BA Latin and Italian

Lucius Annaeus Seneca lived through turbulent times in First Century CE Rome, and responded to the world around him with an astonishing range of intellectual activity, from oratory and epistolography to philosophical essays and tragedies exploring the violent extremes of human emotion. The impact of his work was felt in the next generation of Roman writers, including the epic poet, Lucan, and continued into the 21^st century, influencing the development of Renaissance theatre and the 20^th Century theories of Foucault.

This course examines Seneca’s philosophical and dramatic words in their historical, literary and philosophical contexts.

Pre: Non-linguists: none; Linguists: (at least) A-Level Latin or Intensive Latin 2.

Co: Non-linguists: none; Linguists: Students who are concurrently taking CAHE30110 Advanced Latin 1 may choose whether to take this course unit as linguist or non-linguist. Students who are concurrently taking CAHE30210 Advanced Latin 2 or CAHE30310 are expected to take the linguist version.

Anti: CAHE25012 Seneca.

• To provide students with the tools to develop a sophisticated analysis of the presentation of ideas across different literary and philosophical genres.
• To enable students to develop a sophisticated understand individual works of Seneca and contextualize this understanding in the wider literary, historical and intellectual climate of the time.
• To enable students to develop an extensive understanding of and to critically evaluate the reception history of Seneca’s works.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the issues we confront when dealing with texts in translation;
• use appropriate terminology when discussing dramatic and philosophical issues.
• give a sustained account of central works of Seneca, indicating revelant passages

Those taking the linguistic option will also be able to translate into good English and discuss the linguistic features of Seneca’s language.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• offer sophisticated analysis of texts from a range of genres with different critical approaches;
• synthesise material from different sources to produce diachronic and synchronic analyses.
• engage in constructive and sustained philosophical discussion

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• present the results of their work in a professional manner with appropriate reference to sources and modern published scholarship;
• assimilate and summarise large quantities of evidence;
• locate and retrieve relevant information from primary sources;
• conduct independent bibliographic searches;
• engage in constructive and sustained discussion.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• construct a sustained and sophisticated argument in written and oral form;
• pose and attempt to answer questions about complex issues;
• assimilate and summarise large quantities of evidence;
• locate and retrieve relevant information from primary sources;
• conduct bibliographic searches;
• present the results in a professional manner with appropriate reference to sources and modern published scholarship;
• use e-resources and gain knowledge of research methods and resources;
• manage time and resources;
• engage in constructive and sustained critical discussion.

Set Texts:

Wilson, E. (transl),  2010. Seneca: Six Tragedies (Oxford World’s Classics) 978-0192807069.

Davie, J. (transl), 2007 Seneca: Dialogues and Essays (Oxford World’s Classics) 978-0199552405

Additional texts as provided in lectures.

Linguists will read a smaller selection of texts in translation as well as selected passages (text provided) from Hercules Furens and De Ira.

Secondary Reading:

Bartsch, S. (ed.) 2015. The Cambridge Companion to Seneca.

Costa, C. (ed.) 1974. Seneca.

Dodson Robinson, E. (ed.) 2016. Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Senecan Tragedy.

Fitch, J. (ed.) 2008.

Study hours