Latin

Medieval Latin

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Medieval Latin CMLT 0040 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Latin Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

A study of the Latin language, beginning at the level which the student has already reached and based on the reading of a wide selection of medieval Latin prose and verse. It is possible to take this course at any language level: students’ level will be determined as part of the pre-arrival process.

Classical Latin

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Classical Latin CLAS 0300 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Classics Latin Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course involved the careful study of grammar, syntax and readings from classical Latin literature. It is possible to take this at any language level, including beginner. Students’ level will be assessed as part of the pre-arrival process.

Roman Historical Writing

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Roman Historical Writing CLAS 0084 / HIST 0084 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Classics History Latin Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course explores history as a literary genre and examines its presentation of events and characters through description and speeches. Caesar wrote about his own experiences campaigning in Gaul, and his presentation of these events was intended as much to further his ambitions as to provide an account for posterity. Sallust and Tacitus drew on sources to record events from the past, but the present time and its political controversies were never far from their minds.

Set texts:

Livy, Book 1

Tacitus, Annals Book 15

Caesar, The Gallic War Book 7

Sallust, The Jugurthine War

Sample topics:

The treatment of myths and the distant past
The presentation of war in Roman historians
Attitudes towards foreign people and cultures
Historians’ presentation and treatment of their sources
Historians’ use of rumour and hearsay and their presentation of conspiracy
The presentation of different social classes
The presentation of the role of women in historical events
The characterisation of protagonists
Historians’ attitudes to political questions

There is no language requirement for this tutorial: all texts are taught in English translation. However, if you do have the relevant language skills then it can be taught through the original texts: contact the Senior Tutor to discuss this.

Virgil's Aeneid

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Virgil's Aeneid CLAS 0082 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Classics Latin Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ describes the epic journey of the Trojan hero Aeneas to found a new race in Italy. The epic owes much to the Iliad, Odyssey and other literature, but also reflects the concerns of Augustan Rome. Aeneas’ doomed love-affair with Dido in Book 4 is an emotional climax, while Aeneas’ visit to the ghosts in the Underworld looks forward to the eventual greatness of Rome. The gods are constantly present, as they are involved in forging the destiny of the Romans.

Sample topics:

Masculine and feminine points of view
The poet’s use of characterisation to tell his story
Religion and the gods
The role of cities
The presentation of death and the significance of the Underworld
Trojan, Roman and Greek culture and values
The structure of the epic
The morality of war

Latin Literature of the First Century BCE

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Latin Literature of the First Century BCE CLAS 0080 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Classics Latin Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course examines Latin literature in the first century BCE, universally regarded as a high point in Roman culture, with authors such as Lucretius, Cicero, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Propertius. Major themes include the influence of preceding Greek literature, the place of women in society and texts, questions of politics, patronage and power, and the relation between Latin literature and philosophy and religion. The ‘book’ both as a technological and artistic fact is also an important area of interest in the period. These key authors also of course provoke study of more purely literary matters: questions of style, imagery, symbolism, allegory, convention, originality and so on.

Set texts:

Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1

Cicero, Pro Archia

Catullus, 64 and 68

Virgil, Eclogues

Horace, Odes 3

Propertius 4

Topics:

The Eclogues and the politics of their time
Lucretius: poetry and philosophy
What Cicero’s Pro Archia tells us about the value of poetry in his society or about being a Greek in Rome
The role of the poet in these texts
The landscapes and people of Italy in literature of the 1^st century BC
The moral outlook of these texts
Catullus’ use of myths
Different approaches to love

Note that there is no language requirement for this course: texts are studied in translation. However, for students with the required language skills it is also possible to study these texts in the original. Please contact the Senior Tutor to discuss this.