“北外伊莎白讲堂”

英美文学研究中心学术讲座No. 51

The Nature of Classical Epic Poetry

讲座时间：2023年12月12日14:00-15:30

讲座地点：英语学院111会议室

演讲人：Charles Weiss 副教授（剑桥大学古典学系）

主持人：邵雪萍 博士（北京外国语大学英语学院）

讲座介绍：

In this lecture we will seek to understand the most important kind of poetry written in western antiquity: Epic. We will see that the definition of “Epic” involves many fundamental and quite varied aspects of the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. Who were the Greeks and Romans? What gods did they worship? What did they believe about the world? What did they understand of history? Classical Epic poetry was in existence long before the invention of the Greek alphabet in the 8th century B.C. (西周末年) and it lasted well into the age of Christianity (晉朝). No knowledge of these languages is necessary to enjoy the lecture.

讲座人信息：

Dr Weiss came from Atlanta, Georgia to study Classics at Columbia University (BA and MA) and Yale University (PhD), focusing on the languages and literatures of both Ancient Greek and Latin. He then went to Oxford to teach the subject for five years before taking a post (in 2003) with the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge. Dr Weiss is an Associate Professor in Classics at Cambridge and Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics for Clare College, Cambridge. Dr Weiss specializes in language pedagogy in both languages and teaches Classical languages and literature for Clare College. In 2012 he published a student’s introduction to Homer’s Odyssey for Cambridge University Press and is currently working on guides to Ancient Greek and Latin for English and Chinese students.