CLAS 102 Roman Literature (Same as Comparative Literature 108)

Modern fascination with the ancient Romans may be due in no small measure to
modern assumptions about the enduring influence of their civilization on our own.
The very real continuities between our distant cultures are certainly due in
large part to the enormous impact of Roman on European literature. Yet
continuity is counterbalanced by significant cultural differences that are often
overlooked in representations of ancient Rome in today's literature, film, and
television. We will read a variety of Roman literary works in translation-epic,
satire, lyric poetry, oratory, philosophy, historiography, and drama-with an aim
to both appreciating them as literature and gaining a deeper understanding of
Roman culture and society. Since a number of Roman authors were also important
figures in Roman political life, we are in an unusually good position to analyze
how Roman literature delineates and deploys cultural ideals, power structures,
class hierarchies, political ideology, religious beliefs, categories of sex,
gender and difference, and the relationship between the individual and the state.
Readings from Plautus, Terence, Lucretius, Cicero, Caesar, Catullus, Vergil,
Horace, Ovid, Seneca, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Apuleius will be supplemented by
critical essays and by movies (e.g., A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum, Gladiator).
Format: lecture/discussion. Evaluation will be based on classroom participation,
one or two short essays, and midterm and final exams.
No prerequisities. Enrollment limit: 35 (expected: 35). Open to first-year
students.

Panoussi