IntrotoRomanLoveElegy-CLASUsers.pptVIP

Intro to Roman Love Elegy Professor Jennifer Rea jrea@classics.ufl.edu Office Hours: W 1-4 in Dauer 142 and gladly by appointment About the Professor Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin MA from Indiana University PhD in 1999 from Wisconsin Areas of specialty: Augustan Age and Roman material culture How I Spent My Summer Vacation I am editing my book, Legendary Rome, which will be published by Duckworth in 2007. What is Elegy? Modern term usually means a poem of mourning for the dead In the ancient world the poem could also be about love or praise Greek influence (especially Callimachus) has poems about death or an encomium (praise) Roman Love Elegy The Romans added love to the list of elegy topics and the world has never been the same since . . . Erotic love and courtesans abound in this world Book you are about to read is called the Monobiblios Quis Est Propertius? Very little is known about the poet and his life Sextus Propertius Born around 57 BC, dead by 2 AD. Quis est Cynthia? Propertius’ lover Real name was Hostia She was probably a meretrix Affair most likely did not last more than 5 years Rome in Propertius’s time The Palatine hill housed the legendary foundations of the city Rome in Propertius’s time, II The Capitoline hill was the center of Roman religious and political space Course Objectives To discuss some of the common themes of Latin Love Poetry and Elegy To improve your Latin skills To have interesting class discussions about the Roman conceptions of love, sex and gender Some context for Propertius 1.1 First four lines are very similar to an epigram of the Greek author Meleager (acknowledge your predecessor) Original Greek poem was to a young man Cynthia is prima but . . . . Milanion and Atalanta girl acts like boy, gets treated like one Love is treated as though it is a near-fatal disease Who is the poet’s anger aimed at? The Question No One Asks When Reading Latin What determines how good you can be at something?