international - Bergische Universität Wuppertal

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latin – on the traCk of the
ClassiCs in the gUlf of naples
The young couple se-
parates to let the group
pass, their eyes following
the energetic backs as they
clamber up the hillside. Winding
steeply across stony,
rock-strewn ground, the track
narrows until it is almost lost
in the towering scrub. But
UW’s classicists press on
undaunted to their goal, Capo
Miseno. Their effort is well
rewarded: beneath them lies
the magnificent panorama of
the Gulf of Naples, stretching
from the metropolis at the
foot of Vesuvius to the island
of Capri. It must have been
here – from here the Roman
writer Pliny the Elder might
well have watched the devastating
eruption of Vesuvius in
79 CE.
Classical literature and culture
Two letters of Pliny, in which
he describes the event in im-
pressive detail, have led the
group to this spot. Two days
by bus to experience Roman
literature where it was written:
that was the point of
a two-week excursion that
took 33 UW students of Latin,
along with four of their
teachers, from Wuppertal to
the Gulf of Naples – a good
third of UW’s Latinists eager
to see the surroundings in
which Vergil, Seneca, Tacitus
and Propertius wrote, and the
places they described.
Since 2008 it has been possible
to take a combined degree
in Latin at UW. The subject
enjoys a growing popularity
especially in view of the acute
shortage of Latin teachers.
The Gulf of Naples seemed a
particularly attractive destination
for the first major departmental
excursion: scarcely
a writer of classical Roman
literature who did not leave
some memory of the region
behind.
FroM PeriLs oF LoVe to
MAtriCide
Ecquid tE mEdiis cEssan-
tEm, cynthia, Baiis,
qua iacEt hErculEs sE-
mita litoriBus?
do you tHinK oF Me, Cyn-
tHiA, reLAxinG in bAiAe,
WHere HerCuLes’ PAtH
stretCHes ALonG tHe
sHore?
Propertius, Elegies
Thus Pliny was on Cape Mise-
num. Cicero and Caesar before
him holidayed in the coastal
resort of Baiae, the playground
of the rich, criticized
for its ostentatious luxury by
the philosopher Seneca. Here
the poet Propertius feared
his beloved might fall prey
to amorous adventure; here,
too, Nero murdered his mo-
ther, Agrippina – a story told
by Tacitus who, along with his
fellow historian Suetonius, also
reports the bizarre goingson
at the Emperor Tiberius’
summer place on Capri. Virgil
has his hero Aeneas land at
Cumae where, after inquiring
of the sibyl, he descended into
the underworld. He himself
lived many years in Naples
and was buried there. Naples
is also the birthplace of the
poet Statius, who describes
not only the new highway to
the Gulf built by the Emperor
Domitian, but also a villa near
Sorrento whose remains are
still visible today.
mantua mE gEnuit, cala-
Bri rapuErE, tEnEt nunc
parthEnopE; cEcini pas-
cua, rura, ducEs.
MAntuA bore Me, CALA-
briA tore Me AWAy, nAP-
Les noW HoLds Me.
i sAnG oF sHePHerds,
Heroes, rurAL WAys.
Inscription on Virgil’s grave
But that is not all. The UW
classicists saw again and
again why classical philology
comprises both Latin and
Greek. Naples (nea polis =
new town) was founded by
the Greeks, and the Greek colonies
in Ischia and Cumae are
older still. From here the Romans
drew their (and our) alphabet.
Paestum, some three
hours by bus from Naples,
has impressive Greek temples,
and a little further on lies
Velia (the ancient Elea), where
Parmenides laid the foundations
of western metaphysics.
What drew the wealthy
Romans and their poets to
the Gulf of Naples, therefore,
was also the proximity
of Greek culture. Right into
the Common Era the region
was bilingual, and here in
Naples, Sorrentum and Baiae,
in Capri and around Vesuvius,
the tales of the great writers
of antiquity are set.
hic vEr adsiduum atquE
aliEnis mEnsiBus aEs-
tas, Bis gravidaE pEcu-
dEs, Bis pomis utilis ar-
Bos.
Here sPrinG endures,
suMMer is seVerAL
MontHs LonG, tWiCe tHe
CAttLe GiVe birtH And
tWiCe tHe tree Fruits.
Virgil, Georgics
our last stop – and now we
are on our way home – is the
village of Andes on the River
Mincio. Here, within sight of
Mantua, the poet Virgil was
born. A stone on which he is
said to have sat has, we are
told, been removed to the
museum. But a man on horse-
back shows us the exact
place on the dike where it, he
assures us, once stood – but
what a long way to come, he
observes in wonderment (or
admiration), to see a stone!
Yet to have experienced the
broad and fruitful plains of
Lombardy where the poet
was born, and the Gulf of
Naples, unique in geography
and history, where he spent
his creative life, will surely
provide new insight into his
work, as well as a rich background
against which the future
teacher will be able to
communicate it.
Prof. Dr. Stefan Freund
Faculty of Humanities
Department of Classical Philology
– Latin
Tel. +49 (0)202 439-3215,
-3217
E-mail freund@uni-wuppertal.de
k www.fba.uni-wuppertal.
de/latein/
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