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28952 - Tradition and Permanence of Classics (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2026/2027

                
                        Docente:
                        Lucia Floridi
                    
                        Credits:
                        6
                    
                        SSD:
                        FICP-01/A
                    
                        Language:
                        Italian
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        In-person learning (entirely or partially)
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                            Italian Studies and European Literary Cultures (cod. 6689)

                                Also valid for
                                
                                    Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                                    
                                        Philology, Literature and Classical Tradition (cod. 6690)
                                    
                                    Course Timetable
                                
from Mar 31, 2027 to May 11, 2027

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is trained in the forms and models of the reception of Ancient Greek and Latin culture from the classical to the contemporary eras.

Course contents

The Myth of Circe: From the Odyssey to Madeline Miller

Following an introductory section focusing on the concepts of intertextuality and intervisuality, the course will center on the character of Circe. Readings will include, among others, Homer, Apollonius Rhodes, Plutarch, Virgil, and Ovid, extending to modern reimagining's, with a particular focus on the recent mythological retelling by Madeline Miller (Circe, Marsilio, 2018).

In parallel, an iconographic journey will be proposed, from Greco-Roman antiquity to the present day, with occasional incursions into comics and cinema (including the very recent The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan).

Latin texts must be read in the original language; the same applies to Greek texts (strictly for students enrolled in the Master's Degree in Classical Philology).

Readings/Bibliography

1. Lecture Notes and Slides

Lecture notes, supplemented by the slides provided by the professor.

2. Primary Texts

Readings from Homer, Odyssey 10.135-574 and 12.1-150; Apollonius Rhodes, Argonautica 3.200-209; 4.661-752; Virgil, Aeneid 3.384-387; 7.10-24; Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.904-968; 14.1-71; 14.241-415 and Remedia amoris 265-288; Carmina Priapea 68; Julia Augusta Webster, Circe; Margaret Atwood, Circe/Mud; Madeline Miller, Circe (full reading of the novel).

Reading in the original Latin language (for LM-14 / Modern Philology students) or in both original Greek and Latin (for LM-15 / Classical Philology students) is mandatory for a total of approximately 400 verses (therefore, for LM-15 students, roughly 200 verses in Latin and 200 in Greek).

All texts analyzed during lectures will be made available in the course teaching materials. As a text anthology, the recommended edition is Circe. Variazioni sul mito, edited by C. Franco, Marsilio 2012.

3. Critical Readings

3A. M. Bettini-C. Franco, Il mito di Circe. Immagini e racconti dalla Grecia a oggi, Turin 2010.

3B. One additional book chosen from the following list:

L. Floridi, Voci e silenzi di Briseide. Da Omero a Pat Barker, Bologna 2024
L. Hardwick, Reception Studies, Cambridge 2010
L. Hardwick-C. Stray (eds.), A Companion to Classical Receptions, Oxford 2007

Non-Attending Students

Non-attending students must prepare all the texts listed in section 2, the volume indicated in 3A, plus two out of the three volumes listed in section 3B, and G. Genette, Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree, Turin 1997.

Students with SLD (Specific Learning Disorders) or Disabilities

Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD/DSA), or temporary/permanent disabilities, are strongly encouraged to immediately contact the designated University Services Office () and the professor, in order to mutually identify the most effective strategies for attending lectures and/or preparing for the exam.

Teaching methods

Lectures in class.

Assessment methods

Viva voce examination, which will test the ability of:
- understanding texts in their historical and literary environment

- understanding and translating Latin texts (students of Classics are expected to also read the Greek texts in their original Language; of course, the number of Latin texts to be read will be reduced: a detailed list of the texts will be available before the end of the course)

- discussing and evaluating the critical readings proposed in the bibliography of the course.

Assessment guidelines:
Failing grades: lack of basic linguistic knowledge and inability to produce a correct interpretation of the text.
Passing grades: linguistic and philological proficiency at an intermediate level; mostly correct interpretation of the texts, yet inaccurate and lacking autonomy.
Excellent grades: linguistic and philological proficiency at an upper-mid level; correct, autonomous, and precise interpretation of the texts.

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

PC, video projector.

The slides used during the course will be made available by the professor under the 'Virtuale' teaching materials section, along with other useful resources (text translations, academic articles, and additional relevant bibliographical material),

Office hours

See the website of Lucia Floridi