Vergil's Aeneid is one of the highlights of Roman literature, and its influence over all later Roman writing, as well as post antique European literature, is immeasurable. Composed during the Augustan era, it is a multilayered text: it persistently engages with contemporary Roman politics and society, even though it is an epic poem set in the remote, mythical past, narrating the fate of Aeneas, a refugee from Troy, who seeks a new home in the Mediterranean after the fall of his city. This lecture introduces Vergil, his poetry and the themes of the Aeneid as set out in Book 1 of this 12 book epic. Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Roman Myth as Poetry: Trojan Ancestors (handout)

The Roman World introduces students to the society, literature and art of ancient Rome, through a study of its major historical and literary figures, such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Virgil and Ovid. We shall look at Rome’s place in the ancient Mediterranean world, and its connections with ancient Greece and other cultures, such as Egypt and Gaul. Through almost constant warfare, Rome accumulated an enormous Mediterranean empire, and this subject will investigate how this shaped Roman culture, through such topics as the acquisition of slaves and the ability to import luxury objects. We shall also see how the civil conflicts of the first century BCE affected Rome and Roman identity, leading to Caesar, Pompey and others engaging in propaganda wars, as seen through competitive monumental building, and to some self-questioning in the literature of the period. Towards the end of the semester, we shall look at Rome’s lasting influence, and the way that we continue to represent Rome in book and film.

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Roman Myth as Poetry: Trojan Ancestors (handout)

Roman Myth as Poetry: Trojan Ancestors (handout)

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