OVERVIEW

Ancient 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, there is no specific prerequisite.
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, with Powerpoint; distance learning, delivered via videoconference on Microsoft Teams (access code: 30d2bwq). Guided exercises, to be held possibly also in small groups, on parts of the program already discussed in previous lessons.

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to receive supplementary bibliography. All the students are requested to register on the Aulaweb page of the teaching.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction to the Greek literary world of the archaic and classical age:
– language and alphabet
– conservation and transmission of texts
– periodization and classification of the main genres and authors of Greek literature in the Archaic and Classical Ages.


Reading and interpretation of a selection of passages from following texts, which must be read entirely through individual study:
– Homer, Iliad, books 1, 9, 22;

– Homer, Odyssey, books 1, 12, 19;
– Anthology of lyric poetry;
– Aeschylus, Agamemnon; Sophocles, Oedipus Rex; Euripides, Bacchae;
– Aristophanes, Clouds.

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, Aristophanes’ Clouds are to be read in Greek.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The reading list for this course, together with the lecturer's suggestions and instructions are available on the Italian version of the web page.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LARA PAGANI (President)

MARCO COMUNETTI

SERENA PERRONE (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Tuesday, 16/2/2021

Class schedule

GREEK CIVILIZATION

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral test. It is possible, but not mandatory, to split up the exam into two different tests, the first one about the topics listed above in nr. 1, the second one about the topics listed above in nr. 2 (in this order) (see Syllabus/Content and Readings/Bibliography): in that case, the final mark will be determined by an average between the marks of the two tests, each of one must be sufficient; if the second test proves insufficient, the evaluation assigned to the first test will remain valid.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral test consists of an interview aiming at ascertaining: 1) the acquisition of a basic knowledge of the genres and the most relevant authors of Greek literature, with attention also to the diachronic development; 2) the ability to analyze the content and the meaning of the texts partially examined in class and to be read in full autonomously, also with a classification from the typological and chronological point of view. As related to both aspects, also the capability to use an appropriate and correct expression will be assessed. For the students and the part of the program for which this is required (see Syllabus/Content) 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 language.
‘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

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to receive supplementary bibliography. All the students are requested to register on the Aulaweb page of the teaching.