Latin 119b: Ovid’s Metamorphoses
MWTh12-12:50 (BlockE)Prof. Patricia A. Johnston
Office Mandel 216
Office Hours: M, Th 1Tel: 781-736-2182
Messages: 62180
email:
Required Texts:
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Books 1-5, ed. W. S. Anderson (Oklahoma 1997) ISBN 0 8061-2894-1.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Books 6-10, ed. W. S. Anderson (Oklahoma 1972) ISBN 0 8061-1456-1.
Recommended Translations include:
Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Mary M. Innes (Penguin 1955)
Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. D. Raeburn (Penguin 2004).
Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. R. Humphries (Indiana 1955).
Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. A. D. Melville (Cambridge 1990).
Other recommendations:
Hermann Fränkel, Ovid: A Poet between Two Worlds.Berkeley 1945.
C. Martindale, ed., Ovid Renewed: Ovidian Influences on Literature and Art from the
Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century.
Theodore Ziolkowski, Ovid and the Moderns. Cornell 2005.
P. M. C. Irving, Metamorphosis in Greek Myths. Oxford 1990.
Ancient Greek and Latin poetry was generally categorized by its form—particularly by its meter and its length. Epic poetry was an extended narrative in dactylic hexameter. Whether Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which qualifies in form and length, can be considered an “epic” poem, is a long-standing issue. Ovid’s poem confounds such generalizations in numerous other ways as well, as he toys with our expectations. His Latin is not difficult, but its rich layers of allusion demand close attention. In this course we will translate extensive passages of his poem, and students will be expected to read the remaining sections in translation so that we can examine some of the intriguing questions that persist about it. [Passages which will be assigned, with some modification depending on the class, are listed below.] Then students will choose or be assigned topics to present and debate in class. There will also be one mid-term and one final exam. Final reading assignments will be determined after our first meeting, when I know what the students’ prior background in Ovid is.
Preliminary Class Schedule
Aug.30WFirst Class: Begin Book 1.1-60 Introduction, Prologue, and Creation
31Th
Sept. 4 MNo class – Labor Day
6W.Ages of Man: Met. 1.76-162
7 Th
11 M Met. 1.313-451 Deucalion and Pyrrha and a New Race ofMortals
13 W
13 Th
18 MMet. 1.452-567Daphne and Apollo
20 W
21 Th –F 21no class[NOTE: Phaethon 2.1-400]
Mercury/Herse/Aglauros and House of Envy 2.708-834]/
25 MMet. 1.588-688: Io
27 W
28ThMet. 2.401-530: Callisto and Arcas
Oct. 2 MSukkot – No Class
4 W
5Th
9 MMet. 3.138-252: Actaeon and Diana
11 W (= Thursday Schedule)
12Th No Class
16 M
18 W Met. 3.339-510: Narcissus and Echo
19Th
23 M
25 W Met. 6.1-145: Minerva and Arachne
26Th
.30 M
Nov 1 W Met. 6.146-312: Niobe
2Th
6 M
8 W Met. 8.183-235: Daedalus and Icarus
9Th
13 MMet. 9.98-133: Nessus
15 W Met. 9. 134-272: Hercules cycle
16Th
20 M
22-24ThThanksgiving – No Class
28 M Begin Orpheus-cycle: Met. 10.1-85 Orpheus and Eurydice;
10.86-147 Cyparissus;: PygmalionMet.10.243-297;
Myrrha Met.10.298-502;
Venus and Adonis Met. 10.503-759; 10.708-739
30 W
Dec. 1 Th
5 M
7 W
8 Th(Last Class)
Dec. 12-19Three-hour final exam (to be scheduled by Registrar)
Suggested Paper topics:
- Ovid’s view of nature.
- Ovid’s view of the gods.
- Hercules tale as depicted by Ovid compared to earlier versions.
- Ovid’s version of any myth, as compared with other ancient versions.
- The plants and animals in Ovid and their connection to the humans or gods with whom they are associated.
- Why did Ovid choose the theme of metamorphosis?
PubliusOvidiusNaso
Born 43 BC; exiled. 8 AD; died c. 17 AD
Began reading his poetry in public in his early teens;
Elegiac Poetry:
Amores 3 books of love poems.
Heroidesdramatic monologues as letters of legendary women.
ArsAmatoriaA didactic poem in three book on arts of seduction and intrigue;
Ovid as teacher (praeceptoramoris).
RemediaAmorisA companion to the Ars, teaching how to cure one’s passion.
Fasticelebrates Roman Festivals. 6 out of 8 books written when he was exiled.
Tristia.Five books of poems addressed to Augustus, asking to return to Rome, describing the rigors of life in Pontus, etc.
Epistulae Ex Ponto.Letters from exile.
Ibis.A curse directed at an unnamed enemy.
Metamorphoses. Epic Poem, written at same time as Tristia,
probably completed before his exile.
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Mixed reception in antiquity.
12th c. AD = aetasOvidiana. His works translated into French, Spanish, Italian, as well as in Latin; was well known by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton, who cite him extensively/
19th c. Romantics rejected him for making light of serious matters.
20th century resurgence of popularity.
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Plan of Poem
Books 1-5—relations between gods and humans—human beings as victims of cosmic forces.
Books 6-11—human beings as victims of their own destructive passions.
Books 11.479-15.870—Troy, Rome and the apotheosis of Roman Heroes.
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PREPARING YOUR PAPER.
1. Double-space the text.
2. Don’t forget the Title, the introductory paragraph (“this is what I am going to examine,” and the concluding paragraph “This is what I have examined and my conclusions are that….” at the end of the paper.
2. Quotations:
a. all foreign languages cited in the text should be in italics.
b. longer passages (two or more lines) should be written (and off-set from the text) with the line breaks retained.
First quote the Latin, then put the source at the end of the quote, and then the English translation (and the name of the translator if you have not translated it yourself):
Prose quotation (example):
“Libertas, liberty, is one of the first personified abstractions in Rome to be worshipped as a divinity. Cicero introduces her as such in his work, On the Nature of the Gods, where he begins his short discussion of the gods Wealth, Safety, Concord, Liberty and Victory:
Tum autem res ipsa in qua vis inest maior aliqua sic appellatur ut ea ipsa nominetur deus.
(Cic. N. D. 2.23.61;
(Then, however, the thing itself in which there is some exceptionally potent force is itself designated as is a god.) (Add a footnote: “All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated.)
Poetry quotation:
OccupatAprilisIduscognomine Victor
Iuppiter: hacillisunt data templa die.
hac quoque, ni fallor, populo dignissima nostro
atria Libertas coepit habere sua. (Ovid, Fasti 4.621-624)
The Ides of April belong to Jupiter under the title of Victor:
a temple was dedicated to him on that day. On that day, too,
if I mistake not, Liberty began to own a hall well worthy of
our people. (trans. J. G. Frazer)
3. Put a “Works Cited” (“Bibliography”) list at the end of the paper, and then you can abbreviate the reference in the footnotes, citing there only the author, date of publication, and the page numbers:
Works Cited/ (or) Bibliography:
Andreussi, M. 1996, “Iuppiter Libertas, Aedes” in LTUR 3: 144.
Barchiesi, A. 1997, The Poet and the Prince: Ovid and Augustan Discourse. Berkeley.
Bendlin, A. 2000, “Personifikation. I Begriff. II HistorischeEntwicklung” in DNP 9: 639-643.
Borg, B. 2002, Der Logos des Mythos: Allegorien und Personifikationen in der frühengriechischenKunst. Munich.
Brunt, P. A. 1988, “Libertas in the Republic” in Brunt, The Fall of the Roman Republic and Related Essays. Oxford: 281-350.
Cairns, F. 1979. Tibullus: A Hellenistic Poet at Rome. Cambridge.
Cicero, De naturadeorum, Academica, with trans. by H. Rackham 1972 (LCL 298) Cambridge, MA.
Deubner, L. 1902-1909, “PersonifikationenabstrakterBegriffe” in AusführlichesLexikon der griechischen und römischenMythologie, ed. by W. H. Roscher, vol. 3.2. Leipzig: 2068-2169.
Elm, D. 2003, “Die Kontroverseüber die ‘Sondergötter’ – EinBeitragzurRezeptions- und Wirkungsgeschichte des Handbuches ‘Religion und Kultus der Römer’ von Georg Wissowa” in ArchivfürReligionsgeschichte 5.1: 67–79.
Footnotes might be, for example:
1. Andreussi (1996) 144.
2. Barchiesi (1997) 33-51.