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

Federico García Lorca: Poetic Excellence and Mastery

Federico García Lorca combined a prodigious artistic intuition with a fine sense of music and rhythm. His poetry is marked by elaborate mastery in the art of verse. We can note the influences of Arabic-Andalusian poetry in his work. His striking images and metaphors contributed significantly to the renewal of Spanish poetic language.

Two themes are repeated insistently throughout his career: his frustrated love and the tragic sense of life. Metrically, both new and traditional forms coexist in his verse.

The Three Stages of Lorca's Poetic Career

We can distinguish three major stages in Lorca's poetic development:

Stage 1: Early Works and Lost Innocence

• This stage includes his first two books:

Jorge Manrique: Nobleman and Poet

Jorge Manrique was a nobleman and soldier who aspired to be a prominent figure in aristocratic society. He cultivated poetry in his spare time, focusing on themes of courtly love (repeating topics, vocabulary, and poetic forms) and moral burlesque. His most famous work, Coplas por la muerte de su padre, consists of forty stanzas, each a pair of six-line stanzas (sextillas) with a specific broken rhythm (pie quebrado). These poems exhibit medieval features while also heralding the Renaissance.

Coplas por la Muerte de su Padre

The Coplas meditate on the passage of time, the fleeting nature of worldly possessions, and the equalizing power of death.

Key Themes in the Coplas

The work explores several interrelated themes:... Continue reading "Jorge Manrique's Coplas: Time, Death, and Fame" »

Spanish Literature: Post-War Periods (1940s–1960s)

The Poetry of Exile

This stream constantly addresses the issue of Spain, characterized by a nostalgic approach. The tone sometimes becomes angry and even insulting toward the victors of the Civil War.

Poetry of the Immediate Post-War (1940s)

Poetry was the field exhibiting the greatest diversity and artistic wealth during this decade. Dámaso Alonso distinguished two primary streams:

• Rooted Poetry: Focused on traditional forms and themes, often supporting the regime's values.
• Uprooted Poetry: Expressed existential anguish and social concern, often using harsher language.

Social Poetry of the 1950s

Social poetry developed as an evolution of the Uprooted stream, becoming key to social realism. It is... Continue reading "Spanish Literature: Post-War Periods and Key Authors (1940-1960)" »

Narrative Verse Subgenres

• Epic: A poem celebrating heroic deeds (e.g., Iliad, Odyssey).
• Chanson de Geste: Oral epic extolling a local or national hero (e.g., Song of Mio Cid).
• Romance: Short poem, often in octosyllabic verse with assonance.

Prose Narrative Subgenres

• Novel: Extensive story in a specific time and space (e.g., Don Quixote).
• Story: Short narrative with a condensed plot (e.g., Jungle Tales).
• Legend: Fictional story based on historical or pseudo-historical events (e.g., Legends).
• Apologue: Story conveying moral codes (e.g., The Count Lucanor).
• Epistle: Doctrinal, philosophical, or moral text in letter form.
• Fable: Anecdote with personified animals and a moral lesson.
• Essay: Text presenting the author's viewpoint on a topic.

Theater

Actions are... Continue reading "Literary Genres and Language Functions" »

Garcilaso de la Vega (Toledo)

Served King Charles I. Exiled to an island in the Danube, then Naples. Influenced by Italian poets. Died at 35.

Themes:

• Love, sadness for the absent beloved
• Nature, locus amoenus
• Friendship, fate, fortune

Style:

• Early: Petrarchan, Ausias March influence
• Later: Increased Petrarchan influence
• Epithets, metaphors, personifications, hyperbatons

Fray Luis de León (Cuenca)

Augustinian Order, University of Salamanca professor. Imprisoned for 5 years.

Works:

• Original Poetica: 23 poems, mostly liras. Moral and religious themes. Influenced by Horace, Virgil, biblical texts.
• Prose: Humanist and Augustinian values. Exposition of Song of Songs, Exhibition of the Book of Job.

San Juan de la Cruz (Ávila)

Studied at University of Salamanca,... Continue reading "Spanish Golden Age Poets: Garcilaso, Fray Luis, San Juan" »

The Lyric

The concept of lyric poetry differs significantly between the classical world (Greek and Roman times) and the modern world, especially after the Romantic period. For the Greeks, *lyric* was a technical term that designated a type of poetry characterized by:

• Being written in a variety of verses and stanzas.
• Being sung with the musical accompaniment of the lyre or similar stringed instruments.

In Latin poetry, the element of singing and musical accompaniment was eliminated. Lyric poetry was then defined as poetry written in the same meters and stanzas as Greek lyric poetry. Therefore, in Latin, only certain poems and odes of Catullus and Horace, along with the *Carmen Saeculare*, can be considered truly lyrical.

Catullus

Catullus was born... Continue reading "Classical Lyric Poetry: Catullus, Horace, and Ovid" »

The Novel of the Forties

We can distinguish different tendencies in the narrative of these years:

Traditional Realist Novel

It is a literature that follows the traditional lines and does not contribute to building aesthetic guidelines, presenting some interesting works and authors such as Zunzunegui, Ignacio Agustí or Jose Maria Gironella, making a sort of classic novel, influenced by Azorin, Pio Baroja, Concha Espina, Bartholomew Suns...

Alarmist Realist Novel

It tells stories of cruel, in many cases of war setting. It has a harsh neo-realism, harsh language, expressive, reflecting miserable environments. These stories are violent and torn, offering a degrading view of life and man. This trend began with writers who extolled war as a victory,... Continue reading "Spanish Novels of the 1940s and 1950s: Trends and Authors" »

Postwar Spanish Theater: An Introduction

The postwar Spanish theater catered to a bourgeois public of questionable taste. Ideological constraints were compounded by strict censorship, shaping the dramatic landscape of the era.

The Commercial Theater Landscape

High Comedy Theater

• This genre often criticized the customs of the bourgeoisie.
• It frequently defended traditional Francoist spirituality.
• Authors: Pema, Luca de Tena, Calvo Sotelo.

Comic Theater

• Authors: Jardiel Poncela (_Eloísa está debajo de un almendro_), Miguel Mihura.

The Renovating Theater Movement

Renovating Comic Theater

• Author: Miguel Mihura: _Tres sombreros de copa_, _Melocotón en almíbar_. (His corrosive critical power diminished over time.)

Existential Drama: Maverick & Concerned

Odysseus' Adventures: A First-Person Account

My Journey After the Trojan War

I, Odysseus, stand before you in the court of King Alcinous, to recount my adventures since the end of the Trojan War. These tales have become popular, sung in many songs. They tell of the Cyclops Polyphemus, the enchantress Circe, who turns men into animals, and the Sirens with their misleading songs. Finally, in the thirteenth year, the narrative returns to a chronological order, and I reach Ithaca.

The Heroic Ideal in Homer's Epics

The human ideal in Homer's epics is characteristic of the aristocracy. The characters are heroes or noble kings, and their morale is competitive. The agonistic behavior of the individual is based on the recognition of their merits by others.... Continue reading "Odysseus' Adventures: A First-Person Account in Alcinous' Court" »

Ancient Iberia: Pre-Roman Civilizations

The period preceding Roman conquest, from ancient times until 218 BCE, marks a crucial stage in the Iberian Peninsula's history. This era began with the landing of Scipio and the initiation of the Roman conquest. During this time, various distinct languages and cultures flourished, with Basque, Celtic, Phoenician, and especially Greek influences standing out.

Key Pre-Roman Peoples

• Tartessians

  They established a rich empire in the south, extending along the Atlantic coast and up to the Strait of Gibraltar.

• Iberians

  These peoples inhabited the Mediterranean coast and nearby inland areas, primarily in the eastern third of the peninsula. They were known for their rock paintings and diverse crafts, including ceramics