90554 - Production and Tradition of Greek Texts in Byzantium (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students learn to gain knowledge both about mechanisms of production of Byzantine literary as well as documentary texts and about the practices of material preparation of the related manuscript witnesses, within the Byzantine millennium, with particular reference to Middle and Late Byzantine Era. Moreover, students build abilities, on the one hand, in critically evaluating problems connected to the study of textual transmission and critical edition, also through a consideration of periods and genres of Byzantine literature and of the principal themes related to Mediaeval Greek in its highest register, on the other hand, in interpreting typology and function of the examined artefacts.

Course contents

Following an introduction to Byzantine civilization, with particular emphasis on the transmission of ancient texts in the Greek Middle Ages as well as on the periods and genres of Byzantine literature, the course offers an in-depth study of the following topic:

The Production and Transmission of Epigrammatic Poetry in the Palaeologan Period. The course provides an overview of the reception in Byzantium of the Anthologia Graeca (including the Anthologia Palatina, the Anthologia Planudea, and the minor epigrammatic collections), followed by the reading and commentary of selected epigrams by Maximos Planudes and Manuel Philes.

Readings/Bibliography

General studies:

• C. Mango, La civiltà bizantina, Rome-Bari 1992 (2. ed.) [Engl.: Byzantium. The Empire of New Rome, New York 1980].
  
• A. Kambylis, Compendio della letteratura bizantina, in H.G. Nesselrath (Dir.), Introduzione alla filologia greca, Italian Edition by S. Fornaro, Rome 2004, pp. 446-478.
  

For the in-depth section:

 Texts:

The epigrams discussed during the course will be drawn from the following editions:

• Maximos Planudes: I. Taxidis (éd.), Les Épigrammes de Maxime Planude. Introduction, édition critique, traduction française et annotation, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter, 2017 (Byzantinisches Archiv, 32).
• Manuel Philes: (a) E. Miller (ed.), Manuelis Philae carmina ex codicibus Escurialensibus, Florentinis, Parisinis et Vaticanis, I-II, Parisiis 1855, 1857 (rist. Amsterdam 1967) – (b) Ae. Martini (ed.), Manuelis Philae carmina inedita ex cod. C VII 7 Bibliothecae Nationalis Taurinensis et cod. 160 Bibliothecae Publicae Cremonensis, edidit Ae. Martini, Neapoli 1900 (Atti della Reale Accademia di Archeologia, Lettere e Belle Arti [della] Società Reale di Napoli, 20 [1898-1899], Suppl.) – (c) Additional texts may be selected from partial editions; reproductions will be provided..

Further recommended reading includes: A. Cameron, The Greek Anthology from Meleager to Planudes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993.

 

Non-attending Students

To be added to the above indicated bibliography:

• M.D. Lauxtermann, La poesia in Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo 3. Le culture circostanti I. La cultura bizantina, a cura di G. Cavallo, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2004, pp. 301-343.

Non-attending students are recommended to contact the professor before they start preparing the exam.

Students with specific learning disabilities or other temporary or permanent disabilities: it is recommended to immediately contact the responsible University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) to search, together with the professor, for the most effective strategies in following the lessons and/or preparing for the exam.

Teaching methods

The adopted teaching method will be that of frontal lessons; during the course, students will be involved in the collation of manuscripts and in the reading and commentary of the presented texts.

Assessment methods

Oral interview. The judgment criteria will include an extensive evaluation about the acquired knowledge (translation, exegesis and analysis of the presented texts, display of the main addressed issues), about the use of a good standard technical vocabulary, as well as about the ability in framing the production of the medieval literary texts and the reception of ancient literature in Byzantium in the historical and cultural context of which these phenomena are an expression.

Students with specific learning disabilities or other temporary or permanent disabilities:t is recommended to promptly contact the responsible University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it): it will be their responsibility to propose any adaptations to the interested students, which must in any case be submitted, 15 days in advance, for the approval of the Professor, who will evaluate the opportunity also in relation to the educational objectives of the course.

Teaching tools

During the course, reproductions of manuscripts and specimina of critical edition of the presented texts will be provided in both paper and digital format. Teaching support material will be regularly downloadable from the platform page dedicated to the course on the web site https://virtuale.unibo.it/.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe De Gregorio