Dies Lunae
a.d. XVII Kalendas Februarias

Salvete discipuli discipulaeque!

Salutatio et prooemium. Welcome & Introduction.

Legite Gregibus (read in groups): Aen. 1.1–11.

Dies Mercurii
a.d. XV Kalendas Februarias

Lege Latine (read in Latin): Aen. 1.1–33 in Pharr.

Lege Anglice (read in English): Introduction to Vergil’s life and Works (Handout); Timeline of Vergil’s lifetime (Handout); Introduction to Dactylic Hexameter (Handout).

Scribe (write): Scan Aen. 1.12–13 (on Scanning Worksheet).

Meditare (ponder): The proems of an epic poem generally contain a set of recognizable elements: a synopsis of the tale, an introduction of the the identity of the hero and his quest, suggestion of the challenges and enemies confronted by the hero, an invocation of a higher power to assist in telling the larger-than-human events and scope of the tale, and a sense of the narrator’s relationship to the subject matter (this of often cryptically presented). Note how Vergil relates this information, in what order, what he elaborates and what he leaves obscure, as well as other information revealed in the Aeneid's proem.

Nota bene: Probatiuncula Prima, Dies Lunae, a.d. X Kalendas Februarias (Monday)

Dies Veneris
a.d. XIII Kalendas Februarias

Lege Latine: Aen. 1.33–63.

Lege Anglice: Other epic proems (Homer, Iliad and Odyssey; Hesiod Theogony and Works & Days; Apollonius Argonautica; Ennius Annales; Lucretius, De rerum natura (Epic Proems Handout).

Praepara (prepare): compare one of the epic proems you read in English to the opening of the Aeneid. Read the summary of your author in the Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD3b) in the Reference Room in Magill Library (DE5 .O9 2003).

Scribe: Scan Aen. 1.39–40 (Scanning Worksheet).

Meditare: 1) Find one example of hyperbaton in your Latin reading; 2) Does Vergil reveal (at this point) why Juno so filled with hatred of the Trojans? How is her hatred like/unlike that of Athena for Ajax (1. 41f.)? 3) We see here the first (of many) interventions by gods in the affairs of men. When these occur, be sure to note who is acting, whether they act directly or through some agent, and (eventually) if their intentions are fulfilled.