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Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 10 weekly lectures.

Content:ÌýThis module will offer an overview of Virgil's corpus and its reception, covering the poet's life and times, each of his three main works, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the Aeneid, and translations of these works into English. Each class will look at a work or theme, and consider how that work or theme has resonated throughout the ages. The module will begin with a consideration of the Virgilian biographical tradition, and thereafter classes will follow the works in the order of composition, with a focus on Virgil's engagement with tradition and genre. In preparation for each week, students will be required to read some passages in Latin. About half of the course will be based on the Aeneid, with thematic classes on such topics as: Virgil's use of Homer; Dido; aetiology; politics and geography; religion and philosophy. The module will conclude with a look at versions of Virgil in English. Students will be asked to offer presentations on a portion of the week's material.

Assessment is by one piece of coursework of 4000 or 5000 words. Essays should focus on a critical problem or problems relating to Virgil's poetry or its reception, and may refer to other texts as necessary, and to the wider literary, cultural, and political context.

Skills:ÌýBy the end of the module students should have improved their skills in reading and understanding Virgil's poetry in its original context, and in understanding how it has resonated throughout the ages, with particular appreciation of ancient traditions of poetic genre. The module will give students the opportunity to develop the skills of critical analysis and clear communication.

Recommended preparatory reading:ÌýF. Mac Góráin and C. Martindale, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Virgil, Second Edition, Cambridge 2019.

In general on the Aeneid and its reception: Philip Hardie, The Last Trojan Hero. A Cultural History of Virgil’s Aeneid. London: Bloomsbury, 2014.

Interested students who have further questions please contact Fiachra Mac Góráin (f.macgorain@ucl.ac.uk).