OVERVIEW

The tradition of Greek literature is studded with losses: many works are known to us only thanks to indirect references, for others we only know that they existed, others on the contrary (the most read and widespread over time) are preserved by many or very many manuscript witnesses. But even in the latter case, the textual data we have are often ambiguous, unsatisfactory, or problematic and demand reflection on questions of method.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The module aims to outline the learning outcomes of the Teaching Classical Philology with specific reference to classical Greek texts and their traditions: in-depth knowledge of the mechanisms and terminology of textual criticism; competences needed to reconstruct manuscript traditions, to discuss variants, to suggest conjectural emendations of a text; learning to read a critical edition of an ancient Greek text and to fully understand the information in the apparatus and the praefatio and their consequences; ability to use bibliographic tools and online databases relevant to this discipline.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participation in the activities and / or individual study will allow the student to:
- know the mechanisms and the terminology of textual criticism as applied to the texts of classical Greece;
- apply general knowledge to the use of critical editions;
- use the bibliographical tools and online databases relevant to the discipline;
- understand and interpret data relating to Greek manuscript traditions;
- acquire an appropriate vocabulary to outline and critically discuss (also in writing) the different aspects of the discipline.

PREREQUISITES

A good command of ancient Greek language.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures with Powerpoint presentations and images (made available on Aulaweb). Students will also be asked to actively participate, with the elaboration, in small groups or individually, of a speech of about 20/30 minutes on an established topic to be presented orally in class: this exercise is not for evaluation and does not contributes to the exam mark.

Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended. Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher in order to arrange a different program.

All the students are requested to register on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Between composition and transmission: the case of the Homeric poems.

Through the reading of a selection of passages from the Homeric poems, with analysis of the critical apparatuses, of the digital reproductions of ancient and medieval manuscripts, and of the ancient commentaries and the scholia, the specific editorial problems posed by these peculiar texts will be studied, as well as the characteristics of their transmission in the ancient and medieval phases. Attention will be paid to the topic of their composition stages and manner (the so-called Homeric question) and the influence it has on the approach to textual and editorial issues

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

– G. PASQUALI, Storia della tradizione e critica del testo (premessa di D. Pieraccioni), Firenze, Le Lettere 1988 (reprint of the 2nd ed., Firenze 1952), chapter VI: Varianti antiche e antiche edizioni, paragraph 2 (Homer) (pp. 201-247);

–  Homeri Ilias, recensuit M. L. West, I-II, München-Leipzig, Saur 1998-2000 (only for the relevant parts);

– Homeri Odyssea, recensuit et testimonia congessit M. L. West, Berlin-Boston 2017 (only for the relevant parts).

– One at student’s choice between:

G. Nagy, Homer’s Text and Language, Urbana-Chicago, University of Illinois Press 2004, Part I, Text;

or

M.L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad, München-Leipzig, Saur 2001, Part I, The transmission (pp. 3-170).

The passages examined in class will be made available in photocopies and on Aulaweb. Of the parts of the manuscripts examined in class and of those useful for the exercises, digital reproductions will be provided, if not available online.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

LARA PAGANI (President)

SERENA PERRONE

GABRIELLA MORETTI (President Substitute)

ALICE BONANDINI (Substitute)

ELENA DONADIO (Substitute)

ARIANNA FECIT (Substitute)

LISA LONGONI (Substitute)

BIAGIO SANTORELLI (Substitute)

DILETTA VIGNOLA (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Wednesday 18/09/24

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Students will be required both to present arguments in the program discursively and to translate and comment, from a traditional and editorial point of view, passages of the works in program, to ascertain the knowledge and understanding of the mechanisms and tools of text criticism, the specific traditions in the program, the tools of the discipline, as well as the ability to use critical apparatuses and to master technical terminology.

The basic threshold is reached in cases where the students demonstrate that they have substantially understood the functioning of the conceptual tools of philology, are able to correctly report what the methodological problems are and to obtain the information offered by a critical edition, using the technical terminology appropriately.

The threshold of excellence is reached in cases where the students demonstrate a total mastery of the conceptual tools and technical terminology of philology, to the point of being able to independently and critically elaborate the methodological problems of the discipline and the information offered by a critical edition.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Erasmus students not proficient in Italian may request a substitutive bibliography, and take the examination in English.

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