Latin 407: Class Schedule
Assigned Paper
Part One: The Early Years of Vergil's Life
August 24
Discussion of the major historical/political events and artistic
climate of the Late Republic
Sources: Brooks Otis, Vergil, pp. 20-40;
Wendell Clausen, Vergil's AENEID and the Tradition of Hellenistic
Poetry,Chapter 1. Begin translating Eclogue 1.
August 29
Eclogue 1
Assigned Reading: Ernest A. Fredricksmeyer, "Octavian and the Unity of Virgil's
first Eclogue," Hermes(1966), pp. 208-218. Finish translation; discussion of the meaning and significance of the poem.
August 31
Eclogue 4
Assigned Reading: Eleanor Leach, Vergil's Eclogues: Landscapes of Experience, pp. 216-231.
September 5
Finish translation of Eclogue 4; discussion of the meaning and significance of the poem.
Eclogue 6
Assigned Reading:
Commentary on Eclogue 6 from your text, edited by Robert Coleman, especially pp.203-206.
September 7
Finish translation of Eclogue 6; discussion of the meaning
and significance of the poem.
Eclogue 10
Assigned Reading:Michael Putnam, Vergil's Pastoral Art, pp. 342-394.
September 12
Finish translation of Eclogue 10; discussion of the meaning and significance of the poem.
September 14
Review Eclogues 1, 4, 6, and 10; discussion of Vergil as a neoteric poet.
Source: Brooks Otis, Virgil, Chapters 3 and 4.
September 19--Examination #1
Part Two: Vergil, author of the Aeneid
Book VII: September 21-October 10
Translate approximately 100 lines per session (exact assignment will be determined
on a daily basis). Always read carefully in translation sections which are not assigned for class.
Expected assignments for Book VII
(Book VII in Latin)
- September 21--The bridge to the Aeneid: discussion of Vergil's Georgics, especially Bk IV, Lines 315-565.
Read Brooks Otis, Virgil, Chapter 5; Richard F. Thomas, The "Sacrifice" at the End of the Georgics, Aristaeus, and Vergilian Closure, CP, Vol 86, No. 3 (1991), pp. 211-218; or C. G. Perkell, A Reading of Vergil's Fourth Georgic, Phoenix, Vol 32, No. 3 (1978), pp. 211-221.
Begin reading the Aeneid, Bk VII Lines 37-129
- September 26--Lines 249-353
- September 28 and October 3--Lines 354-474
- October 5 and 10--Lines 583-600; 783-817
Book VIII: October 12-October 31
Translate approximately 100 lines per session. (Exact assignments will be determined later and will match the abilities of students in the class.)
Expected assignments for Book VIII
(Book VIII in Latin)
- October 12--Lines 97-369
- October 19--Lines 470-584
- October 24--Lines 674-731
- October 26--
(A) Discussion of book VII; hunting imagery in the Aeneid: Assigned reading--Brooks Otis, Virgil: a Study in Civilized Poetry, read Chapter
6 and Chapter 7, up to p. 329.
(B) Discuss Vergil's representation of Carthage VS his treatment of Pallanteum in Bk. VII: Assigned reading--Aeneid, Books I and IV (in translation--read carefully); Brooks Otis, Virgil: a Study in Civilized Poetry, Chapter 7, pp. 330-345
(C) Discuss the shield of Aeneas:
Assigned reading--(handout)
October 31--Examination #2
Books IX and X: November 2-November 9
Read Book IX and X (through line 361, Bk. X) in translation and then begin
reading at line 362, Bk X. On November 3 we shall discuss Bk. IX and begin
our translation of Bk X). For the following class meetings,
translate approximately 100 lines per session (exact assignment will be determined
on a daily basis).
Expected assignments for Book X
(Book X in Latin)
- November 2--Discuss Book IX-X, l. 361; translate Lines 362-380, 439-460
- November 7--461-534, 755-786
- November 9--787-832
Assigned reading: Brooks Otis, Virgil: a Study in Civilized Poetry,
Chapter 7, pp. 345-361.
An abstract for your paper/essay
must be submitted by November 9
Bks XI and XII: November 14-December 5
Expected asignments for Book XI
(Book XI in Latin)
- November 14--Lines 40-77, 96-171
- November 16--Lines 172-182, 251-295+?