GEC 14 – WORLD LITERATURE

MODULE 2
LATIN LITERATURE

FLORES, CHRISTINE JOY

SUBMITTED BY:

BSN III
02.19.23
MODULE 2
LATIN LITERATURE
QUESTIONS:

1) WHY DID LATIN LITERATURE TAKE TWO CENTURIES BEFORE IT BECAME A

DOMINANT LITERATURE OF ANCIENT
ROME?
IT TOOK TWO CENTURIES FOR LATIN LITERATURE TO BECOME A DOMINANT LITERATURE
OF ANCIENT ROME BECAUSE MANY EDUCATED ROMANS WERE STILL READING AND
WRITING IN ANCIENT GREEK.

2) WHY WAS CICERO CONSIDERED THE MASTER OF LATIN PROSE?

THE WRITING HE PRODUCED EXCEEDS THE WRITINGS OF OTHER LATIN AUTHORS
WHOSE WORK SURVIVES IN TERMS OF QUANTITY AND VARIETY OF GENRE AND SUBJECT
MATTER AND STYLISTIC EXCELLENCE. THE LETTERS OF CICERO PROVIDED DETAILED
INFORMATION ABOUT AN IMPORTANT PERIOD IN ROMAN HISTORY. HIS SPEECHES
INSPIRED MANY AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN POLITICAL LEADERS.

3) WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE AUGUSTAN AGE OF LATIN LITERATURE?

THE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS TOOK A PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE LITERARY WORKS
PRODUCED DURING HIS YEARS OF POWER FROM 27BC TO 14AD.
IT IS DURING THIS PERIOD WHEN THE AUTHOR VIRGIL PUBLISHED THE “AENEID,” AN
EPIC POEM DESCRIBING THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CREATION OF ROME.

4) WHO WAS OVID?

OVID WAS A ROMAN POET. HE WAS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS BOOK ENTITLED
“METAMORPHOSES”, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY. HE
WAS CONSIDERED THE LAST LATIN LOVE ELEGIST.

5) WHAT IS AENEID ALL ABOUT?

IT IS AN EPIC POEM DESCRIBING THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CREATION OF ROME.
VIRGIL TOLD HOW THE TROJAN HERO, AENEAS, BECAME THE ANCESTOR OF THE ROMAN
PEOPLE. VIRGIL ALSO PROVIDED DIVINE JUSTIFICATION FOR ROMAN RULE OVER THE
WORLD. IT TELLS THE LEGENDARY STORY OF AENEAS, A TROJAN WHO FLED THE FALL
OF TROY AND TRAVELLED TO ITALY, WHERE HE BECAME THE ANCESTOR OF THE
ROMANS.