00556 - Greek Literature (A-L)

Learning outcomes

The students are expected to acquire a specific knowledge of the authors of Greek Literature as well as the methodological skills useful for textual analysis. They are also expected to acquire a knowledge of their historical context and of the anthropological concepts that are important for the Greek culture.

Course contents

A - Module I (30 hours)

Athenaeus of Naucratis, The Deipnosophists, book IV (Prof.ssa. G. Alvoni).

B - Module II (30 hours)

Aristophanes, Birds (Prof. M. Ercoles).

C - (1) Comprehension and translation of Greek classical texts. (2) Texts to be translated by the students: anthology of Greek lyric poetry or two books of the Homeric poems (Iliad or Odyssey). (3) Knowledge of the history of ancient Greek literature; reading of one monography among those listed below. (4) Basic notions of metrics. (5) Basic notion of textual criticism.

Lessons timetable: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9-11 (Aula Tibiletti, Via Zamboni 38).

Beginning of the lessons: January 29th, 2024 (module I); March 18th, 2024 (module II).

The lessons will be carried on all during the second semester. Optional seminars will be arranged between teachers and students. A special course of Greek language for beginners (100 hours) will be held in the first semester (since October): it is strongly recommended also to those students who have a basic knowledge of Greek and want to strenghten it (https://corsi.unibo.it/laurea/lettere/greco-zero-alfabetizzazione-al-greco-antico)

Readings/Bibliography

A – The critical text, the translation and further bibliography will be provided during the course.

B – Aristofane, Gli uccelli, a c. di G. Zanetto, intr. e trad. di D. Del Corno, Milano (Fondazione Valla/Mondadori) 1987 oppure Aristofane, Gli uccelli, a c. di A. Grilli, Milano (Rizzoli/BUR) 2006 (both reissued several times). Further bibliography will be cited during the lectures.

The students who will attend the lessons are required to know the content of the lessons. The students who will not attend the lessons must contact the teachers in order to arrange an additional Greek text to translate, also in the light of their own interests. The students who will take a 6 credits examination do not need to prepare this part of the program (i.e. sections A and B).

C – (1) The following title is recommended: R. Pierini-R. Tosi, Capire il greco, Bologna (Pàtron) 2014 (with some practical examples of how to translate a text). Another useful tool for Greek grammatic is C. Neri, Μέθοδος. Corso di lingua e cultura greca, with the collab. of G. Alvoni-R. Batisti-M. Olivieri, Firenze (d’Anna) 2018, including a special section on Greek lexicon. For Greek lexicon, see see also G. Ugolini, Lexis. Lessico della lingua greca per radici e famiglie di parole, Bologna (Patron) 2018. (2) As for Greek lyric, the requested authors are Archilochus, Hipponax, Mimnermus, Solon, Sappho, Alcaeus, Anacreon, Stesichorus. Recommended anthology: C. Neri, Lirici greci. Età arcaica e classica, Roma (Carocci) 2011 (reissued several times). Students who will take 6 credits examination can agree with the teacher some changes. (3) For the history of Greek literature, the students can consult one of these books: A. Porro-W. Lapini (Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017), F. Montanari (Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2017), G.A. Privitera-R. Pretagostini (Torino, Einaudi, 1997), L.E. Rossi (Firenze, Le Monnier, 1995). For critical literature, here is a list of suggested readings (other readings can be arranged with the teachers): V. Di Benedetto, Euripide. Teatro e società, Torino (Einaudi) 1971; M. Vetta, Poesia e simposio nella Grecia antica, Roma-Bari (Laterza) 1983; V. Di Benedetto-E. Medda, La tragedia sulla scena, Torino (Einaudi) 1997; H. Fränkel, Poesia e filosofia della Grecia arcaica, Bologna (Il Mulino) 1997; M. Di Marco, La tragedia greca, Roma (Carocci) 2000; M. Vetta (ed.), La civiltà greca, Roma (Carocci) 2001; E.R. Dodds, I Greci e l’irrazionale, nuova ed. italiana a c. di R. Di Donato, Milano (Rizzoli) 2003; M. Vegetti, Quindici lezioni su Platone, Torino (Einaudi) 2003; B. Gentili, Poesia e pubblico nella Grecia antica. Da Omero al V secolo, Milano (Feltrinelli) 2006⁴; B. Powell, Omero, Bologna (Il Mulino) 2006; B. Zimmermann, La commedia greca. Dalle origini all'età ellenistica, Roma (Carocci) 2010; C. Calame, I Greci e l’eros, Roma-Bari (Laterza) 2010; F. Condello, Elettra. Storia di un mito, Roma (Carocci) 2011; G. Ugolini-D. Lanza, Storia della filologia classica, Roma (Carocci) 2016; L. Canfora, Tucidide. La menzogna, la colpa, l’esilio, Roma-Bari (Laterza) 2016. Further readings will be suggested during the course. (4) For the basic notions of Greek metric (prosody; dactylic hexameter, iambic trimeter, trochaic tetrameter) the study of the following handbooks is required: M.C. Martinelli, Gli strumenti del poeta. Elementi di metrica greca, Bologna, Cappelli, 1997. (5) For the basic notions of textual criticim the students are required to consult M.L.West, Textual criticism and editorial technique, Stuttgart (Teubner) 1973.

Teaching methods

The lessons will be carried out as a seminar and students will face exegetical problems of Greek texts. Further lessons will be arranged with students. The materials provided during the lectures will be made accessible and downloadable from Virtuale. Further support teaching will be decided together with the students.

The course participates in the University’s project of teaching experimentation.

Assessment methods

Oral examination. As for C.1, the student must recognize the structure of a Greek phrase from a classical text. The knowledge of Greek Literature is considered preliminary. The final mark will range between 18 and 30: the professors will evaluate the ability to translate and analyse a text of ancient Greek literature (30-29 excellent; 28-27 very good; 26-25 good; 24-22 fair; 21-20 more than sufficient; 19-18 sufficient). The mark 30 cum laude indicates excellent skills combined with personal critical contributions. NB: a translation learned by heart is not a synonym for comprehension: in order to understand texts, the ability to analyse them and identify their structure plays a crucial role. An exam whose preparation is based on learnt-by-heart translations is deemed negative.

Teaching tools

Photocopies, blackboard, mailing list, digital resources. At the request of students, lectures may be recorded and made available on Virtual.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanna Alvoni

See the website of Marco Ercoles