ENGL 71.02 Ovid in England
Englishing Ovid was something every advanced schoolboy in the16th century did: translating passages; composing speeches for characters from the poems; dramatizing and performing (in Latin, in England) Ovidian scenes. In this seminar we'll read Ovid's Heroides and Metamorphoses in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century print translations alongside a modern English edition. (Students competent in Latin may use the Loeb as well as or instead of the modern English.) We'll consider the forms, themes, and predicaments Ovid's great mythographic poems offered to the English literary imagination. Some attention will be paid to late 20th century performative and poetic "englishings" of Ovid.
Department-Specific Course Categories
Senior Seminar: Course Group I