Syllabus
1. The Trojan myth of Prince Aeneas and his coming to Latium in literature and in the arts.
2. The myth of the Founding of Rome, of the twins Romulus and Remus, in literature and the arts.
3. Roman Republican virtues in literature and the arts.
4. Contemplating the rhetoric skill and theoretic writings by Cicero.
5. Augustan reign and his personality as reflected in European and Bohemian history. Charles IV and Augustus.
6. Interpretatio Romana and the significance of Classical mythological narratives for European culture. Interpretatio Bohemica et Europea.
7. The reception of Roman mythology in European and Czech literature and arts.
8. Antiquity in Czech literature. Classical poetry in Czech translations and their literary criticism.
9. Woman in Classical mythology and history. The wife (matrona) as a Roman idol vs. worshipping the Christian woman and wife.
10. Classical traditions in social and political life in Bohemia. The “Sokol” movement.
11. The image of Antiquity in movies (in the Czech Lands, in Europe and overseas).
12. The image of Antiquity in historical fiction (in the Czech Lands, in Europe and overseas).
Annotation
The seminars focused on classical traditions include facts connected to Europe's Antiquity legacy, e.g. survey various mythological narratives relevant in terms of their impact on fine arts, literature and theatre, the influence of personalities like Cicero and Caesar, etc. The course includes also Latin language as a part of the legacy of antiquity.
The grammar part of this course is therefor served by the textbook Jana Kepartová - Robert Skopek, Praktická latina. Praha: PedF UK, 2017. Therein is also the reference to the textbook Jan Kalivoda, Verba docent - exempla trahunt, which explains the language with the help of famous quotes attributed to Ancient authors or to general tradition. The linguistic part requires the students to examine international words of Latin origin, to read phrases still in current use that come from Latin inscriptions of the Ancient, Medieval, or even Modern era; also to read continuous Latin texts adapted according to the state of grammar knowledge: here, the goal is to teach students to grasp an authentic Latin text on at least elementary level of comprehension. Another focus are basic phrases from Church Latin. In each class there is a vocabulary-based test. The link between the courses Classical Traditions I and II is provided by simple texts about Cornelius Gallus. The final written test checks basic comprehension of an easy Latin text.