OVERVIEW

The course intends to introduce  students to an in-depth analysis at university level of history, themes and texts of Latin literature.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Latin Literature course (I year), within the path of the Bachelor's Degree (laurea triennale), aims to make students acquire a good knowledge of the history of Latin literature from the Archaic Age up to the fifth century A.D through the direct reading of texts. Another aim is the knowledge of the great themes of Latin literature and the fundamental range of literary genres, with their formal and content features, together with the ability to move between one genre and another, applying appropriate interpretation techniques. Then, the ability to identify the elements of continuity and innovation of this literature compared to the Greek experience. Lastly, the ability to analyze the language texts proposed during the course and virtually 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 5th 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 Latin 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 text or a selection of texts in Latin will be commented. Other texts will be added which must be read independently by students. A part of the course will be devoted to the fundamental notions of prosody and metrics (hexameter and pentameter) and to practical exercises of metric reading.

PREREQUISITES

The lessons include the reading and translation of texts from Latin. A solid knowledge of the Latin language is therefore required, and non classicist students, who have not taken an access test in Latin, are required the passing (only for students registered starting from 2023/24) of the final test of the  75-hour Latin Lettorato (3 CFU).

It should be remembered that to facilitate the preparation of solid grammatical foundations and for the preparation of the preparatory written test, a Lettorato for the recovery of OFA and a Lettorato of Advanced Translation are activated between the first and second semester, the latter open to all students (see more details in the FURTHER INFORMATION field).

Those wishing to take this exam to acquire more than 12 ECTS must pass the Final Test of the Lettorato Avanzato di traduzione.

TEACHING METHODS

The course will alternate lectures and practical metric reading exercises.

Attendance to the lessons, although not compulsory, is highly recommended.

Only those who attend lessons in presence will be deemed attending students.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities (SLD) can find information on requesting services, compensatory tools, or specific dispensatory measures and aids in the document available at the following link: https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/modulistica.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Book Eight of Apuleius' Metamorphoses: Narrative Architecture and the Interweaving of Literary Traditions

Book Eight of Apuleius' Metamorphoses confronts the reader with a series of striking narrative shifts. The stable in which the protagonist and narrator, Lucius, was assaulted by an old woman at the close of Book Seven is transformed, at the opening of the next book, into a miniature theatrical stage. There, a servant arriving from a nearby town—a secondary narrator to whom the narrative voice is entrusted for almost half of the book—recounts, before the household hearth and to a modest audience of shepherds, the tragic story of Charite and Tlepolemus. The tale is deeply rooted in the tradition of the novella, yet at the same time draws extensively on the conventions of epic and tragedy.

With the conclusion of this inset narrative, which dramatically overturns the reader's expectation of the lovers' happy ending so carefully fostered up to this point, the narrative voice returns to Lucius. His account first follows a journey through a desolate and threatening landscape, alive with danger, and then his sale at auction to a band of corrupt and unscrupulous priests of the exotic Syrian Goddess. This first sale—the beginning of the many changes of ownership that Lucius will undergo in the course of the novel—marks the start of his wanderings in the company of the priests of the Dea Syria. New dangers soon arise, culminating in the mortal threat on which Book Eight deliberately breaks off, only for the crisis to be resolved in the following book, where it gives way to yet another sequence of misfortunes.

The course will explore Apuleius' sophisticated handling of narrative transitions, both between books and, in particular, within the complex structure of Book Eight itself. Through a close reading of the text, it will also examine the remarkable blending of learned and popular traditions that Apuleius reshapes with exceptional ingenuity and originality, creating one of the most intricate and dazzling narrative and stylistic architectures in ancient fiction.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

9 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Apuleio, Le Metamorfosi, a cura di L. Nicolini, Milano 2005

(The novel must be read in its entirety in Italian translation, while Book Eight will be read and commented on in class, and prepared by the students in the original Latin.)

Non-attending students will instead prepare Book One of the Metamorphoses, strictly with the General Introduction and commentary, in the first volume of the edition of the Metamorphoses in the series Lorenzo Valla, ed. by  L. Graverini and L. Nicolini, Milano, Mondadori 2019.

Complementary texts (preparation by students):

2) Virgilio, Eneide, book IV (Publio Virgilio Marone, Eneide, a cura di A. Fo, note di F. Giannotti, Nuova Universale Einaudi, Torino 2002: the commentary notes of this edition are very important).

3) Ovidio, Metamorfosi, libro IV (Ovidio, Metamorfosi, Vol. II, libri III-IV, a cura di A. Barchiesi e G.P. Rosati, trad. di L. Koch, Collana Lorenzo Valla, Mondadori, 2007: only Book IV, with the important commentary by G.P. Rosati).

4) Tibullo, Elegies 1, 1-3 (Tibullo, Le Elegie, a cura di L. Lenaz, Milano, BUR, or Tibullo, Elegie, a cura di E.R. D'Amanti, Milano, Rusconi: only the first 3 elegies of the first book)

5) History of Latin Literature: from its origins to the 5th century AD:

It is recommended  a good literary history manual for classical high school, such as the more complete versions of the  manual by G.B. Conte, that is  Letteratura Latina. Manuale storico dalle origini alla fine dell'impero romano, Le Monnier, Firenze, pp. 650; or the most recent and updated two-volume version: Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. Dall'alta repubblica all'età di Augusto (Vol. 1) e Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. L' età imperiale (Vol. 2), ed. Le Monnier  (as a supplement for those who have not already studied the history of Latin literature in high school, I recommend the literary history with anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, a cura di G.B. Conte ed E. Pianezzola, Le Monnier, Firenze).

As an excellent alternative, see the new literary history Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, a cura di P. Fedeli, E. Malaspina, L. Antonelli, UTET Università, Torino 2023.

6) Latino Universitario. Percorsi e strumenti di storia letteraria, lingua, filologia e ricezione, a cura di L. Galasso (con F. Citti, A. Cucchiarelli, L. Pasetti, B. Pieri, M. C. Scappaticcio, A. Stramaglia e F. Ursini, Milano, Hoepli 2026.

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6 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Apuleio, Le Metamorfosi, a cura di L. Nicolini, Milano 2005

(The novel must be read in its entirety in Italian translation, while Book Eight will be read and commented on in class, and prepared by the students in the original Latin.)

Non-attending students will instead prepare Book One of the Metamorphoses, strictly with the General Introduction and commentary, in the first volume of the edition of the Metamorphoses in the series Lorenzo Valla, ed. by  L. Graverini and L. Nicolini, Milano, Mondadori 2019.

Complementary texts (preparation by students):

2) Virgilio, Eneide, book IV (Publio Virgilio Marone, Eneide, a cura di A. Fo, note di F. Giannotti, Nuova Universale Einaudi, Torino 2002: the commentary notes of this edition are very important).

3) Ovidio, Metamorfosi, libro IV (Ovidio, Metamorfosi, Vol. II, libri III-IV, a cura di A. Barchiesi e G.P. Rosati, trad. di L. Koch, Collana Lorenzo Valla, Mondadori, 2007: only Book IV, with the important commentary by G.P. Rosati).

4) Tibullo, Elegies 1, 1-3 (Tibullo, Le Elegie, a cura di L. Lenaz, Milano, BUR, or Tibullo, Elegie, a cura di E.R. D'Amanti, Milano, Rusconi: only the first 3 elegies of the first book)

5) History of Latin Literature: from its origins to the 5th century AD:

It is recommended  a good literary history manual for classical high school, such as the more complete versions of the  manual by G.B. Conte, that is  Letteratura Latina. Manuale storico dalle origini alla fine dell'impero romano, Le Monnier, Firenze, pp. 650; or the most recent and updated two-volume version: Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. Dall'alta repubblica all'età di Augusto (Vol. 1) e Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. L' età imperiale (Vol. 2), ed. Le Monnier  (as a supplement for those who have not already studied the history of Latin literature in high school, I recommend the literary history with anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, a cura di G.B. Conte ed E. Pianezzola, Le Monnier, Firenze).

As an excellent alternative, see the new literary history Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, a cura di P. Fedeli, E. Malaspina, L. Antonelli, UTET Università, Torino 2023.

6) Latino Universitario. Percorsi e strumenti di storia letteraria, lingua, filologia e ricezione, a cura di L. Galasso (con F. Citti, A. Cucchiarelli, L. Pasetti, B. Pieri, M. C. Scappaticcio, A. Stramaglia e F. Ursini, Milano, Hoepli 2026.

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 3 credit program:

Monographic course:

1) Apuleio, Le Metamorfosi, a cura di L. Nicolini, Milano 2005

(The novel must be read in its entirety in Italian translation, while Book Eight will be read and commented on in class, and prepared by the students in the original Latin.)

Non-attending students will instead prepare Book One of the Metamorphoses, strictly with the General Introduction and commentary, in the first volume of the edition of the Metamorphoses in the series Lorenzo Valla, ed. by  L. Graverini and L. Nicolini, Milano, Mondadori 2019.

Complementary texts (preparation by students):

2) Tibullo, Elegies 1, 1-3 (Tibullo, Le Elegie, a cura di L. Lenaz, Milano, BUR, or Tibullo, Elegie, a cura di E.R. D'Amanti, Milano, Rusconi: only the first 3 elegies of the first book)

3) History of Latin Literature: from its origins to the 5th century AD:

It is recommended  a good literary history manual for classical high school, such as the more complete versions of the  manual by G.B. Conte, that is  Letteratura Latina. Manuale storico dalle origini alla fine dell'impero romano, Le Monnier, Firenze, pp. 650; or the most recent and updated two-volume version: Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. Dall'alta repubblica all'età di Augusto (Vol. 1) e Letteratura latina. Con espansione online. L' età imperiale (Vol. 2), ed. Le Monnier  (as a supplement for those who have not already studied the history of Latin literature in high school, I recommend the literary history with anthology of texts Storia e testi della Letteratura Latina, a cura di G.B. Conte ed E. Pianezzola, Le Monnier, Firenze).

As an excellent alternative, see the new literary history Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, a cura di P. Fedeli, E. Malaspina, L. Antonelli, UTET Università, Torino 2023.

4) Latino Universitario. Percorsi e strumenti di storia letteraria, lingua, filologia e ricezione, a cura di L. Galasso (con F. Citti, A. Cucchiarelli, L. Pasetti, B. Pieri, M. C. Scappaticcio, A. Stramaglia e F. Ursini, Milano, Hoepli 2026.

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STUDENTS WHO WANT TO ITERATE THE EXAM OR A PART OF THE EXAM, OR ACQUIRE A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF CREDITS, MUST AGREE A SPECIAL PROGRAM WITH THE TEACHER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The course is scheduled to begin the week of September 15, 2026

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: various questions on the different phases of the history of Latin Literature will be followed by an interview on the monographic course. The candidate will also be required to read and translate some passages from the texts in the program and to demonstrate mastery in the grammatical, linguistic and stylistic analysis of the passages in question.

The vote will be expressed in THIRTIES. The final grade will be determined by an average  obtained from the sum of the following factors:

-quality of exposure and ability to use an adequate Italian form: 4/30;

- historical-literary knowledge (e.g.  contextualization on a timeline, characters, knowledge of the plots and structure of the works, belonging of a text to a literary genre in the context of its history, intertextual comparisons): 10/30 ;

- reasoning skills, logical connections and use of the specialist vocabulary 2/30;

- reading, analysis and comprehension of the texts 14/30.

Note: During the course an active class attendance will contribute to the evaluation.

In order to allow an easier preparation and an in-depth study of the texts, the exam, if the student wishes, can be divided into two parts:

- 9 credit exam:

FIRST PART: Monographic Course; Literary History; Handbook Latino Universitario.

SECOND PART: Complementary Texts.

- 6 credit exam:

FIRST PART: Monographic Course; Literary History; Handbook Latino Universitario.

SECOND PART: Complementary Texts.

- 3 credit exam:

FIRST PART: Literary History; Handbook Latino Universitario.

SECOND PART: Monographic course.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English.

The course, held in the first semester of the 2023/24 academic year, will be held in person.

The following lecturers valid for classicist students will also be activated:

1) a Lettorato for the recovery of the OFA, held in the first semester, also useful, more generally, to fill some gaps, in particular of syntax

3) an Advanced translation Lettorato, held in the first semester, organized for classicists, but highly recommended also for all modernists interested in passing the Preliminary Test of Translation from Latin of second level.

All students are required to sign up for Aulaweb and Teams in time for the start of the course.