Milton: Paradisus Amissus
Thursday., 8pm (U.S. Eastern Time)
Course Description: This course will read excepts from the last major Latin translation of Milton's epic Paradise Lost, authored by Oxford academic William Dobson in 1750. Dobson attempted a faithful translation of this seminal work, and his efforts will allow us to read the English of Milton's text with different eyes, question the role and methodology of the translator in the act of translation, and examine how Latinate Milton's text is. Selections to be read will include Book One's invocation to the Holy Spirit-Muse, the temptation and fall of Eve in Book Nine, the ekphrasis of the Garden of Eden in Book Four, part of the War in Heaven, the construction of Pandaemonium in Book One, and the plangent Expulsion from Eden that concludes the work.
DETAILS
Level: Intermediate to Advanced Latin reading. No prior knowledge of Neo-Latin is assumed.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Sections capped at: 5 students. If the course is sold-out, please fill out this waiting-list form.
Telepaideia tuition is non-refundable. However, if you need to cancel your enrollment or withdraw from your class, you may be eligible for a 50% credit, to be used toward a future Telepaideia course. In order to be eligible for this credit, you must notify info@paideia-institute.org of your withdrawal before the second class meeting has taken place.
INSTRUCTOR
JOHN WERETKA
John holds undergraduate and graduate qualifications in musicology, medieval history, art history, theology, and Latin, and is currently a doctoral student, engaged in a translation of and commentary on Sicard of Cremona's De Mitrale. He works in the early music stream of the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and is the convenor of the University's Medieval Latin Reading Group. He has taught medieval texts, including Donizo's Vita Matilidis and Bede's Historia, for the Paideia Institute since early 2021.