LT4231 Ritual and Religion in Latin Literature

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Module description

The religious landscape of the Roman world was diverse and often without canonical scripture to guide ritual action and theological understanding. Poets, historians, and antiquarian authors were themselves integral to conditioning popular engagement with the religions of Rome. Latin writers shaped how the gods were perceived and gave new meaning to the divine’s place in Roman cultural identity construction. Latin authors created, challenged, explored, and transformed the religious sphere. Like sculptural and painted depictions of worshippers and gods from temples or domestic spaces, their writings were not simply mirrors of socio-cultural practice. Latin literature’s interaction with ritual and religion raises important questions. Students in this module will explore the topic through case studies centred on specific genres and media selected from over 400 years of Latin literary production (e.g. hymns, philosophical and antiquarian prose, epic poetry, and dedicatory inscriptions).

Intended learning outcomes

• show broader familiarity with Latin literature in the original and honours-level linguistic competence.
• apply detailed knowledge and literary appreciation of the core texts, and demonstrate the ability to place these texts within a broader literary, historical and cultural context.
• competently use modern scholarship on the topic, and do so critically
• present coherent, relevant and well-reasoned arguments both in oral and written contexts.
• use library and internet resources for independent research; word and other electronic media in written work and presentations.