CX230-30/CX330-30

Modern scholars regularly use the term epyllion, or ‘little epic’, to describe a brief narrative poem written in hexameters. Such poems usually treat mythological themes. They often show a preference for lesser known myths, and treat these myths in a humorous or light-hearted way. Other features of some epyllia are interpolations in the story, which may take the form of internal narrators or extended descriptions.

In this module, we will study a range of texts which have been called, or might qualify as epyllia: Catullus’ carmina docta; the Aristaeus episode in Virgil Georgics 4; the Nisus and Euryalus episode in Aeneid 9; some episodes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; the pseudo-Virgilian Ciris, a poem about Scylla and her father Minos; and the epyllion of Hypsipyle in Statius Thebaid 5. We will analyse which traits these poems may share and how our understanding of these poems can be enriched through studying them collectively. We will also discuss the usefulness of the genre ‘epyllion’, and engage with theories of genre more broadly. Throughout our course we will compare epyllia to epic poetry, which is at the summit of the ancient hierarchies of genres. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of the traditions that epyllia follow and the innovations that they bring about.

Students outside the Classics department who want to take this module should be familiar Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid.

 

Set texts for all students (in translation)

• Catullus 62-68 (we will focus on 62, 63, 64, 66, 68)
• Virgil Georgics 4
• Virgil Aeneid (we will focus on Book 9)
• Ovid Metamorphoses (we will look at selected passages from Books 2, 3, 8 and 13 in the lectures)
• [Pseudo-Virgil] Ciris
• Statius Thebaid (we will focus on Books 5, 10 and 12)

 

Recommended translations

• Lee, G. trans (1991). The Poems of Catullus. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). 
• Fallon, P. trans. (2006). Virgil Georgics. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). 
• West, D. trans. (2003). Virgil The Aeneid. (London: Penguin.)
• McCarter, S. trans. (2023). Metamorphoses by Ovid. (London: Penguin).
• A translation of the pseudo-Virgilian Ciris will be circulated in class
• Joyce, J.W. trans. (2008). Statius: Thebaid. A Song of Thebes. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).

All texts are also available in the Loeb Classical Library, to which the university has digital access (click here to read the Loebs). The Loeb translations also contain a facing Latin text.

 

Set texts for students taking the module as a Latin text option (i.e. Q800 and others)

Catullus 64

• Godwin, J. (1995). Catullus: Poems 61-68. (Warminster: Aris & Phillips).

[Pseudo-Virgil] Ciris

• Kayachev, B. (2020). Ciris: A Poem from the Appendix Vergiliana. (Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales).

Virgil Georgics 4.333-566

• Thomas, R.F. (2008). Virgil: Georgics, Volume II: Books III-IV. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Virgil Aeneid 9.176-445

• Hardie, P. (1994). Virgil: Aeneid, Book IX. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Ovid Metamorphoses 8.1-182

• Anderson, W.S. (1972). Ovid's Metamorphoses: Books 6-10. (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press).

Virgil Eclogues 6 and 10

• Coleman, R. (1977). Vergil: Eclogues. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Statius Thebaid 5.335-485

• A commentary on this section of Thebaid will be circulated on Moodle.

These Latin texts are to be read in addition to the primary set texts in English above. The primary set texts in English subsume the Latin prescriptions: they should be read for comprehension of how the prescribed part in Latin fits into the whole text to which it belongs.

N.b. students must have access to these editions, and these editions will be the basis for examination; that does not mean that students need purchase their own copies, as the library has copies of all the above. In particular, the library has digital copies of: Godwin on Catullus 64, Kayachev on the Ciris and Anderson on Metamorphoses 8.

 

Other primary texts

The following texts will be useful background reading for all students.

• Homer Iliad
• Homer Odyssey
• Moschus Europa
• Virgil Aeneid
• Virgil Eclogues 6 and 10
• Apollonius of Rhodes Argonautica
• Callimachus Hecale; Aetia
• Theocritus Idylls
• [Pseudo-Virgil] Aetna

Students may also want to explore the following pieces, which will not be on this module:

• [Pseudo-Virgil] Culex
• Ovid Fasti
• Statius Achilleid
• Claudian De raptu Proserpinae

 

page.