Ovid’s Metamorphoses: The Last of the Great Epic Texts From Ancient Greece and Rome
Fall (11 hours to 14.5) | Available (Membership Required)
Marcel Proust noted in the first pages of his early twentieth century masterpiece, A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, that “Nous remplissons l’apparence physique de l’autre que nous voyons de toutes les notions que nous avons sur lui.” (Roughly translated as “we tend to project upon the physical appearance of the person whom we see before us all the notions that we may have about him or her.”) The last great epic text of Ancient Greece and Rome, composed shortly after Virgil’s Aeneid, seeks to measure human agency and purpose not in what we do but in what we think, feel, and desire. But how do we or how can we “translate” ourselves to others safely if the most important truths of our identity are invisible? What new language must we learn? Our study of the text will be largely based on class discussion rather than on formal lectures. Every participant will be asked to help organize our reading and understanding of each book of the poem.
This course will combine lecture with class discussions.
- Required Book:
Métamorphoses by Ovid (A.D. Melville trans.) ISBN 978-0192816917
Edward Bradley
Edward Bradley is a retired professor of Classics at Dartmouth College where he taught Ancient Greek and Latin language and literature for more than 43 years. Special interests include the art and architecture of the Italian peninsula from the Iron Age through to the late Classical period and early Christian art and architecture.