GRST 302 - The Blegen Seminar

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

The course is offered by the Blegen Distinguished Visiting Research Professor or the Blegen Research Fellow in Classics, appointed annually to pursue research and lecture on his/her scholarly concerns in classical antiquity. We encourage students to take note of the fact that each Blegen Seminar is uniquely offered and will not be repeated. Since the topic changes every year, the course may be taken for credit more than once.

Topic for 2014/15b: The Power of the Poet. The origins of the universe, the nature of life after death, the loves of the gods–on what basis do ancient poets claim the authority to know about such mysteries? This course examines this question with a primary focus on key poetic texts from ancient Greece and Rome, including such authors as Homer, Hesiod, Lucretius and Vergil. In addition to assessing the claims that such ancient poets make regarding, for example, inspiration from the Muses and the power of human reason, we also examine how readers and scholars from antiquity come to endow certain poets with more-than-human powers, such as Vergil’s alleged prophecy of the birth of Christ. The class concludes with later poets influenced by the Greek and Roman tradition, particularly Dante, Wordsworth, and T.S. Eliot, as we continuously ask “what constitutes poetic authority?” All readings are in English. Mr. Corbeill.

Open to all classes.

Two 75-minute periods.