If our literary sources are to be believed, the Latin-speaking world teemed with witches—women capable of unbelievable supernatural feats, usually old, sometimes ugly, and always perverse. This course surveys the witches of the Latin tradition, from Ovid to Kramer and Sprenger’s Malleus Maleficarum, stopping at Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Seneca’s Medea, Lucan’s Bellum Civile, Horace’s Epodes and Satires, Tacitus’ Annales, and Augustine’s City of God along the way. Although Latin literature is our primary focus, these readings are supplemented by epigraphic texts and relevant scholarship.
We will meet 3 times per week, during which we will translate together and discuss our readings. Daily assignments to be completed before each formal meeting can be found in the Detailed schedule at the end of this syllabus.
We will meet 3 times per week, during which we will translate together and discuss our readings. Daily assignments to be completed before each formal meeting can be found in the Detailed schedule at the end of this syllabus.
- Instructor of record: Carman Romano