OVERVIEW

The Greek language has a period of attestation that, through millennia of transformations, extends from the Mycenaean era to today. In this teaching, its characteristics and historical evolution will be studied from its formation to the Imperial era, examining the dialectal varieties, which substantially inform the genres of literature, up to the creation of a common language in the Hellenistic age.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

In the course of History of Greek Language, students will become familiar with the different dialects and the evolution of ancient Greek from the archaic age to the imperial one. This will be possible mainly by reading, translating and analysing texts from different ages.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participation in training activities and/or individual study will allow the student to:

– know the fundamental phases of the historical evolution of the ancient Greek language, from the archaic age to the formation of the koiné;

– know the linguistic (and, if applicable, metric) characteristics useful for placing a literary or documentary text of ancient Greece in time and in a cultural context;

– be able to analyze a literary or documentary text of ancient Greece from a historical-linguistic point of view (and, if applicable, metric);

– be able to recognize the differences between literary and non-literary language

– use technical vocabulary correctly.

PREREQUISITES

Good command of ancient Greek.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures and, in reference to the translation of texts, seminar lessons with active participation of students, who will thus have the opportunity to test and apply the skills acquired during the lectures. The teaching will benefit of the support of Dr. Simone Fiori regarding the language of Attic comedy.

Attendance at lessons and activities is highly recommended. Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to arrange a different program.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders can consult the guidelines for requesting services, compensatory tools and/or dispensatory measures and specific aids at the following link: https://unige.it/sites/unige.it/files/2024-05/Linee%20guida%20per%20la%20richiesta%20di%20servizi%2C%20di%20strumenti%20compensativi%20e_o%20di%20misure%20dispensative%20e%20di%20ausili%20specifici%20Maggio%202024.pdf

All the students are requested to register on the Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Program for 9 ECTS

The outlines of the history of the Greek language from the Archaic Age to the Imperial Age will be addressed in the following aspects: alphabets and writing systems; the problem of pronunciation; syllabification and metrics (with particular attention to theoretical knowledge and practical application to the reading of dactylic hexameter, pentameter and iambic trimeter); the articulation in dialect groups (classification problems and main characteristics of each), with reading of documentary texts; literary languages from the Greek of the Archaic and Classical Age to the koiné, with reading of literary texts (in particular: epic, elegy, monodic lyric, choral lyric, Ionian prose, theater, koiné prose).

In addition to the passages examined in class, students will be entrusted with the preparation (translation and historical-linguistic analysis) of the following texts:

– Herodotus, Histories, 2, 111-120

– Polybius, Histories, 1, 1-15

Program for 6 ECTS

The outlines of the history of the Greek language from the Archaic Age to the Imperial Age will be addressed in the following aspects: alphabets and writing systems; the problem of pronunciation; syllabification and metrics (with particular attention to theoretical knowledge and practical application to the reading of dactylic hexameter, pentameter and iambic trimeter); the articulation in dialect groups (classification problems and main characteristics of each), with reading of documentary texts; literary languages from the Greek of the Archaic and Classical Age to the koiné, with reading of literary texts (in particular: epic, elegy, monodic lyric, choral lyric, Ionian prose).

In addition to the passages examined in class, students will be entrusted with the preparation (translation and historical-linguistic analysis) of the following text:

– Polybius, Histories, 1, 1-15

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

In addition to the lecture notes, the recommended handbook is:

V. Garulli, C. Neri, Morfologia e storia del greco antico, Carocci, Roma 2024.

The texts that will be translated and examined in class will be distributed in the classroom and made available on Aulaweb.

For the texts to be prepared independently by the students (see above Program/Content) any edition can be used.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Week of 9/2/26

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Candidates will be asked to both present and discuss topics in the program and to translate and analyze from a historical-linguistic point of view some passages among those covered in class and among those assigned to independent study. The following aspects of preparation will be assessed:

– knowledge and understanding of the phases of the historical-linguistic development of ancient Greek

– knowledge and understanding of the distinctive linguistic (and possibly metric) characteristics of various dialect groups and literary genres

– ability to translate the literary and documentary texts in the program

– ability to analyze from a historical-linguistic (and, where applicable, metric) point of view the literary and documentary texts in the program

– ability to use technical terminology appropriately.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Ask the professor for other information not included in the teaching schedule.