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Jan 28

Virgil’s The Aeneid

Michael Barnes, Ph.D.

Virgil’s Aeneid has a claim to be the most influential work in Western literary history. For poets as diverse as Dante and T.S. Eliot, to name just two of Virgil’s famous admirers, the power and sensitivity of Virgil’s poetry set an unsurpassed literary standard. An epic poem in the style of Virgil’s great predecessor Homer, the Aeneid recounts the wanderings of the Trojan hero Aeneas before his arrival in Italy, where he fights a bitter and tragic war to establish a new home for his people. Written in the first century BC, as the Roman republic was unraveling in a series of catastrophic civil wars, the Aeneid weaves together classical mythology and Roman history, with a vast and memorable cast of characters. Over the course of 12 chapters (or “books”), Virgil explores such issues as the cost of imperial power; our duties and responsibilities to our family, state, and selves; and the relationship between destiny and divinity.

In this course, students will slowly make their way, over the course of six weekly meetings, through Robert Fagles’ magisterial translation of the Aeneid. A (free) preliminary video presentation, available before the first class meeting, will offer all students the mythological and historical background they need to begin reading the poem. In the weekly class meetings, Prof. Barnes will lecture for one hour on that week’s assigned reading, and then, in the second hour, lead a student-driven discussion and answer any questions.

All students will need to purchase the following book for the class:
The Aeneid, translated by Robert Fagles: ISBN-13: 978-0143105138 (paperback)

Six-Week Course Schedule | Tuesdays
Jan 28 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Feb 04 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Feb 11 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Feb 18 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Feb 25 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Mar 04 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

This class will be held in-person at WIH and simulcast via Zoom


Semester

Original price was: $220.00.Current price is: $190.00.

Class Tuition

13 in stock

Price is per student. Class tuition is non-refundable.