Undergraduate Course: Latin Tragedy: Medea on the Roman Stage (LATI10053)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Over-the-top, violent, heart-rending, tragedy was massively popular at Rome: from Ennius in the Middle Republic to Ovid in the Early Principate to Seneca in the Neronian court, major Latin authors wrote, and were famous for, their tragic plays. This course will trace the development of this crucial Roman genre, paying particular attention to its favourite subject: Medea, whose story was told and retold on the Roman stage. We will read the fragmentary remains of the republican and Augustan tragedians and the entirety of Seneca's Medea in Latin with due consideration to issues of genre, literary technique, dramaturgy, and ideology. |
| Course description |
In the first half of the course, we will study, in Latin, the fragments and testimonia of the republican and Augustan tragedians (Livius Andronicus, Naevius, Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius, Varius Rufus, Ovid) and familiarise ourselves with the methodical challenges of reading and interpreting fragments. In the second half of the course, we will read the entirety of Seneca's Medea, the only Latin play about Medea to survive fully extant.
The wide range of authors and texts will provide students with a good understanding of the genre and familiarise them with the different historical and social circumstances in which they were written and performed; the close focus on Seneca's Medea in the second half of the course will allow students to delve deeply into one especially important tragedy. Seminars will aim to stimulate critical debate about formal and stylistic issues within the texts and to engage the students with broader questions about ethics, politics and gender. Students will further develop their close reading and Latin skills as well as their ability to understand abstract concepts and to process complex information.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Advanced-level ability in Latin language, equivalent to two years' study at the University of Edinburgh (if uncertain, consult the course organiser). |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
40 %,
Coursework
60 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
3500 word Essay (60%)
Written Examination:
2 hour in person exam (40%)
Part-Year Visiting Student (VV1) Variant Assessment:
If this course runs in the first semester - Semester 1 (only) visiting students will be examined in the December exam diet. |
| Feedback |
Students will receive immediate feedback throughout the course in class during discussions; feedforward will be offered on written coursework. Students will also receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Accurately translate the set text(s)
- Reflect critically on the set text(s), and their literary and historical context
- Analyse and reflect critically upon the particular problems associated with the set text(s) and of the modern debate on the text(s), and to take an independent and well-argued stance on such issues
- Conduct a sustained individual enquiry into a particular aspect of the topic in a research-led, argument-driven coursework essay and develop the skill to analyse material and textual sources for the ancient world in a written form
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Reading List
Key texts:
- Fragmentary Republican Latin II. Edited and translated by S. Goldberg and G. Manuwald, Harvard 2018.
- Remains of Old Latin. Livius Andronicus, Naevius, Pacuvius, Accius. Edited and translated by E. H. Warmington, Harvard 1936.
- Seneca. Six tragedies. A new translation by E. Wilson, Oxford 2010.
Resources:
- Boyle, A.J. (1997). Tragic Seneca. An Essay in the Tragic Tradition, London.
- Boyle, A.J. (2006). Introduction to Roman Tragedy, London.
- Conte, G.B. (1994). Latin literature. A history. Translated by J. Solodow, revised by D. Fowler and G. Most, Baltimore.
- Littlewood, C. (2004). Self-representation and Illusion in Senecan Tragedy, Oxford.
- Manuwald, G. (2011). Roman Republican Theatre, Cambridge.
- McDonald, M. and Walton, M. (eds.) (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre, Cambridge.
- Schiesaro, A. (2003). The Passions at Play. Thyestes and the Dynamics of Senecan Drama, Cambridge.
- Trinacty, C. (2014). Senecan Tragedy and the Reception of Augustan Poetry, Oxford. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- the ability to review critically and to consolidate knowledge and skills in a given area
- the ability to identify, define and analyse complex concepts
- written and verbal communication skills
- the ability to digest large quantities of textual material
- time-management skills |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jesse Hill
Tel:
Email: jesse.hill@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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