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Taylor Swift’s Romantic Roman Elegy Roots: NYU Professor David Levene in Conversation About the Origins of “Love Story” and Beyond
ABOUT THIS EVENT
What do Taylor Swift and the poets of ancient Rome have in common? A lot, as it turns out: tortured love affairs, epic betrayals, and audiences determined to decode every last word.
Join renowned classicist David Levene for a spirited trip from ancient Rome to the Eras Tour — a lecture based on his wildly popular NYU course, “It’s a Love Story”: Reading Roman Elegy through Taylor Swift.
Bringing Swift’s songs into conversation with Roman love poets including Catullus and Propertius, Levene explores the surprising echoes between them: love as sickness, the sting of betrayal, the construction of a public persona, and the enduring impulse to search an artist’s work for clues about their private life. Along the way, he reveals how the comparison can make both Swift and the Romans look startlingly new. This is what happens when we read the world’s most famous songwriter alongside poets writing about heartbreak two thousand years ago — proving that Taylor Swift truly taps into being “Patient Zero” for timeless love stories.
From Roman elegy to The Tortured Poets Department, we’ve been turning desire, heartbreak and betrayal into art for thousands of years. Join Levene for a witty, illuminating look at what changes across the millennia — and what, in matters of the heart, stubbornly stays the same.
After the lecture, stay for a drink: your ticket includes access to a one-hour open bar. Wristbands will be provided for those 21+.
This program is part of 92NY Recanati-Kaplan Talks.
About Collective by 92NY, our new membership group
Collective by 92NY is a new membership group for 20-30 somethings. It’s a gateway to the most exciting events in NYC — and a vibrant community of culture vultures like you. Collective brings you talks with iconic speakers, plus discounts on tickets, early access, priority seating, exclusive invites to cocktail events, and unique memorabilia signed by talent.
David Levene is Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics at New York University. He has taught there for twenty years, arriving in 2006, just two months before Taylor Swift released her first album; prior to that he worked in England, where he was born and studied.
Organizer + RSVP
Collective by 92NY is a new membership group for 20-30 somethings. It’s a gateway to the most exciting events in NYC — and a vibrant community of culture vultures like you.