The Greek and Roman Minor Epics

Greek and Roman Minor Epics: Hesiod, Lucretius, Ovid, Statius, and other Non Homeric and Vergilian Epics

This is a survey of the important epic poetry apart from those of Homer and Vergil. We will focus on three things in this class:

First, the TEXT: the students will read through the entirety of these epics, with regular reading aloud by turns in class; we will study the structure of the poems, the storytelling techniques, images, and themes.

Second, CULTURE: we’ll discuss the relationship of the poems and their world to the surrounding Greco-Roman culture, including the later Christianized one. We will also look at their influence on the literature and imagination of Old Western Culture from their day up to our own.

Third: CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES: we will discuss the attitude of the Christian world, especially the early Christian writers, to this literature and to pre-Christian Greek literature and philosophy in general, and the value of these epics for a well-educated Christian person in the modern world.

Note on texts: all, or nearly all, of the texts we'll read are available online, but it is much preferable to have print editions in hand and on your library shelves. I will give recommendations for both, but will strongly urge purchasing the print editions. They will cost around $175.00 but it is well worth it.

Course Objectives

The student will

• Learn and be able to retell the stories of the poems, including the main characters and their roles.
• Think more clearly about textual and translation issues in literature, especially the Bible.
• Gain an understanding of and appreciation for the role epic poetry had in Greco-Roman culture and in later Old Western Culture.
• Understand and defend the importance of these non-Christian literary works for a thoughtful, literate Christian.

Texts

I will send out recommendations for print editions to the below works to all registrants for the course, and will give links to online editions (not recommended, but acceptable).

1. Hesiod: Works and Days, Theogony, Shield of Herakles
2. Pseudo-Homer: The Battle of the Mice and Frogs
3. Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica
4. Lucretius: De Rerum Natura
5. Ovid: Metamorphosis
6. Statius: Thebaid
7. Lucan: Pharsalia
8. Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy