L304   Catullus

We will be reading a sample of the poems of the first century BC
Roman poet Catullus.  These concern his passions both amatory and
literary and were written in a context of changing Roman social and
literary values.  Some of these personal poems are addressed to
fellow-poets of the “new” school (as Cicero dubbed them) whose
interest in Greek poetry of the Hellenistic period was so influential
on Latin poets of the Augustan and later periods.  Poems about and to
both his lover “Lesbia” (probably the sister of Cicero’s nemesis P.
Clodius) and his rivals for her affection shaped the genre of Roman
love elegy.  Both class discussion and written assignments will focus
on close examination of individual poems.

There will be a midterm and final examination, as well as several
short papers.

Texts:

Daniel H. Garrison, The Student’s Ovid (U. of Oklahoma Press 2004;
3rd edition)

Charles Marin, trans., The Poems of Catullus (Johns Hopkins
University 1990)