TERRA TERRA REMOTA MEA

As Magister Gallagher mentioned, Latin was and is a spoken language. For centuries millions of people spoke Latin while only a small percentage could read and write at the level you have already reached. Furthermore, Latin was exclusively a spoken language for centuries before anyone could read or write it.

This brief and reductive explanation helps to contextualize why ancient readers always read aloud, comprehending text by listening to the sound of the words as they said them rather than visually processing the words on the page. In short, a literate Roman would have made use of a text the way a musician utilizes sheet music.

In light of this, my class this summer will be a class on how to read Latin as the Romans would, that is, how to read it aloud (with a "proper" accent) while comprehending the text as you read from left to right. Bonus: because we will be reading poetry, you will also learn how to recite poetry aloud in meter! lepide!

We will practice these skills by applying them to the poems at the beginnings and endings of Ovid's five books of Tristia, a poem that is in many ways concerned with the act of reading itself. In other words, we will be learning to read poetry by reading poetry about reading poetry. 

There is no previous experience with poetry, Ovid, or reading aloud necessary, though it might help if you have read some or all of The Series of Unfortunate Events.

valete!
​Cavellus