Latin 201 Homework

Date

1/31

As you read, you may want to start working with the electronic text + vocabulary and syntax help in the Vergil Project or Perseus. Although this may take a little time to get used to now, it will save you a LOT of time in the long run. If you run into problems, post on the FirstClass conference. Here are the URL's:

• In Perseus: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0055
• In The Vergil Project: http://vergil.classics.upenn.edu/workspace/display_frame.html
  That URL gets you to the basic page, where you enter the Book and Line number where you want to start reading. I hope it works: it's somewhat quirky. But when it works, it's great!

(2) Read the paper handout from class entitled "Epic Openings." Compare the opening of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey to the opening of the Aeneid. What are the standard elements in the opening of an ancient epic?

(3) Fill out the first-day-of-class questionnaire at:
/ClassicalStudies/Latin201/welcome201.html

(2) In English, read from wherever we stopped sight-reading to Aeneid 1.80. That's the line number in the Latin text, which some translations give you; in Mandelbaum's translation 1.80 corresponds to Mandelbaum, Book 1, line 116. Read the English part of the assignment before reading the Latin part, since otherwise the Latin part won't make as much sense to you.

(3) In Latin, read Aeneid 1.81-107. Read the passage several times and, if possible, at a couple of different times, so you get comfortable with it. How does the first part of the passage describe the storm? what image does Vergil use? why? Today's assignment introduces Aeneas: what is the effect of introducing him this way and only after 90+ lines?

(4) Look at the paper handout on Aeneas' first speech in the Aeneid ("o terque quaterque beati"). Aeneas' speech draws on a speech of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey: how are the two speeches similar? different? How does the Homer passage affect your reading of Vergil? Vergil's Roman readers would have known the Homer virtually by heart.

NOTE: on Friday, 2/9, there will be a five-minute vocabulary quiz on the pull-out sheet in Pharr.

(1) In English, read from wherever we stopped sight-reading to Aeneid 1.179 (= Mandelbaulm's translation 1.250).

(2) In Latin, read Aeneid 1.180-209. Read the passage several times and at several different times. What does Aeneas do in this passage? Consider Aeneas' speech to his men: in what tone would you read this speech aloud? Practice aloud.

(3) Today's Latin passage draws on two different passages in Homer's Odyssey. Using the paper handout (Aeneas and Odysseus), compare the Homer to the Vergil in detail. Make lists of the elements of each passage if that helps you focus on the details and not on general impressions. What does Vergil alter, and how does he alter it? What effect is produced by Vergil's using the Homer passages? Would your reaction to the Vergil passage be different if you did not know the Homer?

(2) In Latin: Aeneid 1.340-371. Venus, in disguise as a huntress, tells Aeneas (her son, though he doesn't recognize her) the story of Dido, including one of the most famous phrases in the Aeneid: dux femina facti. Venus' story of Dido might be called an "epyllion," a tale within a tale, a literary device. Think about narrative pacing: how does the pace of the narrative in Venus' tale of Dido compare to the pace of other passages we've read so far?

(3) There will be a short extra reading for today, from an ancient commentary on the Aeneid (handout on paper).

NOTE: on Friday 2/9, there will be a five-minute vocabulary quiz on the pull-out sheet at the back of Pharr.

(1) In English, from where last time's Latin stopped to Book 1.425.

(2) In Latin: Aeneid 1.426-458 for sure; to 465 if possible. Aeneas in Carthage. Please keep track of (and email me) how long it takes you to do this assignment.

(1) In English, get up to 1.493

(2) In Latin: 1.494-508. This passage contains one of the most famous similes in the Aeneid, describing Dido.

(3) In English, 1.509-521 (Aeneas, concealed, sees his men; introduction to the speech of Ilioneus)

(4) In Latin, 1.522-558 (Ilioneus addresses Dido)

(5) Handout (on paper) on the Dido simile (Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Aulus Gellius)

(6) If you still have time, outline Ilioneus' speech. What is his explicit message? What is his implicit message? Remember that ancient Roman education was focused solely on producing effective orators: if you were a student of oratory, how might you read Ilioneus' speech?

(2) In Latin: 2.201-233 (Laocoon and the snakes)

(3) Images of Laocoon. Go to this wet site, created by Ali Kraley '01 and Alexis Dinniman '00 under a Kech Foundation Grant in the summer of 1998:
/ClassicalStudies/LocalOnly/Latin201/Laocoon/statueinfo.html
This site provides both images and discussion of two famous images of Laocoon, a statue from antiquity and a painting by El Greco, who had seen the original statue. Compare Vergil's verbal portrait with the statue and the painting.

Get through at least "circumiectu orbis validoque volumine fulcit" (38 lines). Whoever gets the farthest beyond that will win some lavish prize, courtesy of the Department of Classical Studies.

If you happen to see Ali around campus, remember to thank her!

Latin: 2.268-297 (Hector appears to Aeneas)

Latin: 2.298-338 (plan ahead for this assignment: it's somewhat longer (40 lines) than we've been doing). Destruction and chaos in Troy.

Latin: 2.526-558 (32 lines) (note that this assignment is returning to a more normal length--I really wasn't trying to add 30% to the assignment length on the sly!)

This passage describes the death of Priam at the hands of Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. As a way of grappling with the depth of the passage, you're going to do "literary" translations of parts of the passage and post them on the FirstClass conference by 8:00 am Tuesday morning, so I can get them ready to discuss in class. I'll divide you into two groups for the literary translations. The groups won't work as groups, though you can if you want to. After doing the whole Latin assignment, do a "literary" translation of either 2.533-543 or 544-553 (depending on which group you're in). Try to capture as much as you can in your English but in English, not in "translation-ese." What problems did you run into? How is writing a "literary" translation different from doing a functional translation? Who might your audience be? How much might they know?

Here are the groups, using initials instead of names since this part of our web site is not local-access-only:

(The groups, by the way, are listed, bouncing from column to column, in the order of the Registrar's classlist followed by those who added the course. In other words, it's random.)

Latin: 2.650-678 (Anchises refuses to leave Troy; Aeneas talks to him)

Practice reading aloud Aeneas's speech to Anchises.

What is the relation of fathers and sons in the Aeneid?

Latin: 2.768-804 (the end of Book 2) (Aeneas searches for Creusa; the vision of Creusa; Aeneas leaves Troy.

What should we make of Creusa? This was not the only version of the story. In another version, which predates the Aeneid, Aeneas's wife leaves Troy with him. Vergil, in other words, is making a choice here: he is not bound by an iron-clad story. Why might he have made the choice the does?

(1) There will be two translations from the Latin homework assignments, chosen from three (i.e., you'll choose two passages out of three to translate). Each translation will not be as long as a regular homework assignment, but rather in the 12-14 line range, so the two translations together will be a total of around 25 lines or so. To prepare for this section of the exam, go over the translations we've done, preferably more than once. Since the test won't provide vocabulary and notes, I highly recommend printing out clean copies of the passages from the electronic text on our FirstClass conference and practicing with those, so you won't be thrown off when you see plain Latin on the test. The translations will be worth 40% each, for a total of 80% of the total test grade.

(2) There will be one essay, chosen from three questions. These will cover material we've worked on so far, both Latin and English and discussion. In class we'll talk about what would be reasonable essay questions. To prepare for this section of the exam, you might make up what strike you as reasonable questions (share questions with other members of the class or on the FirstClass conference, so everybody can work on more questions than the ones a single person can think up?) and then sketch out what you'd say--not writing out a whole essay, but jotting down the points you think are significant and what examples you'd use to back up your analysis. You will not be expected to quote passages in Latin--though it's always incredibly impressive if you throw in a Latin phrase, so you could memorize some universally relevant phrase like "arma virumque cano" and use it anywhere!! (For the anxious, that last remark is a joke!) The essay will be worth 20% of the total test grade.

First 50 chapters of Suetonius' Life of Augustus

Sight-reading in class (no preparation for this): Beginning of Vergil's first Eclogue (I'll pass it out in class)

English: Austin's commentary on the first thirty lines of Book 4 (handout). As you read Austin's discussion, think about both the Vergil passage he's discussing and the (literary) form of a commentary. Just as an epic poem has conventions, what are the conventions of a commentary? how does the commentary form encourage you to read? The commentary form arose in antiquity: it is not a modern invention. Modern commentaries have a direct link to antiquity.

Sight reading in class (no preparation for this): Aeneid, 4.30-53

Latin Aeneid 4.54-89

After reading today's passage, look back (in English) at Aeneas' first view of Dido in Book 1.418-438 (= Mandelbaum 1.595-621). Compare Dido in the two scenes. What has happened? Why?

Assignment to be turned in by class time on Friday (if you leave early for spring break, make sure this is in on time): Write and turn in one page on one of the following topics:

• the meter's contribution to the passage you read for Wednesday, 3/14
• the use of fire so far in the Aeneid, including, for instance, the burning of Troy and Dido burning with love. Remember that you can search for fire-language by using Perseus.
• contrast a modern translation of the first 30 lines of Book 4 with Godolphin's seventeenth century translation (handout). You can use Mandelbaum or any other translation published in after 1900.

Spring Break--Spring Break--Spring Break--Spring Break

Latin: 4.151-197 THIS IS LONG--PLAN AHEAD (Aeneas and Dido's "marriage," the picture of Fama spreading the news)

In class, as background for Aeneas and Dido's "wedding," I'll tell you about the ceremonies associated with a Roman marriage. No, no one will have to part their hair with a spear in class, although a Roman bride did.

Latin: 4.259-295 (Mercury visits Aeneas; Aeneas plans to leave) (36 lines)

Background: OK, I won't be shy: I'm working on an article on this passage, so I'll give you a copy of the current draft to read as background. I'll be interested in your reactions and comments!

Outline the points Dido makes in her speech. This is to help analyze the speech, not to turn in.

Approach Dido's speech as a speech in a play or as a dramatic reading. What tone of voice would you use to deliver it? Where would you pause? Be ready to read the speech aloud in Latin in class and discuss your dramatic interpretation

Sight in class: 4.373-387 (the end of Dido's reply to Aeneas)

Outline the points that Aeneas makes in his speech. Again, this is to help you analyze the speech, not to turn in.

Ancient reading in translation: Selection from Euripides' Greek tragedy, Medea: the debate between Jason and Medea (paper handout)

Consider these modern reactions to Aeneas' speech to Dido at Aen. 4.333ff.). What is your own reaction to the speech?

T. E. Page (commentary, 1894): "Not all Virgil's art can make the figure of Aeneas here appear other than despicable. His conduct had been vile, and Dido's heart-broken appeal brings its vileness into strong relief. No modern dramatist dare place his hero in the position in which Virgil places Aeneas here ..."

R. G. Austin (commentary, 1955, rpt. with corrections 1966): "The speech is Virgil's way of showing the conflict between Dido's uncontrolled emotion and Aeneas' pale cast of thought. She has appealed to feeling, he answers by reason and logic. Her speech gives fact, as she sees it; his gives fact, as he sees it. He does not disguise the stark and brutal truth, that she has deceived herself, he has not deceived her. The tone is cold and formal, and at the end we see why it is so: had he not controlled himself ... he would have broken down and yielded. ... It is no fault of Virgil's that the harsh conflict between duty and desire is what it is; and given that conflict, Virgil knew that this was how he must show it. Aeneas has wronged Dido, and he knows it; he has wronged God, and he knows it; atonement either way means pain for ever: and it is our pity that we should give him, not our scorn."

K. Quinn (Virgil's Aeneid: A Critical Description, Ann Arbor, 1968, p. 143): "In Aeneas' hesitant rejoinder Virgil is less concerned with stating a case (this is not the moment for reason, moreover Aeneas' case is far from watertight) than with creating through dialogue a portrait of Aeneas as a decent, feeling man, struggling to control himself, anxious to say nothing that will wound, aware of his share of responsibility, but ill at ease because he cannot really understand the violence of Dido's reaction to his departure. He begins determined to say as little as possible in reply to her charges of faithlessness and ingratitude ... and then wanders on in a long, vain attempt to make Dido understand the overriding, inescapable importance of his mission. Many have complained that Virgil fails to make Aeneas' case convincing. But it is not intended to convince us. We are meant even to feel that it does not convince Aeneas and certainly it does not convince Dido: his protest that personal feelings must be subordinated to duty is beyond her comprehension."

Latin: 4.437-477 (40 lines) (Aeneas is firm; Dido has a dream)

Latin: 4.584-629 (45 lines ) (Dido curses Aeneas)

Modern reading and looking: Dido and Aeneas in Roman Art (paper handout). Dido and Aeneas are the subject of a famous mosaic from Roman Britain. I'll give you a picture of the mosaic and the discussion by J. M. C. Toynbee in Art in Britain under the Romans (Oxford 1964). Compare the mosaic and Vergil: how do the visual and the verbal text resemble each other? how do they differ?

English: finish Book 4 and read all of Book 5 in English

Old Roman Epitaphs (handout on paper): Look at the handout of Old Roman Epitaphs and compare them to what Dido says about herself in her speech in today's Latin assignment. (Read the English translations of the epitaphs: I'll give you the Latin just so you can see what it looks like if you want to.)

Latin: 6.440-476 (36 lines) (Aeneas meets Dido in the Underworld)

Latin: 6.847-901 (the end of Book 6): Anchises' vision of Rome; the death of Marcellus. This is one of two long Latin passages in the last three weeks of the term. But at least this assignment is still in Pharr.

Reading in translation: ancient sources on Marcellus for background to today's Latin passage. Here Vergil is writing about very contemporary events.

Latin: Aeneid 8.184-221(37 lines): Hercules and Cacus I--introduction of Cacus, theft of the cattle (handout: a vocabulary list, based on the Digital Latin Lexicon).

Sight in class: Aeneid 8.222-240 (Hercules and Cacus, continued)

Reading in English (handout): other ancient versions of the Hercules and Cacus story from the histories of Livy (Roman) and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Greek).

Modern reading: Camps, Introduction to Virgil's Aeneid, chapter 10: "Echoes of History" (pages 95-104; deals in part with Hercules and Cacus in relation to Augustus)

Latin: Aeneid 8.337-369 (32 lines): Aeneas at the site of modern (to Vergil) Rome (handout of vocabulary list)

Modern Reading: Camps, Introduction to Virgil's Aeneid, chapter 7: "Poetic Expression: Language and Sensibility" (pages 61-74)

Latin: Aeneid 8.671-703 (32 lines): The Shield of Aeneas: Actium I (Cleopatra) (handout of vocabulary list)

Reading in translation: Horace's Cleopatra Ode (handout)

Readings in translation:
Propertius, Elegies 4.6 (Propertius' Actium poem)
Suetonius, Life of Augustus, second half

English: get up to where the Latin starts

Latin: 9.424-449 (the deaths of Nisus and Euryalus) (handout of vocabulary list) (25 lines, a short Latin assignment, because the English assignment and project for today will take more time than the usual English assignments.)

Sight in Class: 9.481-497 (Euryalus' mother laments).

English: finish Aeneid 9 and read Aeneid 10

Epic Similes: Book 10 of the Aen. is packed with epic similes (extended comparisons: "Just like ..., so ...). A paper handout gives the line references in Mandelbaum's translation. Note down the subjects of the various similes (This is NOT to be turned in, but to help you make specific observations). From what spheres are they drawn (e.g., farming, the gods)? What are their functions? What perspective do they give on the action?

English: get up to the start of the Latin.

Latin: Aeneid 12.411-440 (29 lines). Aeneas' wound is miraculously healed; he speaks to Ascanius (handout of vocabulary list). Think back over Aeneas' interactions with his son and, in general, about fathers and sons in the Aeneid. This Latin assignment is on the short side: you might want to work ahead on Tuesday's assignment, which is long.

Latin: Aeneid 12.791-842 (59 lines). Jupiter and Juno discuss the future (handout of vocabulary list). This is the other long Latin passage in the last three weeks.

By noon on Tuesday, May 8, on the FirstClass conference, post two questions on the whole course that you think would be good final exam questions.

Latin: Aeneid 12.919-952 (33 lines)--the end of the Aeneid (handout of vocabulary list)

English: In handouts from Virgil in English, read these poems that are related to or inspired by Vergil:
--Christopher Marlowe, from Dido, Queen of Carthage (1594).
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "To Virgil" (1882), written for the 1900th anniversary of Vergil's death.
--Robert Lowell, "Falling Asleep over the Aeneid" (1950).
--W. H. Auden, "Secondary Epic" (1960).