Course overview
This course provides an introduction to many of the great texts and significant literary genres that arose from the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. It will explore the origins and development of genres and writing styles that are key to understanding the values and complexities of these two influential civilizations; these may include epic love poetry, dramatic tragedy and comedy, satire, historical, biographical and philosophical writing. Important works by the major authors of antiquity - such as Homer, Sophocles and Virgil - will be studied, either in part or whole and students will learn the skills necessary for the technique called 'close reading'. The course will teach students how to place texts within their historical and cultural contexts and will enable them to appreciate the influence that such texts had upon the subsequent literature of the Western world. No knowledge of Latin or ancient Greek is required; all texts will be studied in English translations.
Course learning outcomes
- Confidently engage in close reading of ancient texts across a variety of genres and writing styles.
- Display knowledge and understanding of the historical and cultural contexts in which such texts arose and the circumstances which gave rise to them.
- Demonstrate appreciation of the influence that genres and writing styles which arose from the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome exercised upon the subsequent literature of the Western world.
- Demonstrate knowledge of methods of citation of ancient texts and scholarly issues in dealing with them.
- Deliver coherently and logically argued written material with a scholarly approach.