30352 - Philology and Greek Literature (LM)

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the students acquire a specific knowledge of the authors of Greek Literature as well as the methodological skills useful for the textual analysis. They also know elements of ancient Greek culture that are necessary for understanding modern European literatures.

Course contents

A – Core course (30 hours).

1. Scholarship and history of Greek scholarship: history of textual tradition, textual criticism, editorial technique, examples (Euripides, Alcestis: prologue) (10 hours).

2. Greek language and history of the Greek language: historical grammar, from IE to Greek dialects, examples (Sappho, fragments) (10 hours).

3. Greek literature and history of Greek literature: from oral performances, to theater, to prose, to 'literature', to the opening to the Jewish and Roman world, to the late-ancient and Byzantine age, examples (Greek lyric, Ps.-Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians, Herondas, Mimiamb 6) (10 hours).

B. Special focus course (30 hours).

Heraclitus' Homeric Problems.

C. Critical investigations (personal).

Alongside the teaching, a short modern Greek course-laboratory can be activated, held by a native speaker, which students can optionally follow.

Readings/Bibliography

A.1. Notes from the lectures. As for the reading of Euripides' Alcestis (verses discussed during the lectures only): J. Diggle, Euripidis fabulae, I, Oxford 1991⁴, pp. 37-83 (for the commentary: Laetitia P.E. Parker, Euripides. Alcestis, Oxford 2007¹, 2017²); see also A. Garzya, Euripides. Alcestis, Leipzig 1980¹, 2011²; D. Susanetti, Euripide. Alcesti, Venezia 2001; C. Diano, Euripide. Alcesti, Vicenza 1968. One book in the following list: P. Maas, La critica del testo, trad. it. Roma 2017⁽⁴⁾ (1951¹; ed. or. Leipzig 1927¹, 1950², 1957³); G. Pasquali, Storia della tradizione e critica del testo, Firenze 1952² (1934¹); R. Pfeiffer, Storia della filologia classica, I. Dalle origini alla fine dell'età ellenistica, trad. it. Napoli 1973 (ed. or. Oxford 1968); L.D. Reynolds-N.G. Wilson, Copisti e filologi. La tradizione dei classici dall'antichità ai tempi moderni, Roma-Padova 2016⁴ (Padova 1969¹; ed. or. Oxford 1968); S. Timpanaro, La genesi del metodo del Lachmann, Torino-Novara 2010 (Firenze 1963¹, Padova 1981²); M.L. West, Critica del testo e tecnica dell’edizione, Palermo 1991 (ed. or. Stuttgart 1973).

A.2. Notes from the lectures. Ad for the reading of Sappho (verses discussed during the lectures only): C. Neri, Saffo. Testimonianze e frammenti, Berlin-Boston 2021. One book in the following list: L. Heilmann, Grammatica storica della lingua greca, Torino 1963; P. Chantraine, Morphologie historique du grec, Paris 1947; C. Neri (et all.), Μέθοδος. Corso di lingua e cultura greca. Grammatica, Firenze 2018.

A.3. Notes from the lectures. As for the reading of Greek lyric (Archilochus, Hipponax, Semonides, Mimnermus, Solon, Alcaeus, Pindarus, Bacchlylides only): C. Neri, Lirici greci. Età arcaica e classica, Roma 2011; E. Degani-G. Burzacchini, Lirici greci, Bologna 2005². As for Ps.-Xenophon, Constitution of the Athenians (passages discussed during the lectures only): G. Serra, Pseudo-Senofonte. Costituzione degli Ateniesi, con un saggio di L. Canfora Milano 2018. As for Herondas, Mimiamb 6 (verses discussed during the lectures only): L. Di Gregorio, Eronda. Mimiambi, II, Milano 2004, pp. 8-17, 128-210; I.C. Cunningham, Herodas. Mimiambi, Monachii-Lipsiae 2004² (1987¹), pp. 20-24; Valentina Barbieri, Eroda. Mimiambi, pref. di M. Napolitano, Milano 2016, pp. 115-129. A history of Greek literature of your choice (recommended: Antonietta Porro-W. Lapini, Letteratura greca, Bologna 2017).

B. Notes from the lectures. As for Heraclitus' text: F. Oelmann et Societatis Philologae Bonnensis Sodales, Heracliti Quaestiones Homericae, Lipsiae 1910; F. Buffière, Allégories d’Homère, Paris 1962; as for translation and commentary: D.A. Russell-D. Konstan, Heraclitus. Homeric Problems Atlanta 2005; F. Pontani, Eraclito. Questioni omeriche: sulle allegorie di Omero in merito agli dèi, Pisa 2005; Ilaria Ramelli, Allegoristi dell’età classica. Opere e frammenti, intr. di R. Radice; in appendice Il papiro di Derveni con testo greco a fronte, Milano 2007, pp. 561-670.

C. Students are required to arrange with the teachers their own field of interest where to direct the reading (in translation) of some work of crucial importance in the Greek Literature as well as of some monographies (ex. if a student decides to examine the women-role in ancient Greece he will be required to read in translation the Euripides' Medea, Aristophanes' Thesmoforiazousai, Theocritus' XV Idyll, a selection of erotic epigrams and the reading ed. by G. Arrigoni). Basic notions of metrics, grammar and literary history are also required.

Students who attend the course for only 6 CFU are required to bring only points A.1-3 of the program.

Students who do not attend the lessons are required to bring the same program as regards the institutional part and to define a personalized program, also in the light of their own interests, for the monographic part.

Teaching methods

The lectures on the core course will mostly have a frontal character, and the main concepts will be illustrated by examples taken from the texts in the program. The lectures on the special focus course will instead be carried out mostly as a seminar: the textual analysis and the discussion will be collective. Photocopies of the most important texts will be given out and students will be required to do their own researches in the Library of the Department.

All the material handed out in the lectures will be available afterwards on line at http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Didattica/Programs/20222023/FLG2023/

Assessment methods

At the end of the course an oral examination will take place. The students are expected to expose their critical investigation and to show their skills in translating the core course's texts and in translating and commenting the special focus texts. The active participation of the students in the course is strongly recommended.

The maximum grade (30L) requires accurate and complete answers to all questions posed during the oral examination. The exam will be deemed to have been passed (with variable evaluation depending on the quality of the answers) if the candidate has answered in a precise and complete manner to most questions. As for the theoretical knowledge and the translation and exegesis of the texts, the metric is the following: outstanding: 30L; excellent: 28-30; good: 25-27; discrete: 22-24; sufficient: 18-21.

For deeply-rooted didactic conviction, I do not propose links to syllabi of questions, which would inevitably end up impoverishing the general preparation of the students. Since exams take place every fifteen days, students who want to experience the actual performance of an exam can attend - as spectators - the exam sessions, which are public.

Teaching tools

PC, video projector, overhead projector, photocopied handouts.

Links to further information

http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Didattica/Programs/20222023/FLG2023/

Office hours

See the website of Camillo Neri