Latin Metre

*Please note that this course will run only if two or more students enroll. 

*There will be no class the first two weeks of July (July 2nd, and 9th). Instead, the course will continue 2 weeks beyond the regular Telepaideia term. 

Course Description: Poems are meant to be read aloud. At least, this was a given in Antiquity: often, they were or music themselves or accompanied by music. Yet, today, many people (from university students to teachers) are feeling uncomfortable to do this, either being unfamiliar with metre at all, or, although knowing how scansion works, are not sure how it is to be actually read. Doing so, you concentrate mainly on the poem’s contents and its rhetoric, but you miss a great deal of the poet’s artwork: its outer form, its sound, its music, which, very often, is employed skillfully to underline the meaning. Apart from that, knowing metre helps a lot in understanding the grammar of a poem (e.g. when you have to decide which words belong together based on its quantities), and appreciate also prose rhythm as adhibited by authors like Cicero or Seneca.

We will start from an introduction into prosody (pronunciation, accent, vowel and syllable quantities etc.), passing on to a few selected metres of Classical Roman poetry as e.g. Hexameter, Elegiacs, Iambic Trimeter and Lyrical verses. All of this will always be in line with the skills and wishes of the students, and the atmosphere will be laid back!

DETAILS

Level: Requirement: basic/good knowledge of Latin (you have to know the grammar and should be able to understand/translate texts, but not necessarily on a speaking level!) For who? For everyone! E.g. students (High School, university) as well as for teachers who want to feel more secure teaching metre to their class, or everyone else. You do not need to have any experience in metre. If you do have some experience, you can use this course for further practice. An active participation during the lessons is required to make the course for you as effective as possible, but don’t worry, because that’s why you do the course! ;) Preparation needed? Although it is useful do to some verse analyzing at home, as well as recitation or memorization of verses, the success of this course doesn’t depend on it – you can just attend! Course language will be English, unless you have experience in speaking or understanding spoken Latin; sometimes we do a mix of both.

Textbook: Instructor will provide materials. If you further interested, you could use Raven’s “Latin Metre”, or, if you’re German, “Römische Prosodie und Metrik” by Zgoll, or Friedrich Crusius, “Römische Metrik”.