Latin 019 Roman Imperial Literature: Death in Seneca Prof. Jeremy B. Lefkowitz Spring 2011 [email protected] MWF 10:30 ‐ 11:20 Trotter 111, x7894 Trotter 115 Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00 – 4:00 & by appointment
Course Description
This course examines Seneca's views on life and death as expressed in his philosophical essays, letters to his friends and family, and tragic plays. The emphasis will be on close readings of Seneca's prose and poetry in Latin, with careful attention to the distinguishing features of Seneca’s rhetorical style, his famous brevitas and theatricality, and the place of Senecan thought in its literary, philosophical, and historical contexts.
Evaluation
Participation and preparation for class (including presentations): 15% Regular (unannounced) quizzes on vocabulary and morphology: 20% Term Paper (first draft due Friday, April 14; final draft due Friday, April 29): 15% Midterm Exam (Wednesday, February 23): 25% Final Exam (date tba): 25%
Guidelines and Expectations Preparing for Class:
It is essential that you come to every class meeting well prepared. What does it mean to be "well prepared" for this class? It means reading every line of assigned Latin closely and carefully. Here is a checklist to help you do this:
* Have you read through everything out loud, slowly, with attention to pronunciation and accentuation?
* Have you worked through the texts, sentence by sentence, doing your best to understand what you are reading?
* Have you looked up any unfamiliar words in the dictionary, making a list (or an index card) of every word you look up?
* Have you checked all forms and rules of syntax about which you are unsure in your Latin grammar?
* Have you read through the texts again, one last time, to make sure you are confident in your understanding of all the Latin expressions?
Of course, there will be times when you cannot fully understand the meaning of a sentence or phrase on your own, in which case you should come to class with questions. But there is no reason why you would not be able to use your dictionary, grammar, and your own memory to identify the form and part of speech of every word you encounter before you come to class. There are also a number of online resources to help you figure out issues of morphology (i.e. forms and inflections):
* Whitaker's Words [http://archives.nd.edu/words.html]
* Perseus Digital Library [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/]
Also, if you are ever separated from your text, you can find the full corpus of Seneca's works here:
* The Latin Library [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/]
Paper:
There will be a term paper (7‐10 pages) due on Friday, April 29. You should meet with me by April 1 at the latest to discuss your paper topic, which may, but need not be related to a presentation that you make in class. Throughout the body of the paper, remember to support each and every one of your assertions with references drawn from the text(s) under discussion and/or from relevant passages from other texts we’ve read. When referring to a particular word or passage, be sure to write out Latin words or provide section/line numbers. It is your responsibility to convince your reader that you are basing your conclusions on a close reading of the Latin text and not merely on a general recollection of the passage.
Quizzes:
There will be brief, unannounced quizzes at the beginning of some of our meetings. These quizzes will consist of basic questions on that day's reading, including questions on vocabulary, morphology, and syntax.
Presentations:
Each member of the class will give one 5‐10‐minute presentation on a work of Seneca's in translation. The presenter is expected to give a brief overview of the work, with attention to (1) where it fits in Seneca's corpus, including date (if known) and genre, and (2) how it relates thematically to other material encountered in the course.
Attendance Policy
Students may miss class and make up quizzes for medical reasons, religious observance, and other compelling circumstances. Please notify me in advance if you will not be able to attend class. Three or more unexplained absences will be grounds for a failing grade, at my discretion.
Accommodation Policy
If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Tracey Rush in the Office of Student Disability Services, located in Parrish 113, or e‐mail trush1 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Tracey Rush is responsible for reviewing and approving disability‐related accommodation requests and, as appropriate, she will issue students with documented disabilities an Accommodation Authorization Letter. Since accommodations may require early planning and are not retroactive, please contact her as soon as possible.
Required Books
At the bookstore:
1. Seneca's "De otio" and "De brevitate vitae", Edited by: G. D. Williams (Cambridge, 2003)
2. Seneca: Six Tragedies (Oxford World Classics), transl. by Emily Wilson (Oxford, 2010)
To be ordered by you (if you don't already own them):
3. A Latin grammar: e.g., Bennett's New Latin Grammar, Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar
4. Any of the following Latin dictionaries:
Collins Gem Latin Dictionary: Second Edition. D. A. Kidd, ed. Publisher: Collins
Cassell's Latin Dictionary. D. P. Simpson, ed. Publisher: Cassell's
The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary, Revised Edition. John Traupman, ed. Publisher: Bantam
Schedule Latin 019: Roman Imperial Literature
Date 1/17 Introduction; overview of Seneca's life and literary career; Seneca in death / death in Seneca
1/19 Read Seneca's De Brevitate Vitae (BV), §1; read section of G. Williams' introduction on "Style and Language" (25‐31)
1/21 Seneca, BV §2 1/24 Seneca, BV §3 1/26 Seneca, BV §4 1/28 Seneca, BV §5‐§6 1/31 Seneca, BV §7 Read De Otio ("On Leisure") in translation; presentation by ______2/2 Seneca, BV §8‐§9 2/4 Seneca, BV §10 2/7 Seneca, BV §11‐§12 2/9 Seneca, BV §13 Read De Tranquillitate Animi ("On Tranquility of Mind") in translation; presentation by ______2/11 Seneca, BV §14 2/14 Seneca, BV §15‐§16 2/16 Seneca, BV §17 Read Letter 88 (on study of the "liberal arts") in translation; presentation by ______2/18 Seneca, BV §18 2/21 Seneca, BV §19‐§20
2/23 Midterm Exam
2/25 Seneca, Letter 63, §1‐§3 2/28 Seneca, Letter 63, §4‐§9 Read Consolatio ad Polybium (letter of consolation to Polybius) in translation; presentation by ______3/2 Seneca, Letter 63, §10‐§13 3/4 Seneca, Letter 63, §14‐§16
SPRING BREAK
3/14 Tacitus, Annals 15.60 3/16 Tacitus, Annals 15.61 3/18 Tacitus, Annals 15.62 3/21 Tacitus, Annals 15.63 3/23 Tacitus, Annals 15.64 3/25 Tacitus, Annals 15.65 Read (in translation) accounts of Seneca's death in Suetonius and Cassius Dio; presentation by ______
3/28 Introduction to Senecan Read Seneca's Phaedra in translation tragedy 3/30 Seneca, Phaedra 991‐1049 4/1 Seneca, Phaedra 1050‐1084 4/4 Seneca, Phaedra 1085‐1122 Read Ovid Heroides 4 in translation 4/6 Seneca, Phaedra 1123‐1155 4/8 Seneca, Phaedra 1156‐1200 Read Euripides' Hippolytus in translation 4/11 Seneca, Phaedra 1201‐1246 4/13 Seneca, Phaedra 1247 ‐End five‐minute presentations on paper topics, 4/15 First Draft of Paper Due followed by group discussion
4/18 Seneca, Thyestes 1‐51 Read Seneca's Thyestes in translation 4/20 Seneca, Thyestes 623‐690 4/22 Seneca, Thyestes 690‐748 4/25 Seneca, Thyestes 749‐788 4/27 Seneca, Thyestes 789‐834 4/29 Seneca, Thyestes 835‐884 Final Draft of Paper Due
Date of Final Exam: ______