing Experience (WE).