The Rhetoric &Poetics Workshop is proud to present

Damien Nelis (Université de Genève)

Naming the World:History and Geography in Vergil’s Georgics

Thursday, 1 May, 3:30 Classics 21

In this talk I want to look first at some aspects of the handling of proper names in Vergil’s Georgics. This discussion will lead on to a study of time and space in the poem. Beginning with a close reading of the opening sections of book 1, I will attempt to show how Vergil there sets the scene and offers glimpses of the wider world in which agricultural labour takes place. I will go on to trace the ways in which the poem shifts between the general and the specific, as the reader is confronted with constructions of time and space that come to focus on Roman history and the place of Italy and Rome in the world. Overall, the aim is to investigate some of the ways in which the poem offers a universalizing vision, while both indulging in Hellenistic doctrina and commenting in a detailed way on contemporary Roman concerns.

A reception will follow. Persons with a disability who feel they may need assistance are asked to contact Kathy Fox (702-8514) in advance.
To view the schedule of upcoming R&P events, please visit:
http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/rhetpoet/