C2-D2. The AENEID (10 weeks)

Since the glory that was Greece had been famously immortalized in the Homeric epics, the Emperor Augustus decided that somebody would have to write an epic exalting the grandeur of Rome. For this purpose, he recruited Virgil, who obliged by producing the Aeneid, a poem of such celebrated wisdom and beauty that, many centuries later, the poet would once again be recruited into an epic enterprise, this time by Dante Alighieri whom he would serve as guide on the journey through Hell and Purgatory. In this course, we will read and discuss this great poetic masterpiece.

INSTRUCTOR: Lillian Corti. After obtaining her doctorate in Comparative Literature at the City University of New York, Dr. Corti taught at the University of Tulsa, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and at the Athens Center in Greece. She published a book-length study on the myth of Medea which included chapters on dramatic works by Euripides, Seneca, Corneille, Grillparzer and various modern authors.

REQUIRED BOOKS:  The Aeneid of Virgil trans. Allen Mandelbaum. University of California Press ISBN 978-0-520-25415-2