75828 - Classical Literature and Traditions

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Moduli: Federico Condello (Modulo 1) Lucia Floridi (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Humanities (cod. 8850)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide a knowledge of the main literary models that Greek culture, in many cases through Roman mediation, has furnished to its modern and contemporary imitators; the students will achieve a basic knowledge of the main authors, genres and characters of the classical literature and will be able to adopt historically grounded methods in describing the most relevant phenomena of classical reception in modern and contemporary literatures.

Course contents

The course is divided into two modules: the first one by Federico Condello, the second one by Lucia Floridi. Knowledge of ancient Greek is not required. The aims of the course are: 1) to give a general overview of Greek and Roman literature and of its modern and contemporary reception to the students who approach its study for the first time; 2) to offer a more problematic approach to Greek and Roman literature and to its modern and contemporary reception to more advanced students.

The course will thus not focus on a monographic theme, but on a variety of subjects; in particular, it will be centered around exemplary figures of the classical Greek literature and of its Roman, Byzantine, and contemporary reception.

Couples (or rather triads) of epic/tragic heroines and heroes will offer the opportunity to analyse different literary genres and different moments of classical reception:

1) Agamemnon and Clytemnestra (with Aegysthus)

2) Oedipus and Jocasta (with Laius)

3) Achilles and Patroclus (with Briseis)

4) Theseus and Ariadne (with Dionysus)

The texts will be read in translation, but the original text will be introduced to students when necessary. Particular attention will be paid to the literary and iconographical reception, both ancient and modern, of the figures analysed.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students are required to study:

1) The teacher lectures notes and the didactic materials available online. All the ancient texts will be provided during the course. They include: selected passages from Homer, Iliad and Odyssey; Aeschylus, Oresteia; Sophocles, Oedipus the King and Antigone; Catullus; Ovid, Heroides; Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca.

The full list of the texts will be given by the end of the course.

2) Selected chapters from the following handbooks: A. Lesky, Storia della letteratura greca, trad. it. Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2016; L. Canfora, Storia della letteratura greca, nuova ed. ampliata, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013; M. von Albrecht, Storia della letteratura latina da Livio Andronico a Boezio, trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1995; G.B. Conte, Profilo storico della letteratura latina dalle origini alla tarda età imperiale, II ed., Firenze, Le Monnier, 2019.

For Greek Literature, the compulsory subjects are the following:

  • Homer, Iliad and Odyssey (pp. 36-105); The Homeric Cycle (pp. 106-111)
  • Tragedy and comedy (pp. 274-292); Aischylos and Sophocles (pp. 295-362); Euripides (pp. 432-485);Comedy: Aristophanes (pp. 495-534)
  • Plato and the Academy (pp. 593-634)
  • Aristoteles and the Peripathetic School (pp. 635-668)
  • Hellinistic poetry: Callimachus, Theocritus, Apollonius (pp. 798-842)
  • Imperial Literature, poetry: Quintus of Smyrne and Nonnus of Panopolis (pp. 915-928); prose: Plutarchus, The Second Sophistic and Lucian, Philostratus the Elder and Philostratus the Younger, Pausanias, Apollodorus of Athens (pp. 929-965)

(The number of pages refers to A. Lesky, Storia della letteratura greca, trad. it. Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2016; readings from different handbooks are possible, but they have to be approved by the teachers).

For Latin Literature, the compulsory subjects are the following:

  • Catullus and neoteric poetry
  • Lucretius
  • Vergil
  • Horace
  • Augustan Love Elegy: Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid
  • Seneca

3) At least 10 chapters from the following books: G. Cambiano, L. Canfora, D. Lanza (a c. di), Lo spazio letterario della Grecia antica, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 1992-1996 e da G. Cavallo, P. Fedeli, A. Giardina (a c. di), Lo spazio letterario di Roma antica, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 1989-1993.

4) At least one of the following books:

G. Ieranò, Arianna. Storia di un mito, II ed., Roma, Carocci, 2010; F. Condello, Elettra. Storia di un mito, Roma, Carocci, 2010; G. Paduano, Edipo. Storia di un mito, Roma, Carocci, 2012; F. Citti, A. Iannucci (a c. di), Edipo classico e contemporaneo, Hildesheim, Olms, 2012; M. Fantuzzi, Achilles in love. Intertextual studies, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012; S. Romani, Il mito di Arianna. Immagini e racconti dalla Grecia a oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2015.

Non attending students are required to read at least 15 chapters from the books indicated at 3) and two of the books indicated at 4).

Students in classics are also required to read at least 3 of the texts analysed during the course in the original language (Greek and/or Latin).

Teaching methods

Lectures in class, followed by discussion

Assessment methods

A viva voce examination of the average duration of thirty minutes. The single steps of the examination usually are: 1. development of a topic chosen by the student; 2. discussion on some themes of the course; 3. discussion on the readings chosen by the student.

For non attending student the readings are the basis for the examination.

See the web page of Federico Condello for more information about the more typical arguments discussed during the examination. [https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/federico.condello/contenuti-utili]

Assessment guidelines:
failing grades: lack of basic knowledge;
passing grades: literary proficiency at an intermediate level; a mostly correct interpretation of the texts, but inaccurate and lacking in autonomy
excellent grades: literary proficiency at an upper-mid level; interpretation of the texts not only correct, but performed with autonomy and precision

Teaching tools

The texts and the images analyzed during the course will be made available online.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Condello

See the website of Lucia Floridi