Module manager: Dr Bev Back
Email: b.back@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2020/21
| CLAS3360 | Ovid the Innovator |
This module is approved as a discovery module
This 20-credit module focuses on three innovative works of Ovid: Heroides, a set of letters from mythical heroines to their absent lovers; Tristia, a series of poems in which the exiled poet laments his plight among savages at Tomis; and Fasti, a poetic treatment of the Roman calendar and its religious festivals in the age of Augustus. The poems are studied in English translation (Heroides, tr. H. Isbell, Penguin 1990; Tristia, tr. P. Green, University of California Press 2005; Fasti, tr. A. Boyle and R. Woodard, Penguin 2000).
This module aims to introduce a range of Ovid’s works and equip students to engage with them in detail, through close readings of the set texts in translation, as well as to situate the works in their literary, socio-political and historical contexts. The module syllabus will compare and contrast the texts with one another, and with versions of the myths written about to their predecessors, as well as introducing other selected works which utilise aspects of the storyline, characters, or imagery shown in Ovid’s works. The course will also introduce and prepare students to identify and evaluate secondary scholarship and literary critical approaches, especially narratology, considerations of genre, intertextuality and reception theory.
On successful completion of this module, students are expected to be able to:
- demonstrate a broad understanding of the concepts and techniques in the discipline, including an ability to analyse critically various forms of texts (especially different genres of literature) and relate them to each other where appropriate;
- compare and contrast the three poems under consideration: with each other, their predecessors, and with other works in the Ovidian corpus;
- use close reading techniques to produce critical appreciations of passages from these texts;
- appreciate and employ the main methods of enquiry in the subject, in particular literary critical approaches such as narratology, intertextuality and reception theory;
- select evidence for, and explore, Ovid's treatment of themes such as gender, gods and cosmology, mythical heroes and Roman kings, and Augustan Rome.
- demonstrate a range of transferable skills, including effective use of the library and other methods of research, written expression, the use of IT resources, time-management, and the organisation of personal study.
This module will focus on three innovative works of Ovid: Heroides, a set of letters from mythical heroines to their absent lovers; Tristia, a series of poems in which the exiled poet laments his plight among savages at Tomis; and Fasti, a poetic treatment of the Roman calendar and its religious festivals in the age of Augustus. But nothing is quite as it seems with Ovid. The mythical heroines in Heroides invite us to question the authority behind 'familiar' myths; the poems in Tristia are so full of poetic flair as to make some doubt whether Ovid was ever exiled at all; and Fasti outwardly celebrates and subtly criticises Augustan Rome in equal measure. These poems will be studied in their own right and, more generally, as a means of assessing Ovid's skill at manipulating myth, his exile and exilic persona, and his troubled relationship with Augustus and Augustan Rome.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Private study hours | 177 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 23 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Private study breakdown
3 hours per lecture (3x18) = 54 hours
4 hours per seminar (4x5) = 20 hours
Preparation for assessments: 103 hours
Opportunities for formative feedback will arise at the following times:
- when students attend and participate in teaching sessions (lectures and seminars);
- through the students’ seminar contributions;
- in-lecture minute papers assessing impact of lecture;
- using post-it notes for instant, anonymous feedback;
- at face-to-face meetings during dedicated office hours;
- via a mid-term informal questionnaire, where students can self-assess their progress and performance half way through the course;
- through a detailed, formal module questionnaire at the close of the module.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Written Work | Commentary (2000 words) | 30 |
| Essay | 2500 words | 70 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 10/2/2020
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team