Module manager: Paul White
Email: p.m.white@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
| CLAS2125 | Writing Love in the Ancient World |
CLAS3460
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Ancient authors fundamentally shaped the way we think and talk about love. Poets, dramatists, letter writers and philosophers wrote about the joys and sufferings of love, and about the social and political complications that may frustrate or pervert desire and make its fulfilment impossible. In making a language to talk about the experience of love, they found that this language could be set to work to talk about other things, too: to question the foundations of socially constructed identities, to complicate gender roles, to express alienation and a sense of being out of synch with the world, to confront literary traditions and find a place for their own voice within them. In this module we will read and analyse a range of literary texts about love from Greek and/or Roman antiquity. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
The module will give students the ability to engage in close reading and detailed analysis of ancient literary texts about love in English translation, paying attention to how literary language creates meaning, for example through the use of imagery, verbal and structural patterning, intertextuality and allusion. Students will become familiar with the conventions and topoi (established themes or devices) of erotic genres, and the ways in which they were used, ironized and subverted by individual authors. The module will also explore aspects of the literary, social and cultural context that are relevant to an understanding of the works studied, encourage students to engage with the secondary literature and gain an understanding of the main ideas that have characterized different phases of modern criticism (e.g. formalist, socio-cultural, psychoanalytical, feminist critique).
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. apply a wide-ranging and detailed understanding of ancient erotic genres to close analysis of the set texts (in English translation).
2. formulate interpretations of the set texts using enhanced knowledge of historical, cultural and literary contexts.
3. evaluate and apply relevant theoretical frameworks, paying attention to issues such as gender and sexuality, the lyric voice and persona, the subversion or endorsement of social norms, literary tradition and reception.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. communicate ideas and interpretations effectively.
5. provide in-depth analysis in a form that observes defined parameters.
6. gather, evaluate and use information from secondary sources, and demonstrate an understanding of the main trends in the secondary criticism and an ability to describe and comment on particular aspects of current research.
7. assess and reflect critically on the appropriateness of different approaches and methods in the study of literature
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 14 | 1 | 14 |
| Seminar | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Informal formative feedback will be given on seminar presentations and discussions throughout the module. Students will be given the opportunity to write and receive feedback for a formative practice commentary, which will prepare them for the final summative assessment. Feedback sessions will also take place during regular office hours.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 40 |
| Coursework | Assignment | 60 |
| 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: 25/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team