The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

This course aims at providing an adequate undergraduate knowledge of the ancient Greek literature, also in relation to European cultural heritage. It is made up of two modules, each one for 6 CFU. The “introductive” one (i) is preparatory to the “advanced” (p). Both of them require the knowledge of the ancient Greek language. An Ancient Greek Laboratory for beginners is provided: for informations ask to didattica.lettere@ateneo.univr.it. At the same time, it wishes to provide appropriate instruments for a critical approach to texts and genres. The course will develop abilities of textual reading and analysis of poetical works of the ancient Greek literature within their historical and cultural contexts. It will also introduce students to critical approaches aimed at strengthening their analytical and argumentative skills. On successful completion of both its modules, students will be able to re-elaborate critically the acquired knowledge, to comprehend texts in ancient Greek and translate them into Italian, and to discuss topics employing appropriate linguistic and stylistic registers.

Program

Orestes’ vengeance
Both the “introductive” module and the “advanced” one concern the Atreidic myth and especially its most crucial phase, that is, Orestes’ vengeance on his father’s killers, as it is narrated in archaic epics, choral lyrics, and tragedy. The course will therefore concentrate on the 4th Book of the Odyssey, on Pindar’s 11th Pythian Ode, and on Aeschylus’ Choephori, the most ancient of the plays concerning the Atreidic myth.
TEACHING METHODS:
Classroom-taught lessons. Primary texts will be read in Greek, translated into Italian and commented. Attending students will take one self-assessment test at the end of each module. A written calendar of the topics that will be dealt with will be circulated in class at the beginning of the course.
Further teaching material will be available for download from the MOODLE repository.

Module [i]
(a) Homer, Odyssey IV;
(b) Pindar, Pythian 11.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Students are required to do all the readings indicated in the two sections below: 1. Primary Texts (the writer’s work), 2. Secondary Texts (references):
(1) Primary Texts:
(a) Omero, Odissea, vol. I (libri I-IV), introduzione generale di A. Heubeck e S. West, testo e commento a cura di S. West, traduzione di G.A. Privitera, Milano, Mondadori (‘Fondazione L. Valla’) 1981: pp. IX-XXXVII, 112-75, 320-83;
(b) Pindaro, Le Pitiche, introduzione, testo critico e traduzione di B. Gentili, Milano, Mondadori (‘Fondazione L. Valla’) 1995: pp. 283-305, 647-70 (introduction and commentary by P. Angeli Bernardini); or: Pindar, Pythian Eleven, ed. with introduction, translation, and commentary by P.J. Finglass, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2007.
(2)
(a) F. Montanari, Introduzione a Omero. Con un’appendice su Esiodo, Roma, Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2013 (1992); or: A. Ercolani, Omero, Roma, Carocci 2006: pp. 63-102, 125-96.
(b) A. Porro – W. Lapini, Letteratura greca, Bologna, Il Mulino 2017: to the 2nd century BCE.
Non-attending students:
Non-attending students are required to integrate the syllabus detailed above (parts 1 and 2) with the following reading:
R. Sevieri, “Un eroe in cerca d’identità: Oreste nella Pitica XI di Pindaro per Trasideo di Tebe”, Materiali e discussioni per l’analisi dei testi classici, 43, 1999: pp. 77-110.

Module [p]
Aeschylus, Choephori.

TEACHING METHODS
Classroom-taught lessons. Primary texts will be read in Greek, translated into Italian and commented. Attending students will take one self-assessment test at the end of each module. A written calendar of the topics that will be dealt with will be circulated in class at the beginning of the course. Further teaching material will be available for download from the MOODLE repository.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Students are required to do all the readings indicated in the two sections below: 1. Primary Texts (the writer’s work), 2. Secondary Texts (references):
(1)
Eschilo, Coefore, a cura di R. Sevieri, Venezia, Marsilio 1995; or: Aeschylus, Choephori, with Introduction and Commentary by A.F. Garvie, Oxford, Clarendon Press 2002 (paperback).
(2)
(a) Students are required to read either one of the two following articles in M. Lloyd (ed.), Oxford Readings in Aeschylus, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007:
• E.R. Dodds, “Morals and Politics in the Oresteia”, già in Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 1960, 6 (N.S.), pp. 19-31;
• B. Hughes Fowler, “The Imagery of Choephoroe”, già in Illinois Classical Studies, 1991, 16, pp. 85-100.
(b) A. Porro – W. Lapini, Letteratura greca, Bologna, Il Mulino 2017: since the 1st century BCE onwards.
Non-attending students:
Non-attending students are required to read both the articles mentioned at (2a).

Bibliography

Examination Methods

Oral exam.
The exam will consist in an oral discussion of the topics dealt with during each module. The acquired abilities will be evaluated in terms of:
1) knowledge of the literary history and of the primary texts within their historical and cultural contexts;
2) textual comprehension and translation into Italian of the primary texts;
3) ability to use critical approaches appropriate to textual and contextual analysis, with special attention to linguistic and stylistic features.