29685 - Greek Historiography (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have specific scientific research training in the field of Greek historiography of the Classical and Hellenistic age. They will know the essential features of ancient historiography and, in particular, those of the Greek one over the Classical and Hellenistic age. They will know and will be able to use research methods and tools. They will be able to have oral presentations by using proper registers and techniques; they will be able to critically evaluate different cultures. They will be able to update their knowledge through the tools developed by the scientific community.

Course contents

Module overview:

“Cultural and historical memory: pan-Hellenic and local perspectives”.

The course will be structured in two parts:

• Presentation and analysis of the main theories on cultural memory and ‘intentional history’ in the Greek world (h. 10)
• Exegesis of significant paragraphs (drawn above all from Herodotus, Plutarch, Pausanias, and fragments of local historiography) in order to explain the use, the creation and the enhancement of historical and mythological traditions (h 20)

Pre-requisite

General knowledge of Greek historiography (from its origins to the imperial age)

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students will study

for the general part:

1. M. Bettalli (ed.), Introduzione alla storiografia greca, Carocci, Roma 2009 (second edition).
2. D. Amendola - A. Magnetto - E. Rosamilia - J. Thornton, Le fonti per lo studio della storia ellenistica, in M. Mari (ed.), L’età ellenistica. Società, politica, cultura, Roma 2019, 211-236.

They will therefore study the lecture notes and the other sources discussed in class; in addition, they must read the following papers:

3) M.E. De Luna, Due frammenti “di seconda mano” nel libro IX di Pausania, QUCC 1, 2018, 65-75.

4a) E. Franchi, Conflitto e memoria ad Argo arcaica: le tradizioni cittadine intorno a Telesilla, in E. Franchi - G. Proietti (cur.), Forme della memoria e dinamiche identitarie nell’antichità greco-romana, Trento 2012, 207-227;

oppure

4b) G. Proietti, La memoria delle Guerre Persiane in età imperiale. Il classicismo di Erode Attico e la 'stele dei Maratonomachi', ASAA 90 s. III, 12, 2012, 97-117.

5) H.-J. Gehrke, Greek Representations of the Past, in L. Foxhall - H.-J. Gehrke - N. Luraghi (Eds.), Intentional History. Spinning Time in Ancient Greece, Stuttgart 2010, 15-33.

6) M. Giangiulio, Collective identities, imagined past, and Delphi, in L. Foxhall - H.-J. Gehrke - N. Luraghi (eds.), Intentional History. Spinning Time in Ancient Greece, Stuttgart 2010, 121-135.

7) F. Muccioli, The Ambivalent Model: Alexander in the Greek World between Politics and Literature (1st Century BC/ beg. 1st Century AD), in K.R. Moore (ed.), Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great, Brill, Leiden 2018, pp. 275-303.

8) F. Muccioli, La storia attraverso gli esempi. Protagonisti e interpretazioni del mondo greco in Plutarco, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2012, 131-178.

9a) F. Muccioli (ed.), Plutarco. Arato, Milano 2020 (in print): the teacher will indicate the passages and the pages at the beginning of the course

or 

9b) F. Muccioli, Plutarco. Lisandro, Milano 2001: testo e note.

The volumes from which they are drawn will be available for consultation in the Department’s library or on line.

Students who are not going to attend the classes must read, in addition to the titles 1-9, the following books:

• M.E. De Luna, Arkadika. Testimonianze e Frammenti, Tivoli 2017, 83-149; 203-210; 217-236.
• M. Bettalli, Erodoto e la battaglia di Platea. Tradizioni epicoriche e strategie narrative, in M. Giangiulio (ed.), Erodoto e il ‘modello’ erodoteo. Formazione e trasmissione delle tradizioni storiche in Grecia, Trento 2005, 215-246.
• M. Moggi, Epaminonda, Senofonte e Pausania, in P. Carlier - Ch. Lerouge - Cohen (éd.), Paysage et religion. Mélanges M. Jost, Paris 2010, 231-239.
• The contributions of Luraghi and Buraselis in L. Foxhall - H.-J. Gehrke - N. Luraghi (eds.), Intentional History. Spinning Time in Ancient Greece, Stuttgart 2010.
• F. Muccioli (ed.), Plutarco. Arato, Milano 2020.

Teaching methods

The course is mainly taught through lectures, with discussions on the sources and the teaching material.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The final exam is oral and develops through the knowledge assessment of the handbook firstly, and of the monograph secondly – the latter through questions about both the lectures topics and the textbooks. Also, the Greek original texts knowledge will be examined

If the student achieves a complete vision of the topics discussed in class and required for the discipline, a good knowledge of the texts of scholarship, shows mastery of expression and of the specific language, both written (if required) and oral, he will obtain excellence in the evaluation.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

PDF documents and research material from specialised websites will be provided

Office hours

See the website of Maria Elena De Luna