Description
During this three-part course, led by award-winning author, scholar, and professor Joseph Luzzi, we will discover what makes Virgil’s great work “tick” by exploring the brilliant formal and thematic qualities that give The Aeneid its unusual force, even now, two millennia after it was composed.
We invite you to explore the lecture outlines below for additional details. And to experience additional seminars and courses being led by Dr. Luzzi, please click here.
Lectures
Our first session will introduce us to the major issues and concerns of Virgil’s epic poem, especially the character of its protagonist, Aeneas “the pious,” his struggle to find a “new Rome,” and his star-crossed love with the Carthaginian Queen Dido, as we focus on the Aeneid, Books 1–4.
Lecture Two: From the Underworld to the Battlefield
Our second session will take us through the dramatic visit of Aeneas to the Underworld, where he meets the spirit of his father—and the ghost of his lost love Dido—and will also discuss the contentious arrival of Aeneas at the site of the future Roman Empire, as we focus on Aeneid, Books 5–8.
Lecture Three: Triumph and Disaster
Our third and final session will explore the mix of “triumph” and “disaster” in the series of conclusive battles between Aeneas’s Trojan armies and the Latin tribes, culminating in the bloody encounter between Aeneas and Turnus, a character modeled on Homer’s Achilles, as we focus on Aeneid, Books 9–12.
About Your Expert
Joseph Luzzi received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is a Professor of Comparative Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College, where he has taught since 2002 after being a visiting faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. A frequent contributor to publications including the New York Times, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education, he is the author of 5 books, including "My Two Italies," a New York Times Editors' Choice selection and "In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love," a Vanity Fair “Must-Read” selection. His work has been translated into multiple languages and his many awards include a Yale College Teaching Prize, Dante Society of America Essay Prize, and Wallace Fellowship at Villa I Tatti, Harvard's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. In 2017 he was named Cittadino Onorario/Honorary Citizen in Acri, Calabria, his Italian parents' birthplace. His next book is "Botticelli's Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance," which will be published by W. W. Norton. Professor Luzzi is the founder of the Virtual Book Club, an online community of readers dedicated to exploring some of the best books ever written. Learn more at JosephLuzzi.com.
FAQ
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Audience
This conversation is suitable for all ages.
Duration
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.