30393 - Greek Metrics and Music (1) (2nd cycle)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will know in detail Greek metrics and its relationship with ancient Greek music.

Course contents

The course will provide an overview of the main Greek metres, with a focus on sung metres. The teacher will provide the main theoretical references as well as some case-studies.

Besides the lectures, the students will attend a seminar by Prof. Luigi Bravi (University "G. d'Annunzio"), entitled Quando il verso fa il teatro (When verse makes theatre) (30 November 2023 at 15:00 a.m., in Aula Mansarda, via Zamboni 32).

Each student will be invited to prepare a written paper (optional): a short essay consisting of a metrical and stylistic analysis of a melic poem (including dramatic songs) agreed with the teacher. For further details see below, under the heading "Assessment methods".

Readings/Bibliography

I. For the fundamental notions of Greek metrics the study of one of the following handbooks is requested: M.L. West, Greek metre, Oxford, OUP, 1982; M.C. Martinelli, Gli strumenti del poeta. Elementi di metrica greca, Bologna, 1997; B. Gentili-L. Lomiento, Metrica e ritmica. Storia delle forme poetiche nella Grecia antica, Milano 2003.

II. The poetic texts which students must analyse from a metrical point of view will be provided by the teacher through the platform Virtuale: some of these texts will be analyzed  during the lectures.

III. The relationship between the poetic text and the musical rhythm will be taken into consideration during the lessons. For an overview of ancient Greek music, it is requested the study of G. Comotti, La musica nella cultura greca e romana, Torino, EDT, 1991 (only pp. 3-44, 97-101). An important reading is also T. Lynch-E. Rocconi (edd.), A companion to ancient Greek and Roman music, Hoboken, Wiley, 2020, with up-dated and wid-ranging contribution on several aspects of ancient Greek music.

Students who cannot attend the course will replace the class notes with the following reading: R. Pretagostini, Scritti di metrica, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2011, chapters 8, 15, 17, 19, 22.

Teaching methods

The course will include both theoretical lessons (during which the main ancient and modern metrical theories will be illustrated and the problem of the relationship between poetic text and musical rhythm will be addressed), as well as workshop-like lessons (during which the main ancient Greek rhythms and meters of Greek will be treated and the students will be involved in the rhythmic reading of the verses).

The course participates in the University's teaching experimentation project.

The texts discussed in class will gradually be made accessible and downloadable on Virtual, where exercises and additional material for further study will also be uploaded.

Assessment methods

Students will have the opportunity to self-evaluate their learning during the seminar-like lessons of the course, where they will be invited to scan some verses and to recognise the metrical pattern.

The conclusive examination is oral and consists in an interview, in which the students will be asked to analyze - according to the methodology already experienced during the workshop-like lessons - some verses, both recited and lyric (among those provided in photocopy), as well as the poem/poetic fragment examined during the second part of the course.

If the student decides to submit a written paper - agreed and discussed, during the drafting stage, with the teacher - the interview will take this paper as the starting point for verifying the knowledge and skills acquired by the candidate. The paper will consist of a metrical and stylistic analysis of a lyric poem and will normally be within 10 Word folders.

During the interview, the student must show that he/she has acquired adequate knowledge of (1) the notions of prosody, (2) the main metres of recitation and song, (3) the main theoretical items of metrics and ancient Greek music, as well as (4) the ability to apply the acquired knowledge to poetic texts. Rhythmic reading of the poetic lines is required. The ability to translate the poetic texts under analysis is considered a prerequisite.

The exam will be considered passed if the candidate gives proof of a solid knowledge of the four points listed above and of an adequate ability to analyze the poetic texts treated in class. A rhythmic reading of both recited and lyric verses is required.

In this case, the evaluation ranges from 18 to 30 cum laude depending on how sure, well-founded, precise and rigorous will be the answers of the candidate.

Teaching tools

PC, IOL, Power point, Virtual (the course page will be loaded with the poetic texts covered in class, as well as additional material, such as exercises, articles, links, etc.).

Links to further information

https://ficlit.unibo.it/it

Office hours

See the website of Marco Ercoles