OVERVIEW

Subversive Epos: Lucan's Pharsalia  between anti-virgilian form and anti-imperial content.

The course will consist in reading and commenting on a wide selection of passages especially from the 1st and 6th book of Lucan's Pharsalia, with the intent to show a whole series of deliberate divergences and breakages of the poem with respect to the epic tradition in general and Virgilian epic in particular.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Latin literature course (I year) aims to give students a good knowledge of the history of Latin literature from the archaic period to the 6th century AD by directly reading texts; knowledge of the themes of Latin literature and the fundamental range of literary genres with their formal characteristics and content together with the capacity to move between genres applying suitable interpretation techniques; the capacity to identify the elements of continuity and innovation in this literature with respect to the great Greek experience that preceded it; the capacity to analyse texts in the language proposed during the course and, in general, any text in Latin.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Latin literature course (I year) has the following objectives:

• to give students a good knowledge of the history of Latin literature in its diachronic evolution from the archaic period to the 6th century AD by directly reading texts;
• to give students knowledge of the themes of Latin literature and the fundamental range of literary genres with their formal characteristics and content; capacity to move between genres applying suitable interpretation techniques;
• to give students knowledge and understanding of the evolution of the Latin language over about eight centuries of history (with particular attention to the awareness of various registers and levels of the language, the selection of which is tied naturally to the literary genre);
• to give students the capacity to identify elements of continuity and innovation in this literature with respect to the great Greek experience that preceded it;
• to give students understanding of and capacity to analyse the texts proposed during the course and, in general, any text in Latin;
• mastery of Latin reading and consequently excellent knowledge of prosody and metrics.

To this end a large selection of texts in Latin will be commented. Various other texts will be added which must be read by students. A part of the course will be devoted to the fundamental notions of prosody and metric (hexameter and pentameter) and to practical exercises of metric reading.

PREREQUISITES

A solid knowledge of Latin language.

TEACHING METHODS

The exam consists of an oral test: at an interview on the theme of the monographic course, various questions on the history of Latin literature will be added. The candidate will also be asked to read and translate excerpts from the texts in the program and to demonstrate mastery in the grammatical, linguistic and stylistic analysis of the piece in question.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Subversive Epos: Lucan's Pharsalia  between anti-virgilian form and anti-imperial content.

The course will consist in reading and commenting on a wide selection of passages especially from the 1st and 6th book of Lucan's Pharsalia, with the intent to show a whole series of deliberate divergences and breakages of the poem with respect to the epic tradition in general and Virgilian epic in particular, while the Stoic pantheism of the poet merges the epos with the didactic poem about nature, and tends to transform his characters by infusing them with allegorical refractions. Lucan's emulative and antiphrastic relationship with Virgil is particularly evident in the sixth book of the poem, where the episode of Erichto structurally corresponds to the Virgilian nekyia of the sixth book of the Aeneid, but it turns out to be its reversal. The expressionism of the scenes of magic and necromancy seem to borrow tones and forms from the theatre of Seneca, which in turn led to the extreme limit an expressionistic tendency typical of the Roman theater of the Archaic period.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

9 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Lucano, La guerra civile (Farsaglia), books I and VI: (UTET edition a cura di R. Badalì, Torino 2006, or edition Oscar Mondadori in 2 voll. a cura di G. Viansino, Milano 1995).

Non attending students will add  E. Narducci, Lucano. Un'epica contro l'impero, Roma-Bari 2002.

Supplementary texts (individual preparation by the students):

2) Virgilio, Eneide, book VI (recommended the  Marsilio ed.: Virgilio, Eneide, trad. di M. Ramous, intr. di G. B. Conte, comm. di  G.L. Baldo, Venezia 2004; between the critical editions, the Teubner edition by G.B. Conte, P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, rec. G.B. Conte, Berolini et Novi Eboraci 2009).

3) Seneca, Medea (recommended the Oscar Mondadori ed.: Seneca, Teatro, vol. 1, tomo 2, Medea, a cura di G. Viansino, Milano 1993, or the BUR ed.: Seneca, Medea; Fedra, a cura di G. G. Biondi e A. Traina, Milano 1989: in both cases only the Medea).

4) Cesare, La guerra civile, book I (recommended the BUR ed.: Gaio Giulio Cesare, La guerra civile, a cura di M. Bruno, Milano 2004). 

5) History of Latin Literature Program: from the origins to the VI century AD

It is recommended a good literary history manual for the Liceo classico, and in particular the Latin Literature of G.B. Conte, ed. Le Monnier (or, especially for those who had not already studied in high school the history of Latin literature, it is recommended the literary history with an anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, edited by G. B. Conte and E. Pianezzola, ed. Le Monnier) .

6) For an indispensable development of knowledge in the field of grammar, syntax and metric, it is recommended to use:

A. Traina, G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino Universitario, Bologna, Pàtron 1988.

6 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Lucano, La guerra civile (Farsaglia), books I and VI: (UTET edition a cura di R. Badalì, Torino 2006, or edition Oscar Mondadori in 2 voll. a cura di G. Viansino, Milano 1995).

Non attending students will add  E. Narducci, Lucano. Un'epica contro l'impero, Roma-Bari 2002.

Supplementary texts (preparation by the students):

2) Virgilio, Eneide, book VI (recommended the Marsilio ed.: Virgilio, Eneide, trad. di M. Ramous, intr. di G. B. Conte, comm. di  G.L. Baldo, Venezia 2004; between the critical editions, the Teubner edition by G.B. Conte, P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, rec. G.B. Conte, Berolini et Novi Eboraci 2009).

3) Seneca, Medea (recommended the ed. Oscar Mondadori: Seneca, Teatro, vol. 1, tomo 2, Medea, a cura di G. Viansino, Milano 1993, or the BUR ed.: Seneca, Medea; Fedra, a cura di G. G. Biondi e A. Traina, Milano, BUR, 1989: in both cases only the Medea).

4) History of Latin Literature Program: from the origins to the VI century AD

It is recommended a good literary history manual for the Liceo classico, and in particular the Latin literature of G.B. Conte, ed. Le Monnier (or, especially for those who had not already studied in high school the history of Latin literature, it is recommended the literary history with an anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, edited by G. B. Conte and E. Pianezzola, ed. Le Monnier).

3 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Lucano, La guerra civile (Farsaglia), books I and VI: (UTET edition a cura di R. Badalì, Torino 2006, or edition Oscar Mondadori in 2 voll. a cura di G. Viansino, Milano 1995).

Non attending students will add  E. Narducci, Lucano. Un'epica contro l'impero, Roma-Bari 2002.

2) History of Latin Literature Program: from the origins to the VI century AD

It is recommended a good literary history manual for the Liceo classico, and in particular the Latin literature of G.B. Conte, ed. Le Monnier (or, especially for those who had not already studied in high school the history of Latin literature, it is recommended the literary history with an anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, edited by G. B. Conte and E. Pianezzola, ed. Le Monnier).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GABRIELLA MORETTI (President)

LARA NICOLINI (President)

BIAGIO SANTORELLI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

18th September 2018

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of an oral test.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam consists of an oral test on the theme of the monographic course as well as the history of Latin literature. Students will also be asked to read and translate some passages from the scheduled texts and to show mastery of grammatical, linguistic and stylistic analysis of the passages in question.

Note: during the course an active attendance to the lessons will contribute to the evaluation. The exam can also be divided into two parts (a preliminary interview, before the final exam), in order to allow easier preparation and a thorough study of the texts.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

The frequency is strongly recommended: an active frequency of the lessons, with preparation of the pieces from time to time addressed, will be evaluated during the exam. Those who for serious reasons can not attend must contact the teacher within the first month of the course.

For students who have problems with Latin language, a cycle of exercises of 36 hours at the intermediate level  will be activated during the second semester (Prof. Maria Rosaria di Garbo), to be integrated with the help of the linguistic tutors for practical exercises and their correction.

For those who have not passed the access test consisting of a version from Latin (but also for all the classicists, whose frequency is recommended) prof. Biagio Santorelli will hold 30 hours (historical grammar  and a translation workshop) during the first semester.