FEBRUARY 27, 2004— Michael C.J. Putnam, W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics at Brown University, will present the 2004 Charles Beebe Martin Classical Lecture series March 8, 9, 11, and 12 at Oberlin College.

Putnam's primary interest is in Latin literature and its influence, with a specialty in the poetry of Republican and Augustan Rome. His lectures, titled "Poetic Interplay: Catullus and Horace," will illustrate how the poetry of Catullus permeates the work of Horace, why it does so, and how the genius of the earlier poet inspires the brilliance of the later.

The lectures are "Time and Place," on Monday, March 8 at 8 p.m.; "Speech and Silence," on Tuesday, March 9 at 8 p.m.; "Helen," on Thursday, March 11 at 8 p.m.; and "Virgil," on Friday, March 12 at 4:30 p.m.

The talks will be held in the Craig Lecture Hall of the Oberlin College Science Center, 119 Woodland St. They are free and open to the public and include an opening night reception after the lecture on Monday, March 8. This year is the 77^th anniversary of the series, established at Oberlin in honor of Charles Beebe Martin, professor of classics and classical archeology from 1880-1925.

The speaker is the author of numerous books; the most recent are Aeneid: Interpretation and Influence (1995); Virgil's Epic Designs: Ekphrasis in the Aeneid (1998); and Horace's Carmen Saeculare: Ritual Magic and the Poet's Art (2000). He has also edited several volumes and is the author of numerous articles and reviews.

A member of the Brown Classics faculty since 1960, Putnam chaired the Classics Department for several periods. He is also a member of the University’s Comparative Literature faculty and serves on the Renaissance and Early Modern Studies Committee.

He has held a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, where he is now a trustee. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society. A former director of the American Philological Association, he also served the association as president and financial trustee. He received the Association's Charles J. Goodwin award of merit in 1971.