Transcript Intro to Roman Love Elegy

Intro to Roman Love Elegy
Professor Jennifer Rea
[email protected]
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? Is it talent or
practice or really, really expensive
coaching?
Pre-Reading Guide, Poem 1
 What words modify
me in 1.1-2?
 What case is fastus in
1.3? What other word
does it agree with?
 Who is the subject of
docuit in 1.5?
 What case is anno in
1.6 and why?
 What is fugiendo in
1.8? How would you
translate it?
 What does amens
(1.11) mean?
 Who does saucius
(1.14) modify?
 What construction
follows facite (1.22)?
Pre-Reading Guide Con’t
 What case is vobis and
why (1.23)?
 What word does non go
with (1.26)?
 What verb is ira the
subject of and how do
you translate quae (1.28)?
 What word does meum
modify (1.30)?
 Does the verb annuit
(1.31) look familiar to
you? It should, as
most of you see it
every day.
 What form is pares
(1.32)?
For class next Wednesday
 You are responsible for Propertius 1.1 and
Propertius 1.2
 The assignment is answering ALL of the
questions on the pre-reading guide and
translating both poems
 If you have trouble translating a passage, you
must come back to class knowing the vocabulary
for the poem and be able to explain why you are
having difficulties.