| Course Title: Petronius' Satyricon and the Roman Novel |
| Start Date: 01/27/2026 End Date: 05/12/2026 |
| Term: Spring Semester 2026 |
| Description: Petronius' Satyricon is one of the few surviving novels from the ancient world. Formed from a pastiche of other literary genres, including epic, comedy, and satire, it is a vivid account of the adventures of three men as they travel throughout Italy. Though fiction, and only partially extant, its realistic portrayal of Roman life offers a glimpse into the social mores in the early empire. Petronius himself was a member of Nero's court and the Satyricon a product of Nero's promotion of the arts. By giving rise to the picaresque genre the Satyricon's influence continued to be felt far beyond its own day. |
| Distribution(s): I - Humanities , LANG - Language |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate     | Credits:4.00     |
| Faculty         | Phone         | Email address         |
| Geoffrey Sumi   | 413-538-2277   | gsumi@mtholyoke.edu   |
| Meeting Dates         | Method         | Meeting days         | Meeting times         | Building name         | Room     | Frequency     |
| 01/27/2026 - 05/12/2026   | Seminar   | Tuesday and Thursday   | 10:30AM - 11:45AM   | TBA   | TBA   | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses         | ||
| Prereq: 200-level Latin. | Take previously   | Required   |
| Comments         |
| Additional Comments         |
| Taught in Latin.   |
| Course Tags         | ||
| CLASS0001   | CLAS: Classical Studies major   | This course has been approved to count towards the Classical Studies major and/or minor.   |
| CLASS0001   | CLAS: Classical Studies minor   | This course has been approved to count towards the Classical Studies major and/or minor.   |
| CLASS0003   | CLAS-LM: Classical Studies - Literary/Mythological   | This course has been approved to count towards the Classical Studies major in the Literary/Mythological subject area.   |
| Cross-listed Sections         |
| None   |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Open     | Capacity: 18     | Enrollment: 5     | Available: 13     | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List         | Required         | Publisher Full Price         |
| To be determined. |           |           |
| Additional Book Comments         |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class.   |