Poetless Poems: Oddity, Authorship and the Appendix Virgiliana

Module value: 15 CATS (Term 2)

Module convenor: Dr Joe Watson

Summary

On this module, students will study a selection from the Appendix Virgiliana—a collection of 26–30 poems of widely-varying length from the Roman world that have, for various reasons and at various times, been ‘appended’ to the end of the manuscript tradition of the Roman poet, Virgil—that demonstrates the full breadth of its fascinating weirdness. These poems offer insights into poetic culture at Rome beyond the works of major canonical writers, giving students a space to explore the strange, elusive and allusive world of appendiceal literature.

We will cover: the Culex, which follows a fly, accidentally killed by a shepherd, as he narrates his journey into the Underworld; the Moretum, a poem about a poor farmer making pesto; the Catalepton, a sub-collection of 15 tiny poems that seem to chart a fictional version of Virgil’s literary career; the Lydia, in which a man’s desire is so obsessive that he imagines his girlfriend falling in love with nature; the Copa, which sees a Syrian barmaid preach Epicureanism through a description of a picnic; and the Dirae, whose narrator destroys the environment around him through repeated curses.

This module traverses the Appendix, exploring dynamics of authorship and anonymity, whilst also attending to the contents and poetics of these poems on an individual basis. The module also develops students’ understanding of critical approaches within the study of Latin poetry (especially queer theory, Marxist critique, intersectional feminism and intertextuality).

Texts

Set Texts for All Students

All texts below can be found in Fairclough, H.R. (2001). Virgil: Aeneid 7–12; Appendix Vergiliana. rev. G.P. Goold (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press). A more modern translation by the module convenor (based on more up-to-date Latin texts) will also be circulated in advance of the course starting.

Dirae
Lydia
Culex
Copa
Catalepton
Moretum
Statius Silvae 2.7

Set Texts for Q800/Latin Text Students

A selection from the Appendix that more or less mirrors what non-Latin-text students are expected to read in translation, totalling 909 lines in a range of metres. Given the range of texts, and lack of affordable commentaries (e.g. ‘Green and Yellows’) on them, I am recommending no student purchases; all the commentaries below are to be available through the library.

Culex (414 lines)
- Text: Seelentag, S. (2012). Der pseudovergilische Culex. (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag).
Dirae (103 lines)
- Text & Commentary: Kayachev, B. (2024). Dirae: A Poem from the Appendix Vergiliana. (Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales).
Lydia (81 lines)
- Text & Commentary: Kayachev, B. (2023). Lydia, A Poem from the Appendix Vergiliana. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Copa (38 lines)
- Text & Commentary: Goodyear, F.R.D. (1977). ‘The Copa: A Text and Commentary’, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 24.1: 117–31.
Moretum (38 lines)
- Kenney, E.J. (1998). The Ploughman’s Lunch: Moretum : a Poem Ascribed to Virgil. (Bristol: Bristol Classical Press).
Catalepton 5, 8, 9, 14, 15 (100 lines)
- Commentary TBC.
Statius Silvae 2.7 (135 lines)
- Text & Commentary: Newlands, C.E. (2011). Statius: Silvae Book II. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, all students should have:

A deeper understanding of Latin literary genre and poetic construction;
An appreciation of the conflicting and contradictory scholarship on issues of authorship;
A deeper ability to engage critically with the ideas of secondary scholarship;
An increased awareness of critical approaches to Classical texts;
The ability to seek out appropriate secondary literature and show discernment in the types of primary evidence addressed.

In addition, final year students will:

Develop the ability to set their findings into a wider comparative context, drawing in other aspects of the study of the ancient world;
Engage creatively with a wider range of secondary literature that includes discussion of classical literature within broader comparative, including critical-theoretical, frames.

Q800 students and students taking the Latin text option should have:

An increased facility in reading Latin literature.
An understanding of how topics of authorship and philosophy impact Latin literature on the linguistic level.
An ability to engage at depth with a modern philological commentary on a Latin text.