Online advanced seminars

Women-Only Seminar:
LETTERS FROM MYTHICAL WOMEN – OVID'S HEROIDES

With Natalia Čepeláková
Tuesdays 4:30-6 pm UK time, Jan 14-Mar 11, 2025

There are comparatively few women in the Latin speaking field, a fact that has nothing to do with ability and everything to do with opportunity. This seminar, led by Natalia Čepeláková, aims to help redress the balance by giving women the opportunity to practise speaking Latin with each other in a mutually supportive environment. Designed for women who are fairly confident readers of Latin and specifically want to begin or develop their speaking ability, the seminar will encourage discussion of students’ response to the texts rather than primarily teaching grammar, though grammatical guidance will be given whenever it is needed.

Ovid's Heroides consist of 21 elegiac poems, most of which take the form of letters written by women of ancient myth and legend who have suffered in love to the men who have variously deserted, disappointed, deceived or otherwise mistreated them. Examples include Penelope writing to Ulysses, Briseis to Achilles, Phaedra to Hippolytus, Dido to Aeneas, Deianeira to Hercules, Ariadne to Theseus, Medea to Jason, and Hermione to Orestes. Each poem purports to present love from the woman’s point of view; among the things we will discuss in this seminar is the extent to which the male poet has, or could hope to have, understood the perspective of a woman on the receiving end of male desire in societies where women were relatively powerless. Taking one poem per week, we will also spend part of each seminar revisiting the myths themselves and noting other well known representations of the stories.

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Greek Composition II:
DIALOGUES

With Mark Tomov and Oroel Marcuello Gil
Tuesdays 6:30-8 pm UK time, Jan 14-Mar 11, 2025

Μουσεῖον τῆς βιβλιοθήκης· Introduction to Greek Prose Composition and Literature

῾The act of imitation is innate to humans from childhood, and they differ from all other animals in that they are extremely imitative, they learn first through imitation, and they all take pleasure in acts of imitation᾽ (Aristotle, Poetics 1448b)

Following in the footsteps of Alexandrian scholars, we present a year-long series of classes on Ancient Greek literature and style. Advanced students will practise the Greeks’ stylistic devices and figures of speech in a step-by-step fashion by imitating the authors’ style, progressing from easier to harder texts. The course is divided into three terms, each of which will focus on a different type of texts (narrative, dialogues, deliberative speeches). Within each term, classes will be organised in two-week sets, where the first week will consist of reading an ancient text and analysing its structure and style and the second will involve discussion of short texts written by students in the style of the author who was examined the previous week. The course is aimed at those who have already finished Intermediate I (or higher).

Greek Composition II: dialogues

In the second term, our focus will be on texts where the interaction between characters takes central place. We will examine the ways in which authors create dialogue between the dramatis personae (as part of what Plato refers to as μίμησις as opposed to ἁπλῆ διήγησις – Pl. Rep. 3.392b-394d). The objective of these classes will be to study what makes a dialogue funny, profound, or engaging. In terms of grammar, we will examine how particles are used with subtlety to build up or ease tension, thus functioning as crucial elements of the text around which meaning is introduced.

(the order of authors may change)
Week 1. Introduction
Weeks 2-3: Lucian. Reading and discussion.
Weeks 4-5: Aristophanes. Reading and discussion.
Weeks 6-7: Plato. Reading and discussion.
Weeks 8-9: Euripides/Sophocles. Reading and discussion.

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Neo-Latin Reading Course, Part II:
EARLY MODERN EUROPE AND AMERICA

With Dr Iván Parga Ornelas
Thursdays 4-5:30 pm, UK time, Jan 16-Mar 13, 2025

Latin language and literature have a rich and enduring history that goes beyond the dissolution of the Roman empire. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and even today, people across the world have used Latin to write literary, philosophical, political, and scientific works of great historical and cultural significance. In order to introduce students to post-classical Latin literature, this two-term reading course will focus on the writings of late-medieval and Renaissance or Early Modern authors. The course is designed both for scholars of these periods who wish to improve their Latin for academic purposes, and for enthusiasts of the language who seek a wider understanding of the history of Latin literature.

Classes are primarily taught in Latin, and they are meant for advanced or intermediate students who have already learned the grammar and can read, but still struggle to do so fluently and without a dictionary. Some experience with spoken Latin is also desirable.

During the Winter term we will focus on international works that demonstrate the spread of humanistic ideas and classicising Latin throughout Europe and other parts of the world from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth century. Some of the authors whose texts we will examine are Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1469 – 1535), Laura Cereta (1469-1499), Joachim du Bellay (1522-1560), Goerge Buchanan (1506-1582), and José de Villerías y Roelas (1695-1728).

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Latine Loqui:
TALKING ABOUT EMOTIONS IN LATIN

With Pierre Gorsky-Mièze
Thursdays 5:30-7 pm UK time, Jan 16-Mar 13, 2025

Are you already skilled in Latin grammar and able to understand someone speaking Latin?

Are you already able to express yourself very simply in Latin, but keen to improve your oral
expression? Then this workshop is for you!

The method involves learning and using the idiomatic expressions found in Meissner's Latin
Phrase Book, supported by specially created videos and the reading of ancient texts. Students
will have the opportunity to use the expressions in a variety of contexts, which will make
memorising them easy.

Each term will have a different theme:
- Autumn Term: daily life, work, projects.
- Winter Term: emotions and philosophy.
- Spring Term: public life and politics.

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