Daily Activities (Click week to see activities | Expand All | Collapse All)

Week 1: 1/22-1/24

 

T 1/22: — Dies Martis a.d. XI Kal. Feb.

Exordium: Introduction to the Course and Roman Elegy

Lege in grege: Amores 1.1

Scribe in grege: Scan Amores 1.1.1-8

 

Th 1/24 — Dies Iovis a.d. IX Kal. Feb.

Lege Anglice:

• "Ovid" in Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd revised edition) [in Reference section of Library]
• Tibullus 1.1; Propertius 1.1, 3.1-3.3 (Packet)

Lege Latine: Amores prefatory epigram, 1.2, and 1.3

Scribe: Scan Amores 1.2.1-8

 

Week 2: 1/29-1/31

 

T 1/29 — Dies Martis a.d. V Kal. Feb.

Lege Anglice: Catullus 70, 72, 75, 76, 83, 85, 86, 87, 104 (Packet)

Lege Latine: Amores 1.4-1.6 [Reading, if you are bookless]

Praepara: take a look at the dux gregis guidelines. Start thinking about who you might like to work with; and also if there are any weeks that you know you would prefer not to be dux.

Figurae Cotidiana: For (nearly) every class, one or two poetic or rhetorical figures will take the spotlight. You should first learn about the figurae and then look for their appearence in the reading for the day. Some may be infrequent; others may be integral to the style of Ovid or Latin poetry in general. Over time, in addition to amassing a stable of critical terms, you will become better, closer, more informed readers of Latin poetry because of your knowledge of these devices. Today's figura are: Isocolon and Hendiadys.

Resources

• Translation of Amores 1.5 by Christopher Marlowe

 

Th 1/31 — Dies Iovis pridie Kal. Feb.

Lege Latine: Amores 1.7

Lege Anglice:

• Some other elegiac paraklausithyron: Catullus 67, Tibullus 1.2, Prop. 1.16 (Packet)
• Boyd. 1997. “Reused Language: Genre and Influence in the Interpretation of the Amores” in Ovid's Literary Loves: Influence and Innovation in the Amores: 19-48.

Figurae Cotidianae: Litotes and Chiasmus

 

 

Week 3: 2/5-2/7

 

T 2/5 — Dies Martis Non. Feb.

Lege Anglice: Prop. 4.5 [with Amores 1.8] and Prop. 2.6 [with Amores 1.9] (Packet)

Lege Latine: Amores 1.8 and 1.9

Figurae Cotidiana: Anaphora and Paromoiosis

 

T 2/7 — Dies Iovis a.d. VII Id. Feb.

Lege Anglice:

• Tib. 1.5, 2.4; Prop. 1.3, 1.8 [with Amores 1.10] (Packet)
• Prop. 3.6 [with Amores 1.11] (Handout)
• Prop. 3.23 [with Amores 1.12] (Handout)

Lege Latine: Amores 1.10-1.12

Figurae Cotidiana: Tricolon and Anastrophe

 




Week 4: 2/12-2/14

 

T 2/12 — Dies Martis pridie Id. Feb.

Lege Latine: Amores 1.13-15l

Figurae Cotidianae: Hypallage (to what extent is hypallage possible in a declined language?) and Hyperbaton

 

Th 2/14 — Dies Iovis a.d. XV Kal. Martis

Lege Latine: Amores 2.1 and 2.4

Lege Anglice:

• Read the entries for all the authors mentioned in Amores 1.15 in the Oxford Classical Dictionary (in reference section of library)
• Amores 2.2 and 2.3

Figurae Cotidianae: Auxesis and Consonance

 

 

Week 5: 2/19-2/21

 

T 2/19 — Dies Martis a.d. XII Kal. Martis

Lege Latine: Amores 2.6, 2.9 (both parts), 2.10, 2.12, 2.13

• (Re-)Read Catullus 3 (Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque)
• Consider the implications of whether 2.9 is one poem or two.
• Duces Gregis 2.6 (Corinna's Parrot)

Lege Anglice:

• Amores 2.5, 7-8, 11, 14

Figurae Cotidianae: Metonymy and Epanalepsis

Some Questions to Ponder (from Becca and Mark)

• What is the personality of the parrot as compared to that of the sparrow in Catullus 3 and how do these reflect on their owners' personalities, if atall?
• What is the narrator's attitude towards the bird and its relationship with its owner?
• How does this elegy fit in with the other poems in the Amores? What type(s) of love does it deal with?
• How does the poet use sound effects to represent the character of the "imitatrix ales"?
• What is the parrot's place in the pecking order of the other birds?
• What actually happened to the bird?

 

Th 2/21 — Dies Iovis a.d. X Kal. Martis

Lege Latine: Amores 2.17-19

Lege Anglice:

• Kennedy (1993), “Representation and the Rhetoric of Reality” (pp. 1-23)
• Amores 2.15-16

Figurae Cotidianae: Polysyndeton and Asyndeton

 

 

 

Week 6: 2/26-2/28

 

T 2/26 — Dies Martis a.d. V Kal. Martis

Lege Latine: Amores 3.1, 5, 7

Lege Anglice:

• Amores 3.2-4, 6, 8

Figurae Cotidianae: Hysteron proteron and Anadiplosis

Some Questions to Ponder

1. What is the function of magic/spells/charms in 3.7? Are they simply an excuse for the narrator's impotence? What about the accusation of witchcraft by the girl herself in lines 79-80?

2. Elegy 3.7 is often distanced from the rest of Liber III. In the Loeb edition, it is removed to the end of the book and placed by itself. How does 3.7 relate to the other poems, considering especially 3.5, 6 and 8? Does it seem to be an anomaly or does it have a crafted function?

3. Consider the the role of the narrator and of audience in this elegy. How does the temporal situation of the poem vary? To whom does the narrator address his lament throughout 3.7? What is the self-presentation of the narrator? What do these questions (and hopefully answers) suggest about the poem's larger goal?

 

 

T 2/28 — Dies Iovis a.d. III Kal. Martis

Lege Latine:Amores 3.9, 3.10, 3.12, 3.15; also read the first couplet of 3.13.

Lege Anglice:

• Amores 3.11, 3.13-14
• Kennedy (1993),“An Irregular in Love’s Army: The Problems of Identification”  (pp. 83-100)

Figurae Cotidianae: Zeugma and Ellipsis

Resources

• In 3.9, the narrator mentions the Neoteric poet Calvus, who appears in Catullus 14, 50 (note that Nemesis appears here in the context of poetry), and 96 (which may be a response to an elegy of Calvus' on the death of his wife Quintilia.

 

Exercitatio-parva: name all the literary and rhetorical devices you can detect in Amores 3.9.1




Week 7: 3/4-3/6

 

T 3/4 — Dies Martis a.d. IV Non. Martis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.1-144

 

 

Th 3/6 — Dies Iovis pridie Non. Martis

No Class Today

 

F 3/7 — Dies Iovis Non. Martis

MIDTERM, Due before 12 p.m. outside Hall 109

 

 

 

Week 8: 3/18-3/20

 

T 3/18 — Dies Martis a.d. XV Kal. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.145-267

Commentary Component Due: Scanning of Passage

 

Th 3/19 — Dies Iovis a.d. XIII Kal. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.268-398

 

 

Week 9: 3/25-3/27

 

T 3/25 — Dies Martis a.d. VIII Kal. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.399-564

Questions to Consider

• How are the themes of this section - the discussion about gifts, letters, grooming and Bacchus - unified in the text? What connects them?
• Who controls the relationships which Ovid advocates
• Why does Ovid focus so much on women's seeking of gifts? Is that all they are seeking in an affair? How does this characterize women? Consider especially lines 428-432.
• Consider the analogies Ovid use. Is there anything unusual about the use of their tropes? Is Ovid aware of any incongruences? Consider especially 449-450, and 471-476.
• How does the story of Bacchus and Ariadne fit as a paradigm for the sort of relationship Ovid advocates?

 

 

Th 3/27 — Dies Iovis a.d. VI Kal. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.565-658

 

 

 

Week 10: 4/1-4/3

 

T 4/1 — Dies Martis Kalends Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 1.645-772

Questions to Consider

1. How does the rape passage in lines 664-680 (although extending all the
   way to 706 with the Achilles episode) fit into the rest of the work? Does
   it jar or gel? How does it compare to the earlier referenced episode of
   the Sabines, which Ovid categorizes as sine arte?
2. How does Ovid frame the practice of rape? Is rape in fact what is
   being discussed and encouraged? What kind of language and rhetorical
   devices does he make use of?
3. Ovid has established many roles for men and women in the Ars Amatoria.
   How have the roles changed throughout the work, and what is their status
   at the close? Pay attention to both the "rape" passage and lines 723-738,
   where Ovid prescribes new standards for the appearance of the lover. How
   might these be received by Augustan society?
4. So how about that ending? How does line 756, mille animos excipe
   mille modis, complicate the rest of the work? Does it hearken back to the
   opening, with its emphasis on the diverse surplus of women in the Empire?
   Does it invalidate the rest of the work's advice?

 

W 4/3 — Dies Iovis a.d. III Non. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 2.1-144

 

 

 

Week 11: 4/8-4/10

T 4/8 — Dies Martis a.d. VI Id. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 2.461-510, 641-746

Lege Anglice: Ars Amatoria: 145-460, 511-640.

Questions to Consider

1. In lines 273-286, Ovid criticizes poetry itself as a gift giving
   source. Is this a satire of his own earlier narrators in the Amores, or do
   you think he is mocking the art of poetry? Or is he perhaps criticizing
   society itself and the decline of the appreciation for his art since
   Homeric times? He never explicitly suggests going after those who do
   appreciate poetry, but does he also expect people to be as talented in the
   craft as he?
2. How is the actor supposed to feel through out his performing of these
   tasks ensured to grant love? Is he too to be regretting her absence (350)?
   Does he truly love her (321)? Recursively, is the woman truly in love with
   the actor, or led on by manipulated emotions? Consider Helen’s reprieve in
   lines 359 - 377. What affect might such manipulation have on a woman -
   consider Clytemnestra’s defense (399-408)
3. What does the passage recreating the origin of the material world(461
   - 492) suggest about the role that Ovid understands love to play therein?
   What does the appearance of Apollo during this retelling signify,
   especially when considering the old Greek maxim “Know thyself”(l. 500)? Is
   this saying also recreated in the words of Ovid?
4. How is the treatment of rival lovers examined differently in Ars II?
   Does Ovid believe outside flirtation is beneficial or necessary?
5. Towards the end of book II, Ovid focuses on the pursuit of older
   women (663 - 702). He claims that they are more in tune with their
   passions than younger women, and are more experienced in the ways of love.
   Why does he create this dichotomy here, especially so close to the end of
   the book? Do you think they would follow the same rules, just set out by
   Ovid, that the younger subjects follow? Are they an answer to his older
   audience, or an alternative for those looking to master the art of
   “passion” more so than the art of “love” (erotic love, in this case)
   graphed out so far?
6. Is book II more or less favorable towards women both in general and
   when compared to earlier readings of Ovid? How much of what is written do
   you suppose was influenced by Ovid’s own experiences as he now grows older
   and becomes more recognized?

 

Th 4/10 — Dies Iovis a.d. IV Id. Aprilis

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.1-98

 

 

 

Week 12: 4/15-4/17

 

T 4/15 — Dies Martis a.d. XVII Kal. Maii

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.99-250

 

Th 4/17 — Dies Iovis a.d. XV Kal. Maii

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.251-380

Questions to Consider

1. How does Ovid use (or not use) exempla in this section? What about the women of the section's opening lines (251-254)? Also, why does Ovid use the Sirens as an exemplum when urging women to learn to sing (311-314)?

2. What do you think are the reasons Ovid suggests that women learn poetry and song? Is he objectifying women, as in other parts of the Ars, and is this a part of the exterior picture or does he genuinely want them to be educated?

3. How do the ludi mentioned in the final section (roughly 349-380) relate to the larger 'game' of courtship that Ovid is discussing in the Ars? Particularly, can we see any broader significance of the couplet (369-70)?

 

 

 

Week 13: 4/22-4/24

 

T 4/22 — Dies Martisa.d. X Kal. Maii

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.381-524

 

 

 

Th 4/24 — Dies Iovis a.d. VIII Kal. Maii

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.525-658

Questions to Consider

1. Ovid seems to become rather self-referential in this passage. Does he have a hidden agenda (such as promoting himself both as a poet and a lover) in this inclusion? What can we make of the explicit and oblique references to Corinna in 538 and in 567-570?
2. Ovid also promotes poets in general as lovers rather strongly. How does this passage (533-552) fit in with and contrast with Ovid’s other discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of being a poet-lover? Is he speaking on behalf of all poets or just himself (consider 539)?
3. This section seems to endow women with a great deal of command over the relationship (likening them to a general, advising them to tip the custos). Would the women he advises have the resources to carry out all of his instructions?
4. Why, in revisiting the basic situation of the exclusus amator from the woman's position, might Ovid be providing advice of a different (more practical) nature?
5. On a similar note, Ovid encourages women to take up the very behavior that provided such angst among his disciples in the first two books. Does Ovid take sides in the battle of the sexes? Or does he puckishly incite needless mischief? How would this depend on the audience, whether addressed, implied, or actual.

 

 

 

 

 

Week 14: 4/29-5/1

 

T 4/29 — Dies Martis a.d. III Kal. Maii

Lege Latine: Ars Amatoria 3.659-812

Questions to Consider

1. Procris and Cephalus
   1. What is unique about this myth? What specifics stand out in comparison to
      the rest of the poem? What role do names play, and how does it echo
      themes of naming Ovid has already presented?
   2. This is a problematic myth, since at times it reinforces with Ovid's
      advice while at others it jars. Procris does die, but dies a happy death,
      unlike the other women in the Ars. . What kind of choices is Ovid making
      in using this as his last mythological exemplum?
2. Dinner Pahty: Ovid moves abruptly from the myth into the sympotic setting. What are his
   reasons for even introducing this advice? What theme is most important to
   the passage? What is Ovid referencing at the end--is this another oblique
   rape reference? If so, how does this differ from the discussion of rape
   in book 2? If it isn't rape, what else could be going on?
3. Sex: This is the most graphic Ovid has been so far. Why does he choose to
   address sexual positions in a book for women, but not for men? How does
   this tie into the theme of variety that pops up throught the ars? Is it
   objectifying, especially when referencing the mythological women only in
   regards to their body parts? What about the extended discussion on sexual
   pleasure and the proper etiquette of expression? Ovid seems to be
   revising his advice for men in this passage. How does this change our
   idea of the advice previously given to men?
4. THE END: Wow. In the last four couplets, Ovid seems rushed, and random. He
   strings together some of his common themes, but lacks any cohesive
   creativity. Why would he decide to choose these things to end his whole
   work with? What is different and similar to the end of book 2 in the Ars?
   Does the work come a satisfying conclusion?

 

 

 

Th 5/1 — Dies Veneris Kalends Maii

Lege Anglice: Remedia Amoris

 

Assignment: Interpretative Commentary Project

Assignment: Dux Gregis