GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE I

Course objectives

The students will have to acquire knowledge and ability to interpret events in the field of Greek Literature, with attention to the most recent developments in the debate and disciplinary bibliography; they will also need to be able to collect and interpret data on which to base a judgment that is critically aware. The students will therefore have to be able to use the acquired knowledge demonstrating skills such as arguing, addressing open questions, implementing study and research methods, and will have to be able to communicate the results of their work both to specialists and to an audience of non-experts on the subject. The verification will consist of an oral test which will include the analysis of the texts - both those read in class and those analyzed autonomously by the students with the method illustrated in the classroom - and the verification of the knowledge and skills gained, more generally, on the contents of the discipline dealt with during the lessons (normative and historical grammar, Greek literature of the archaic age).

Channel 1
ILARIA ANDOLFI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Odisseus among the Phaeacians: After a cycle of introductory classes aimed at providing the guidelines of the development of Greek language and its dialects, the phonetic and morphological phenomena will be further illustrated thorough the reading of literary texts. More specifically, the course will deal with the language of the epics, of the elegy and iambus, of Aeolic lyric and choral lyric. For the epics, it is required the full reading of Odyssey VIII; for lyric poets, an anthology of texts; for prose, the reading of the first book of Herodotus' Histories. During the course, a written exam, consisting in a translation from Greek, will take place.
Prerequisites
Students who wish to attend this course must already know the grammar of ancient Greek (morphology and syntax) - in other words, at the same level as students of the Italian "Liceo Classico" after the first two years of school.
Books
Texts: Omero, Odissea Libro VIII Erodoto Storie, Libro I. Recommended edition: D. Asheri, Erodoto, I: La Lidia e La Persia. Milano (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla - Mondadori) 2012. An anthology of Greek lyric (texts will be provided in class) A handbook of Greek literature of the archaic age. Recommended: L.E. Rossi - R. Nicolai, Storia e testi della letteratura greca. Vol. I: L’età arcaica, Firenze (Le Monnier) 2003
Frequency
Attendance is warmly recommended. Non attending students are invited to get in touch.
Exam mode
Assessment consists in an oral examination, where the students are asked questions about the linguistic issues and the texts discussed in class and to study individually. Finally, there will be some questions on the history of Archaic Greek literature. During the course, it will be scheduled a written text, consisting in a translation from Greek, that, however, has no influence on the final grade of the exam.
Bibliography
*** Students are kindly asked to wait the beginning of the classes before purchasing books *** Further bibliography: D. Pieraccioni, Morfologia storica della lingua greca, Messina - Firenze (D'Anna) 1954 V. Garulli, C. Neri, Morfologia e Storia del Greco Antico, Carocci 2024. R. Cantarella - G. Scarpat, Breve Introduzione ad Omero, Città di Castello (Dante Alighieri) 1989, pp. 201-248. S. Colvin, A historical Greek reader, Oxford, OUP, 2007. Chapters I, II and IV of Storia delle lingue letterarie greche, a c. di A. C. Cassio, Milano, Mondadori Università 2016, seconda edizione (I: pp. 3-31; II: pp. 32-72; IV: pp. 107-129). M.C. Martinelli, Gli strumenti del poeta, Bologna (Cappelli) 1995.
Lesson mode
Standard lecture
ILARIA ANDOLFI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Odisseus among the Phaeacians: After a cycle of introductory classes aimed at providing the guidelines of the development of Greek language and its dialects, the phonetic and morphological phenomena will be further illustrated thorough the reading of literary texts. More specifically, the course will deal with the language of the epics, of the elegy and iambus, of Aeolic lyric and choral lyric. For the epics, it is required the full reading of Odyssey VIII; for lyric poets, an anthology of texts; for prose, the reading of the first book of Herodotus' Histories. During the course, a written exam, consisting in a translation from Greek, will take place.
Prerequisites
Students who wish to attend this course must already know the grammar of ancient Greek (morphology and syntax) - in other words, at the same level as students of the Italian "Liceo Classico" after the first two years of school.
Books
Texts: Omero, Odissea Libro VIII Erodoto Storie, Libro I. Recommended edition: D. Asheri, Erodoto, I: La Lidia e La Persia. Milano (Fondazione Lorenzo Valla - Mondadori) 2012. An anthology of Greek lyric (texts will be provided in class) A handbook of Greek literature of the archaic age. Recommended: L.E. Rossi - R. Nicolai, Storia e testi della letteratura greca. Vol. I: L’età arcaica, Firenze (Le Monnier) 2003
Frequency
Attendance is warmly recommended. Non attending students are invited to get in touch.
Exam mode
Assessment consists in an oral examination, where the students are asked questions about the linguistic issues and the texts discussed in class and to study individually. Finally, there will be some questions on the history of Archaic Greek literature. During the course, it will be scheduled a written text, consisting in a translation from Greek, that, however, has no influence on the final grade of the exam.
Bibliography
*** Students are kindly asked to wait the beginning of the classes before purchasing books *** Further bibliography: D. Pieraccioni, Morfologia storica della lingua greca, Messina - Firenze (D'Anna) 1954 V. Garulli, C. Neri, Morfologia e Storia del Greco Antico, Carocci 2024. R. Cantarella - G. Scarpat, Breve Introduzione ad Omero, Città di Castello (Dante Alighieri) 1989, pp. 201-248. S. Colvin, A historical Greek reader, Oxford, OUP, 2007. Chapters I, II and IV of Storia delle lingue letterarie greche, a c. di A. C. Cassio, Milano, Mondadori Università 2016, seconda edizione (I: pp. 3-31; II: pp. 32-72; IV: pp. 107-129). M.C. Martinelli, Gli strumenti del poeta, Bologna (Cappelli) 1995.
Lesson mode
Standard lecture
  • Lesson code1023920
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseModern humanities
  • CurriculumSingle curriculum
  • Year2nd year
  • Duration12 months
  • SSDL-FIL-LET/02
  • CFU6