Latin 104: INTERMEDIATE LATIN POETRY
M, W, F: 12.10-1.00
Cohen 323
Dr. Daniel Solomon
daniel.p.solomon@vanderbilt.edu.
Office hours: Monday and Tuesday, 1-2, or by appointment, in Cohen 303 (tel.: [32]2-3303)
Required texts: Randall Ganiban, ed., Vergil: Aeneid: Book 1 (Focus, 2009).
James O’Hara, ed., Vergil: Aeneid: Book 4 (Focus, 2011).
Objectives: Review of Latin syntax, and introduction to more advanced norms of professional Latin as
employed in classical poetry. Strongly recommended prerequisites are Lat 100 or Lat 103 or two years of
high school experience.
Our course readings will begin with some Catullus to warm up with language, techniques, meter,
and... portrayal of love. But our main focus will be the most famous love story of classical Rome, Dido and
Aeneas in Vergil's Aeneid. These verses both reflected and influenced Roman society at its cultural peak,
and we will be considering how Vergil took the Latin language to new heights of subtlety and power.
For those coming from Lat 100 in particular, you need to hit the ground running: you must use the
initial ten days to review morphology and basic syntax: start by going over your verb and noun endings,
especially the formation of Participles (Wheelock, ch. 23) and then review the most important subordinate
clauses in the language: Indirect Statement (ch. 25); Indirect Question (ch. 30); Ablative Absolute (ch 24);
uses of Future Passive Participles (ch. 24 and 39)
Lesson format: Similar to Lat 103: slightly longer assignments but with less in-class reading and
more analysis. You can expect to begin each class by being asked to provide a plot summary of the
assigned passage; we will then read together key sections, first in Latin, then in English, pausing to review
old grammar and introduce new. Starting out slowly, we will accelerate to a pace of about 25-30 lines per
class, and we will hopefully progress to a point where you get the gist of a passage after a single glance.
We will always be comparing our passage to others from the semester in order to prepare you to write
commentaries of its style.
Thus, all assigned readings will have been prepared by you at home: you must provide not only a
translation but also the reasons for your translation, until you understand and remember how and why the
author uses the Subjunctive mood of this verb, the Ablative case of this noun, and so forth. At home you
may write out translations or do them with a friend, but in class, you should be prepared to translate directly
from the Latin text, with no crib notes whatsoever.
Grading/Exams:
Participation, including presence,
preparation, and written homework:
10 %
Four 25-minute quizzes:
20 %
Three Review Exams:
45 %
Cumulative Final Exam,
on Wednesday, Apr 23, 3 pm
25 %
An alternate exam will be given on Monday April 28, noon.
-Exams will offer two Latin passages from those assigned; you will choose one to translate, analyze the
grammar, comment on the context, scan a couple of verses, and translate unprepared Latin sentences
based on the assigned vocab and grammar.
Make-ups will be allowed in appropriate circumstances, if you notify me beforehand; they
should be arranged before the following class session (and quiz 3 must be taken before Spring Break).
-Grading scale: Points are scored out of a total of 100: the top ten constitute the “A” range, the next ten
the “B” range, and so forth. The letter is accompanied by “+” or “-” if your score falls within the top or
bottom 3 points of each range. Thus e.g. 87-89= B+ ; 83-86 = B ; 80-82 = B-
Provisional Schedule
1. Mon
Jan 6
Wed
Jan 8
Fri
Jan 10
CANCELED
Intro
Catullus, #5 [handout]
2. Mon Jan 13
Wed Jan 15
Fri
Jan 17
Catullus, #3 [handout]
Catullus, #8 [handout]
quiz 1; dactylic hexameter
3. Mon Jan 20
Wed Jan 22
Fri
Jan 24
MLK Day - no classes
Aeneid, 1.1-16: be prepared to read aloud the first three lines of all passages
1.16-33
4. Mon Jan 27
Wed
Jan 29
Fri
Jan 31
1.34-49
1.305-324
1.325-347
5. Mon Feb 3
Wed Feb 5
Fri
Feb 7
quiz 2; commentary
1.348-368
1.369-401
6. Mon Feb 10
Wed Feb 12
Fri
Feb 14
1.402-417
1.494-508; 561-574
1.613-632
7. Mon Feb 17
Wed Feb 19
Fri
Feb 21
Review exam 1 – just on Aeneid
4.1-19
4.20-38
8. Mon Feb 24
Wed
Feb 26
Fri
Feb 28
4.39-55
4.56-73
quiz 3; Future Passive Participles
March 1-9
--- SPRING BREAK ---
9. Mon Mar 10
Wed
Mar 12
Fri
Mar 14
4.74-89
4.90-114
4.114-128; 160-172
10. Mon Mar 17
Wed Mar 19
Fri
Mar 21
4. 173-195; 265-276
4.276-295
Review exam 2
11. Mon Mar 24
Wed
Mar 26
Fri
Mar 28
4.296-330
4.331-350
4.351-370
12. Mon Mar 31
Wed
Apr 2
Fri
Apr 4
4.371-392
4.393-415
quiz 4; uses of ut
13. Mon Apr 7
Wed
Apr 9
Fri
Apr 11
4.424-449
4.522-552
4.553-583
14. Mon Apr 14
Wed Apr 16
Fri
Apr 18
Review exam 3
4.642-671
4.672-705
15. Mon Apr 21
General Review