Learning outcomes

The course of Greek Philology aims to foster a philological approach to the texts of ancient Greek literature through (a) the study of their formal structures as related to different literary genres and interactions thereof, (b) ancient exegesis, and (c) the manuscript transmission of texts, so that students can develop in-depth critical and interpretive awareness.
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to critically rework the knowledge they gained, and to explain the results achieved in an appropriate linguistic and argumentative form.

Program

The tradition of Greek classics after the «first crisis in the history of philology».

The definition «first crisis in the history of philology» is by Rudolf Pfeiffer, and refers to the abandonment of Alexandria by Aristarchus and his pupils under Ptolemy VIII, and to the renewal and propagation of the philological method outside of Egypt and, finally, to Rome.
By analyzing the fragments of exegesis produced between Aristarchus and Didymus of Alexandria, we will try to outline the guidelines of the tradition of literary works and their commentaries up to the early imperial period, with particular regard to drama, history and oratory.

Examination Methods

Oral examination including the evaluation of a paper which must be delivered to the teacher at least one week before the examination date (see below).

The oral examination aims to evaluate the following points:

--- the student's awareness of the theoretical and historical framework of Greek philology up to the early imperial period;

--- the student's capacity to translate and comment the texts analyzed during the module;

--- the student's capacity to write a philological comment on a text provided by the teacher (see below).


EXAMINATION STRUCTURE

The oral examination is composed of three moments, each corresponding to 10/30:

--- evaluation of the student's knowledge of the theoretical and historical problems related to the development of ancient Greek philology;
--- translation and philological comment of one or more texts from those studied during the module;
--- evaluation of a written philological analysis of a literary text and its ancient exegesis (the text will be chosen by the teacher and the paper must be delivered in PDF format at least one week prior to examination date).