Calendar

Apr
11
Fri
James Uden (Boston University), “Unwritten Literature of the Roman Baths” @ HSSB 4080
Apr 11 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm

As Rome’s empire spread, so did it its baths. Bathhouses (thermae or balnea) were an everyday meeting-point for the Romans, a grand luxury, and an engineering marvel. So why aren’t there more poems about them? Compared to other Roman institutions, such as amphitheatrical shows, baths had an oddly muted influence on Latin literature. Moreover, the genre of poetry in which the bathhouse most frequently appears is epigram, which creates a paradox: one of Rome’s most sublime achievements is commemorated in one of its lowest genres. Did the soothing heat of the bathhouse have an an-aesthetic effect on the writing of literature? This lecture explores the bath in Latin poetry, arguing that the silences around the balnea help to illuminate not only Romans’ perception of bathing, but fundamental dynamics in Latin literature itself.

Apr
17
Thu
Stephanie McCarter (The University of the South), “Translating Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses'” @ HSSB 6020
Apr 17 @ 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
May
9
Fri
Celebration of Ralph Gallucci @ BEW Pavillion
May 9 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
May
16
Fri
Brett M. Rogers (University of Puget Sound), “Cyber-dogs, ‘Gut Thinkings’, and the Limits of Recognition in Homer’s Odyssey”
May 16 @ 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Jun
6
Fri
Undergraduate Capstone Colloquium @ HSSB 4080
Jun 6 @ 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm