OVERVIEW

Through the reading of texts in their original language, the course of Latin Literature will offer students an introduction to the literary, mythological, and cultural world of ancient Rome.

The lessons will focus on two central figures of Latin literature, shaping Western imagination through their archetypal nature: Dido, the seduced and abandoned queen, and Medea, the infanticidal sorceress.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to give the students a good knowledge of a) the main methodologies and tools to interpret and translate Latin literary texts; b) the most part of all the great Latin authors from the III century b.C. to V-VI a .d. with particular focus on the different literary genres and themes of Latin culture; c) hints of didactics of the discipline and teaching methods of the linguistic part.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

         •       Identify the main features of Roman literature within their historical and cultural context

         •       Correctly place significant authors and literary works within the evolution of Latin literature and its literary genres, from its origins to the late imperial age

         •       Recognise and analyse linguistic (morphological and syntactic) features of a known Latin text and translate it

         •       Analyse thematic, metric, semantic, and rhetorical-stylistic aspects of a literary text

         •       Recognise some recurring motifs in Latin literature and their reception in European culture.

PREREQUISITES

Students of "Letters and Humanities" enrolled starting from 2023–2024: to have pass the first-year exam “Lettorato di latino”, which provides the necessary linguistic skills.

Students of "Letters and Humanities" enrolled before 2023–2024, students of "Conservation of Cultural Heritage": good basic knowledge of the Latin language and its morphosyntactic structures.

TEACHING METHODS

Lessons will be mostly dedicated to reading in metre, translating, and analysing the literary texts indicated in the syllabus. From these texts, in-depth studies will be developed to understand their literary and anthropological significance and to examine their reception in modern and contemporary Western literature.

A dialogic approach, including also workshop sessions for translation and analysis, will be preferred, aimed at enhancing active and dialectical participation.

Useful teaching materials for attending the lessons and preparing for the exam will be shared on Aulaweb.

Attendance is highly recommended. Non-attending students will have access to the recordings of the lessons via Teams at the end of the course.

Attending students will have the opportunity to take part of the exam as a mid-term assessment.

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

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course aims to provide an in-depth study of two archetypal female figures in classical literature: Dido and Medea. It will examine the subtle transformative process at work in their concrete literary realizations, in order to better understand how Latin poetry is animated by a profound dialectic with its literary models. The focus on female characters will also allow for a critical reflection on the representation of women within a literature written entirely by men.

The first part of the course will be devoted to the reading, translation, and commentary of the fourth book of the Aeneid (vv. 1–804), centered on Dido. While she would later become the emblem of the abandoned woman, in Virgil the queen of Carthage is endowed with a tragic and heroic depth that makes her one of the most complex and accomplished characters in Latin literature.

The second part of the course will examine how the figure of Medea — made famous in the fifth century BC by Euripides’ tragedy — was reinterpreted by Ovid, who returned to her in three different works: his lost tragedy, the twelfth love letters of the Heroides, and the Metamorphoses (Book 7, esp. ll. 1–158). It will also consider the numerous literary, theatrical, and cinematic retellings of the last century. A comparison across these different versions will highlight the richness of a character who is at once a betrayed lover and an infanticidal mother, a supremely powerful sorceress and a rejected foreigner — and whose very complexity has offered every age an inexhaustible source of reflection and rewriting.

The monographic program will provide students with the methodological coordinates necessary to navigate the independent study of Latin literature through a textbook (see bibliography) and by translating an anthology of poetic compositions and prose excerpts that will be made available on AulaWeb. During the lessons, there will be workshop sessions dedicated to resolving any difficulties encountered in the study of literary history and in the translation of the texts contained in the handout.

A portion of the lessons will in any case be devoted to providing an overview of the periodization of Latin literature and the system of literary genres; to presenting the most significant elements of the poetics of the major authors, with particular reference to the passages included in the anthology; to introducing basic notions of phonetics, prosody, and metrics (hexameter; elegiac couplet); and to addressing any questions arising from study.

The same syllabus applies to non-attending students.

12 ECTS/CFU Exam  for Literature students enrolled before 2023-2024 

Students enrolled before 2023-2024 can prepare for the exam according to this syllabus, supplementing the additional 3 ECTS/CFU by preparing for translating basic level Latin prose texts (see also assessment methods).

6 ECTS/CFU Exam for Conservation of Cultural Heritage students

Students of Conservation on Cultural Heritage will attend only the lessons on Aeneid, Book 4; they are exempt from the study of the anthology provided on AulaWeb.

Other students

Students from other degree programs are required to contact the professor for further information.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Literary history - recommendend reference textbook:

Gian Biagio Conte, Profilo storico della Letteratura Latina dalle origini alla tarda età imperiale, Le Monnier / Mondadori Education.

Latin language - recommendend reference textbook:

Marco Fucecchi, Luca Graverini, La lingua latina. Fondamenti di morfologia e sintassi, Le Monnier / Mondadori Education.

Prosody and metre - recommendend reference textbook:

A.Traina, G. Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario, 6a ed. a cura di C. Marangoni, Bologna, Pàtron (capitolo VII: Fondamenti di metrica). 

Recommended translations:

Virgilio, Eneide, vol. 2. Libri III-IV, a cura di Ettore Paratore, traduzione di Luca Canali, Mondadori, Milano (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla) oppure Virgilio, Eneide, a cura di M. Ramous, G.B. Conte, G.L. Baldo, Venezia, Marsilio, 2004

Ovidio, Metamorfosi, vol. 4. Libri VII-IX, a cura di E. Kenney, traduzione di G. Chiarini, Mondadori, Milano (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla) oppure Ovidio, Le Metamorfosi, a cura di G. Rosati, Milano, Rizzoli 

Ovidio, Heroides. Lettere di eroine, a cura di P. Pinotti, Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, Rusconi oppure Ovidio, Lettere di eroine, a cura di G. Rosati, Milano, Rizzoli

A handout containing the texts from the anthology selection to be prepared for the exam will be made available through AulaWeb before the start of the lessons.

Additional information for non-attending students:

1)

G. Ieranò, Tre Medee del Novecento. Alvaro, Pasolini, Wolf, in Medea nella letteratura e nell’arte, a cura di B. Gentili e F. Perusino, Venezia, Marsilio 2000

2)

Medea. Variazioni sul mito. Euripide, Seneca, Grillparzer, Alvaro, a cura di M. Ciani, Milano-Venezia, Marsilio-Feltrinelli

or

C. Wolf, Medea.Voci, trad. it. A. Raja, Milano 2011

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Week of February 15, 2027.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The written exam consists of the following parts:

         1.      History of Literature: authors, works, and genres

         2.      History of Literature: texts

         3.      Dido

         4.      Medea

The different parts may also be taken in separate exam sessions (1st session: history of literature, parts 1 and 2; 2nd session: Dido and Medea), provided that the progressive order indicated here is maintained and that the exam is completed within 12 months.

Attending students will have the opportunity to take part of the exam as an ongoing assessment.

Students of Conservation on Cultural Heritage will take only parts 1 and 3 of the exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

During the written exam, students will be required to:

         1.      History of Literature: authors, works, and genres

         Answer both closed and open-ended questions, demonstrating knowledge of the most significant authors and works of Latin literature from its origins to the late imperial age, and correctly placing them in terms of historical period, literary genre, themes, and poetics.

         2.      History of Literature: texts

Answer closed and open-ended questions related to the translation, linguistic and lexical analysis, and historical-literary contextualization of a passage contained in the handout published on AulaWeb.

         3.      Dido

In relation to verses from the fourth book of the Aen​eid (to be fully prepared), answer closed and open-ended questions regarding translation, metrical, linguistic, lexical, and stylistic-rhetorical analysis, as well as the thematic content covered during the lessons.

         4.      Medea

In relation to verses taken from Ovid's Heroides XII or Metamorphoses  (book VII, lines 1-158), answer closed and open-ended questions regarding translation, metrical, linguistic, lexical, and stylistic-rhetorical analysis, as well as themes developed during the course and comparison with other works discussed.

12 ECTS/CFU exam for Literature students enrolled before 2023-2024 

To supplement the additional 3 ECTS/CFU, students enrolled before 2023-2024 will translate from Latin a short passage or some sentences, taken from the exercises proposed in the first 15 units of the textbook La lingua latina. Fondamenti di morfologia e sintassi (see bibliography).

6 ECTS/CFU Exam for Conservation of Cultural Heritage students

Students of Conservation on Cultural Heritage will take only parts 1 and 3 of the exam.

The resulting evaluation will take into account the following grading scale:

         •       30 with honors - 28: The student demonstrates mastery of Latin literary history, correctly contextualizing its protagonists and moving confidently, both diachronically and synchronically, within the system of literary genres. They can precisely contextualize literary facts within the historical and cultural landscape, employ consistently correct language, mastering the specialized lexicon of the discipline, possess a solid competency in Latin, and can analyze a Latin text with confidence and depth, grasping all linguistic, semantic, stylistic, and rhetorical aspects.

         •       27 - 23: The student demonstrates proficiency in Latin literary history, correctly contextualizing its protagonists and moving satisfactorily within the system of literary genres. They can contextualize literary facts within the historical and cultural landscape, employ correct language and generally use the specialized lexicon of the discipline. They have a decent competency in Latin and can analyze a Latin text with confidence, grasping its main linguistic, semantic, stylistic, and rhetorical aspects.

         •       22 - 18: The student has a general understanding of Latin literary history, with awareness of its protagonists and the system of literary genres. They can contextualize major literary facts within the historical and cultural landscape, use generally correct language, though lacking complete knowledge of the specialized lexicon of the discipline. They have​ limited competency in Latin and, despite some uncertainties, can analyze a Latin text, understanding it on linguistic, semantic, stylistic, and rhetorical levels.

         •       Below 18: The student lacks even a general understanding of Latin literary history, unaware of its protagonists and the system of literary genres. They are unable to contextualize major literary facts within the historical and cultural landscape, use language that is not sufficiently correct, have insufficient competency in Latin, and are unable to analyze and understand a Latin text.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For any further information, students are invited to contact the instructor by email or at the end of class.