The first half of the first century B.C.E. saw extraordinary developments in Latin lyric poetry. This course will examine how the "new poets" of this period revolutionized Latin lyric in ways that set the stage for the verse of the "Golden Age." In order to appreciate the techniques of these poets and understand the poetics they advocated, we will read selections from Hellenistic Greek authors in translation and selected fragments of earlier Roman poets in Latin; we will study in detail the poems of Catullus and Vergil's earliest collection, the Eclogues. Evaluation will be based on classroom performance, oral reports, and a final exam. Prerequisite: Latin 201 or permission of the instructor.
FUQUA