107-147 Roman Literature and Society

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

see Prerequisites for Third Year. Admission to Fourth Year Honours for Fourth Year see Prerequisites.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject examines Roman literature from the last years of Augustus to the reign of Nero. Commonly characterised as a time of increasing tyranny, corruption, madness and crime, this period produced a varied and powerful literature which deals not only with blood, guts and insanity but with subtle issues of power, social relationships, art and sexuality which were fundamental to the dynamics of Roman elite culture at this time. Students should develop a knowledge of a range of genres from epic, elegy and satire to drama and the ancient novel. Texts studied include Ovid's Metamorphoses, Lucan's Civil War, the tragedies of Seneca and Petronius' novel of Roman low-life, the Satyricon.

Assessment

Seminar participation, and an essay of 2000 words for 3rd year, 3000 words for 4th year, and a 2-hour take-home examination.

Prescribed Texts

A subject reader will be available.

• Ovid, Melville (trans), The Metamorphoses. Oxford World Classics 1998.
• Lucan, Braund (trans), The Civil War. Oxford World Classics 1998.
• Petronius, Walsh (trans), The Satyricon. Oxford World Classics 1997.