LAT 100Y Elementary Latin (5 Credits)

The Latin language has had an extraordinarily long life, from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages to nineteenth-century Europe, where it remained the language of scholarship and science. Even today it survives in the Romance languages that grew out of it and in the countless English words derived from Latin roots. This course prepares students to read Latin texts in any period or area of interest through a study of the fundamentals of classical Latin grammar and through practice in reading from a range of Latin authors. Some attention will also be given to Roman culture and Latin literary history. This is a full-year course and cannot be divided at midyear with credit for the first semester. Enrollment limited to 30.

Fall, Spring, Annually

LAT 212 Introduction to Latin Prose and Poetry (4 Credits)

Practice and improvement of reading skills through the study of a selection of texts in prose and verse. Systematic review of fundamentals of grammar. Prerequisite: LAT 100Y or equivalent. {F}{L}

Fall

LAT 214 Introduction to Latin Literature in the Augustan Age (4 Credits)

An introduction to the "Golden Age" of Latin literature which flourished under Rome's first emperor. Reading and discussion of authors exemplifying a range of genres and perspectives such as Virgil, Ovid and Horace, with attention to the political and cultural context of their work and to the relationship between literary production and the Augustan regime and its program. Practice in research skills and in reading, evaluating and producing critical essays. Prerequisite: LAT 212 or equivalent. {F}{L}

Spring

LAT 330 Topics: Advanced Readings in Latin Literature (4 Credits)

Topics course. Authors vary from year to year, but they are generally chosen from a list that includes epic and lyric poets, historians, orators, comedians and novelists, depending on the interests and needs of the students. May be repeated for credit with different topics. Prerequisites: two courses at the 200 level or equivalent.

Fall, Spring

LAT 330mr Topics: Advanced Readings in Latin Literature-Myths of Rome (4 Credits)

A study of the tradition of Roman story-telling, stressing the connections among myth, legend and history in narratives of the early city. Discussions include the extent to which early Rome is part of the world of Greek myth, the process by which key statesmen and generals in the early legends came to represent the character of the noble families of later ages and then to symbolize central Roman virtues, the development of these legendary and quasi-historical narratives into a "myth" of the Roman national character, and the manipulation of traditional stories in the political and cultural disputes of later eras. Readings from Livy, Ovid, Vergil and Horace. Prerequisites: two courses at the 200 level or equivalent. {F}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

LAT 330om Topics: Advanced Readings in Latin Literature-Ovid's Metamorphoses (4 Credits)

A study of Ovid’s transmission and adaptation of Greek myths in the Metamorphoses. Attention is paid to Ovid’s Augustan milieu and to the extraordinary afterlife of the Metamorphoses, particularly in Renaissance art. Prerequisites: two courses at the 200 level or equivalent. {F}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

LAT 330rn Topics: Advanced Readings in Latin Literature-The Roman Novel (4 Credits)

Though the genre of the novel is usually identified with the modern era, many argue that its origins lie in works of prose fiction by Greek and Roman authors. This course examines the two such Latin works that survive, the Satyricon of Petronius, arbiter elegantiae in the court of Nero, and the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, a provincial form of what is now Algeria writing in age of the Antonines. Topics will include the genesis and features of the genre; literary precedents and literary allusion; prose style; and how the distinctive cultural background of each work frames the worlds that they conjure. Prerequisite: LAT 214 or equivalent. {F}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

LAT 400 Special Studies (1-4 Credits)

For majors and honors students who have had four advanced courses in Latin. Admission by permission of the department.

Fall, Spring

LAT 430D Honors Project (4-8 Credits)

Fall, Spring