Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Latin

Roman Elegy: Features and Key Poets

Originally, the elegy was a funeral lament sung to the accompaniment of a flute. It also possesses a melancholic character, often found in elegies of amorous lament. Latin elegy adopted its sorrowful and lamenting character from Greek elegy. Formally, the typical meter of this genre is the elegiac couplet, composed of a hexameter and a pentameter. Unlike Greek elegy, Roman elegy has a predominantly subjective, erotic character, emphasizing the personal element and amorous passion.

Development, Authors, and Works: The precursors of elegiac poetry in Rome were the Neoterics. Subsequently, three great poets cultivated this genre: Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid. All these poets developed their work in the second... Continue reading "Roman Elegy: Love, Lament, and Major Poets" »

Characteristics of the Spanish Renaissance

The Renaissance in Spain appears with peculiar characteristics. Two factors contribute to its unique personality:

Contributing Factors

• Reign of Charles I of Spain: Symbol of brilliance, fullness, and economic prosperity.
• Reign of Philip II: Spirit of the Counter-Reformation and exercise of censorship with the Inquisition.

Stages of the Spanish Renaissance

Two main stages:

1. First Renaissance: Appearance of Neoplatonism and Erasmism. Representative: Garcilaso de la Vega.
2. Second Renaissance: Emphasis on the national and religious. Representative: Fray Luis de León.

Formal Aspects and Verse Forms

Key elements include the hendecasyllable verse, the triumphs of Garcilaso, and the creation of new stanzas:

• Terceto: 3

Carlist Proclamation: Primary Source Analysis

A) Primary Source Collection:

Pirala, a 19th-century historian, was a civil governor. A. Savoy, who had contact with the Carlists, was on their side. The document is of a public policy nature, destined for the inhabitants of Álava, and calls for their union with the Carlist side. The origins of the Carlist Wars can be traced back to before the death of Ferdinand VII. He repealed the Salic Law, which prevented women from reigning if there was a male in the line. In this way, his daughter Isabella II could reign. Carlos María Isidro, his brother, proclaimed himself king against his niece on October 5th in Bilbao, and liberal supporters of Isabella II and moderate supporters of Carlos María Isidro... Continue reading "Carlist Wars & 19th-Century Spanish Military Pronouncements" »

Spanish Literature: A 20th-Century Overview

Modernism

Ramón del Valle-Inclán

Modernist Cycle: The Mareque of Bradomin
Mythic Cycle:

• Barbaric Comedy Trilogy
• Divine Words

Farce Cycle:

• Platform for the Education of Princes
• Bohemian Lights
• Mardi Gras

Grotesque Cycle:

• Altar of Greed
• Lust and Death

Other Modernist Writers

Gabriel Miró: The Berries of the Cemetery, Our Father St. Daniel, and Bishop Leproso
Ramón Pérez de Ayala: The Leg of the Fox and The Dancers (first stage); Toroteras and Tiger Juan (second stage)
Benjamín Jarnés: Useless Professor and Folly and Nobody
Ramón Gómez de la Serna: Known for spreading the avant-garde and inventing the "greguería"

The Generation of '27

Poetry

Federico García Lorca:

• Book of Poems
• Songs
• Poem of Cante Jondo
• Gypsy

Rome: A Journey Through Time

753 BC is believed to be the founding of Rome. Roman history can be divided into three periods: the Monarchy (8th-5th century BC), the Republic, during which Rome conquered the Mediterranean, and the Empire (1st century BC - 5th century AD). Emperor Augustus initiated the Imperial period, which lasted until the 3rd-century crisis and the decline in the 4th century. In 410 AD, Rome was invaded, marking a significant turning point in the civilization's history.

Artistic and Cultural Elements

Emperor Philip's conquest incorporated Greek influences, leading to a Hellenistic culture that valued uniformity. Powerful kingdoms emerged, bringing commercial benefits to Rome, which boasted a more organized structure than Greece.... Continue reading "Ancient Rome: History, Architecture, and the Pantheon" »

Romantic Poetry

José de Espronceda. Stressed, especially for his poetry, his poems were collected in 1840 under the title Poetry. Two long poems stand out: The Student of Salamanca and The Devil World.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. His most important work is Rhymes, published in 1871.

• Rhymes I-XI: Theme is poetry itself, exaltation of self, and conception of women as something unattainable.
• Rhymes XII-XXIX: Deal with the fullness of love.
• Rhymes XXX-LI: Reflect the failure of love and heartbreak.
• Rhymes LI-LXXIX: Solitude, anguish, and pain.

Mariano José de Larra. Newspapers: El Duende Satírico del Día, Pobrecito Hablador.

Realism

Features of Realism

• Objective Observation
• Contemporary Ambience
• Thesis Approach
• Psychological Analysis of Characters
• Omniscient

Infant Cycle of Rooms

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Stages of Roman Literature

• Archaic: 5th Century BC - 1st Century BC (Cicero's Speech)
• Classical: 1st Century BC, with two phases:
  • Ciceronian (Republican)
  • Augustan (Empire)
• Postclassical: 1st Century AD - 2nd Century AD
• Decadent: 2nd Century AD - 5th Century AD (Marcus Aurelius, Fall of Rome)

Literary Genres

Prose and Verse

Epic

Narrates heroic deeds. Authors: Virgil, Ovid.

Theater

Coming to Rome after the conquest of Magna Graecia. Includes tragedies and comedies. Authors: Seneca, Plautus.

Lyricism

Transmits feelings. Subgenres emerged in the 2nd Century BC:

• Eclogue: Pastoral themes
• Elegy: Political and social issues
• Epigrams: Funerary inscriptions on monuments, and offerings in praise of gods and the dead
• Ode: Expresses elevated affairs of life

Satire

Attacks... Continue reading "Roman Literature: Eras, Genres, and Key Authors" »

Nativist or Crioyista Position in Venezuela

Francisco Lazo Martí: Birth in 1869

Lazo Martí, a poet and physician, practiced his profession in the towns of the central plains, including San Fernando de Apure. He was also a founder of the periodical El Legalista (1892), through which he supported the Revolución Legalista and Joaquín Crespo.

His works include Silva Criolla, Crepusculares, Veguera, Flor de Pascua, and Consuelo.

He had an exaltation of the inspirators of the countryside, a rejection of the city, and a malignant contemplation of the landscape, agriculture, and flora.

Silva Criolla (1901) prompted a literary sentiment that contributed to the symbolic representation of the Venezuelan plains at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth... Continue reading "Nativism and Modernism in Venezuelan Literature" »

Early 20th-Century Spanish Theater

This era of theater emerged as a reaction against the spirit and critical vision of the Generation of '98, which challenged traditional Spanish history. These authors displayed a nostalgic view of the past, often focusing on iconic figures like El Cid, the Catholic Monarchs, the Great Captain, or the Tercios of Flanders.

The Comic Theater

This form of theater was favored by the working class and encompassed a wide range of performances, including short, one-act plays known as sainetes, which flourished under Carlos Arniches. These plays often featured a diverse cast of characters and their everyday struggles, reminiscent of 17th-century Golden Age comedies. Within this genre, tragedias grotescas, such as "La... Continue reading "20th-Century Spanish Theater: From Tradition to Modernism" »