54
Greek Language and Literature
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS
Students are expected to be able to:
- acquire basic knowledge of Greek language and literature;
- recognize and comment on texts read in class;
- acquire a method of interdisciplinary comparison and analysis. Key points for reflection concern a. the vocabulary and content of the texts, b. the linguistic characteristics of the texts, c. the historical, cultural, and anthropological dynamics discussed in class in relation to the teaching materials provided, d. interdisciplinary analytical skills, most importantly, the capacity to connect historical data, literature, and iconographic sources.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The course aims to promote the development of the following skills:
- ability to read, understand, and analyze Greek texts;
- awareness of the use of tools to support text analysis, such as lexicons and commentaries;
- use of textual data in connection with sources useful for the study of Greek literature and civilization, especially figurative ones;
- ability to explore the content learned in depth;
- ability to present the content presented with mastery of concepts and vocabulary;
- ability to formulate an independent judgment about textual data.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Refinement of learning skills
Students will not only learn how to approach the study of topics related to Greek language and literature, but also how to explore literary themes and texts from any period in an interdisciplinary manner, so that they can successfully continue their study of Greek culture at a more advanced level and independently. They will also learn how to make effective use of the bibliographic tools provided by the teacher to explore topics in Greek cultural history through individual study.
Development of specific communication skills
Students will acquire the ability to communicate correctly, coherently, and comprehensively. In other words, they will learn to argue their point of view on the issues raised during the course effectively and with appropriate language. Students will also acquire the ability to calibrate their communication skills, including how to divulge content based on different types of audience.
Development and/or refinement of critical thinking
Students will develop or acquire the ability to select material and textual data in order to produce independent judgments in relation to cultural and literary phenomena in Greek literature.
Course Prerequisites
No one. Those who have never studied Ancient Greek will have to attend the Greek workshop (“LABORATORIO") offered by DAAM and/or the Greek literature course. The workshop is taught by Dr. Massetti.
Teaching Methods
Teaching methods include:
- Lectures, supported by slides or handouts provided by the teacher. All materials will be uploaded to the course Teams group within 48 hours after the lecture in which they were discussed.
- Guided reading of texts. Active participation by students is encouraged: ‘active participation’ means that students are invited to study and translate independently, to explore and reflect on what they read. They are always encouraged to express their opinions on the subject. All texts read in class are subject to examination: if they have been read in Greek, they must be prepared in Greek; if they have been read (or assigned) in Italian, they must be prepared in Italian.
- Home reading (in Italian): during the course, the teacher assigns some readings (passages or works by Greek authors) in Italian that should be read at home by the students. Each reading is preparatory to the next lesson(s). All ‘home readings' are examination materials.
The teacher does not teach on Teams. Furthermore, she does not record the lessons. You can attend the course in person, i.e., by coming to class or using the notes of those present. Otherwise, you can take the exam as a non-attending student.
Assessment Methods
Final exam:
The final exam will be oral only and will assess:
1. the level of knowledge of the course content;
2. the ability to apply new analytic knowledge and understanding acquired to texts;
3. the ability to argue clearly and with the correct use of technical terminology.
For Italian students, the exam will be held in Italian. Non-native Italian students may take the exam in another language (English, French, or German).
Assessment criteria:
The final grade will be calculated as the average of the assessments defined according to the following parameters:
- Knowledge of the course content: 80%;
- Correct use of technical terminology and vocabulary: 10%;
- Ability to apply the knowledge acquired to new problems: 10%.
Grades are assigned as follows:
Excellent (30 cum laude/30): the test/exam is exemplary, demonstrating mastery of the subject and the skills required to complete it.
Very good (29-27): The test/exam has been successfully completed and demonstrates competence in the subject. It may not demonstrate sufficient originality or mastery of the subject to obtain a higher grade.
Good (26-23): The test/exam is acceptable, but could be improved.
Sufficient (22-18): The test/exam has been completed, but is barely acceptable, so there is much room for improvement.
Insufficient (<18): The test/exam has been completed, but is incomplete and/or inadequate.
Texts
Mandatory:
- Franco Montanari. History of Ancient Greek Literature. Volume 1: The Archaic and Classical Ages. 2: The Hellnistic Age and the Roman Imperial Period. Berlin: De Gruyter 2022.
- Gilbert Lawall – Luigi Miraglia, et al. Athenaze: introduzone al greco antico. Parte 1. Montella (AV): Edizioni Accademia Vivarium Novum 2022
OR
- Joint Association of the Classical Teachers. Reading Greek. Text and Vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2007.
Optional, but highly suggested (available in the library or online, in open access):
- Andrea Capra – Lucia Floridi. Intervisuality: New Approaches to Greek Literature. Berlino: De Gruyter 2023.
- Vanessa Cazzatto – André Lardinois. The Look of Lyric. Greek Song and the Visual: Studies in archaic and classical Greek song. Leiden/Boston: Brill 2016.
- Luigi Belloni – Alice Bonandini – Giorgio Ieranò – Gabriella Moretti. Le Immagini nel Testo, il Testo nelle Immagini. Rapporti fra parola e visualità nella tradizione greco-latina. Trento: Dipartimento di Studi Letterari, Linguistici e Filologici 2010.
Contents
TITLE: An Intervisual Approach to Greek Literature
The course is divided into 20 teaching units:
- Greek literature: where, when … and how
- Forms of communication and archaic hexametric poetry: “Homer”
- Intervisuality and “Homer”: some of the duels from the Iliad
- Images and the Homeric question: the adventures of Odysseus and the question of the diffusion of Homeric epic poetry
- Submerged literature and objects: the case of the Kypria
- Melic Poetry: introduction
- The symposium, “a spectacle in itself”
- Choral lyric poetry: Pindar and the Alcmaeonidae
- Choral lyric poetry: Bacchylides speaks of Theseus
- Theater: introduction
- Theater and painting, “beautiful as in a painting”: on Iphigenia and other tragic heroines
- Theater and architecture in dialogue: two Euripidean tragedies
- A possible cult of peace? Euripides and Aristophanes
- The portrait of Socrates: Aristophanes and Plato
- Intervisuality, masks, and interperformativity: Menander
- The Hellenistic age: introduction
- A new way of ‘looking’: statues and monuments in Callimachus, Theocritus, and Apollonius of Rhodes
- Monuments and propaganda: the myth of Telephus and the altar of Pergamon
- Intervisuality and intermediality: the epigram and the technopaegnia
- Visual Arts in Nonnus of Panopolis?
Course Language
Italian.
More information
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
Non-attending students must contact the instructor by email to agree on a part of the program with her. The program for non-attending students includes studying most of the chapters in the literature textbook (Montanari, see ‘Reference texts/Testi di riferimento’), preparing some chapters of ‘Athenaze’ (see ‘Reference texts/Testi di riferimento’), studying some scientific articles, and reading at least two works of Greek literature in the student's native language, to be agreed upon with the teacher.