OVERVIEW

Greek literature, still extraordinarily rich despite the losses it suffered during its transmission, has deeply nourished our culture and is a treasure trove of fascinating and archetypal texts for Western civilization. Its fruition, especially in the archaic and classical ages, through public execution and the intersection in it of word and music, sometimes even dance, make it an interesting field of study for the disciplines of music and entertainment.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Acquiring basic knowledge of genres and the most relevant authors of archaic and classical Greek literature, the main Greek myths that interweave it, and the historical-social contexts in which it developed; acquiring the ability to describe and analyse the content and meaning of an archaic or classical Greek text by reading an Italian translation and to situate it in terms of genre and period to which it belongs. 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participation in the activities and / or individual study will allow the student to:
- know the genres, the periodization and the most relevant authors of archaic and classical Greek literature;
- know the main myths underlying Greek literature;
- know the socio-cultural contexts of archaic and classical Greek literature;
- apply general knowledge to reading texts from archaic and classical Greek literature;
- acquire an appropriate vocabulary for the description of the content and the interpretive problems posed by texts of archaich and classical Greek literature.

PREREQUISITES

For the students of the curriculum “Musica e Spettacolo” of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere, no specific prerequisite is required.
For any possible students of other curricula of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere or other Corsi di Laurea, the command of the ancient Greek language is compulsory.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction to the Greek literary world of the archaic and classical age:
- language and alphabet
- periodization and classification of the main genres
- conservation and transmission of texts
Reading and interpretation of a selection of texts belonging to the following genres:
- epic
- lyric
- tragedy
- comedy.

For the students of the curriculum “Musica e Spettacolo” of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere all the texts are to be read in Italian translation; for any possible students of other curricula of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere or other Corsi di Laurea, some parts of the program are to be read in ancient Greek (see Readings / Bibliography).

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Handbook:

F. Montanari, F. Montana, Storia della letteratura greca. Dalle origini all’età imperiale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010 (Età arcaica; età classica: pp. I-XX, 6-196).

2) Ancient texts:

a) For the students of the curriculum “Musica e Spettacolo” of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere: reading in translation of:

– Omero, Iliade, books I, XVI, XXIV (recommended ed.: Omero, Iliade, introd. e trad. di G. Cerri, comm. di A. Gostoli [BUR], Rizzoli, Milano 2003);

– Omero, Odissea, books I, VIII, XXI (recommended ed.: Omero, Odissea, a cura di F. Ferrari, UTET, Torino 2001);

– An anthology of Greek lyric poets (recommended ed.: Lirici greci, introd. di U. Albini; scelta dei testi, trad., note e commenti di F. Sisti, Garzanti, Milano 1990; possible supplements will be supplied as hand-out and will be made available on Aula-Web);

– Eschilo, Persiani; Sofocle, Antigone; Euripide, Medea (any edition with translation);

– Aristofane, Rane (any edition with translation).

b) For any possible students of other curricula of the Corso di Laurea in Lettere or of other Corsi di Laurea: reading in translation of:

– Omero, Iliade, books I, XVI, XXIV (recommended ed.: Omero, Iliade, introd. e trad. di G. Cerri, comm. di A. Gostoli [BUR], Rizzoli, Milano 2003);

– Omero, Odissea, books I, VIII, XXI (recommended ed.: Omero, Odissea, a cura di F. Ferrari, UTET, Torino 2001);

– Eschilo, Persiani; Sofocle, Antigone; Euripide, Medea (any edition with translation);

reading in ancient Greek of:

– Aristofane, Rane (recommended ed.: Aristofane, Le rane, a cura di D. Del Corno, Scrittori greci e latini, Fondazione Lorenzo Valla, Roma; Mondadori, Milano 1992).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LARA PAGANI (President)

CLAUDIO BEVEGNI

VALTER LAPINI

FRANCO MONTANARI

SERENA PERRONE

LESSONS

LESSONS START

October, 16, 2018

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written test (questionnaire) and oral test. Students are not allowed to access the oral test before having passed the written one.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Written test: it consists of four questions and aims to ascertain the acquisition of a basic knowledge of the genres and the most relevant authors of Greek literature, with attention also to the diachronic development (= Readings/Bibliography 1). Examples of tests will be made available to students on Aulaweb.

Oral test: it consists of an interview aiming at ascertaining the ability to analyze the content and the meaning of the texts to be read autonomously and of the texts examined in class (= Readings/Bibliography: 2), also with a classification from the typological and chronological point of view. For the students and the part of the program for which this is required (see Texts / Bibliography) the interview will also verify the ability to translate and master the linguistic aspects.
‘Pass’ requirements are: to have substantially learned the information concerning the genres and the most relevant authors of the archaic and classical Greek literature, as well as understood the conceptual turning-points and the crucial problems; to be able to understand the meaning of an ancient Greek literary text and to present it with an appropriate lexicon.
‘Excellence’ requirements are: a total mastery of the analysis tools of phenomena and texts of archaic and classical Greek literature, so that the student is able to work out in an autonomous and critical way the problems they poses.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Attendance at lessons is recommended. Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to receive supplementary bibliography.