Undergraduate Course: Greek Epic (GREE10033)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will examine in detail a number of important Greek epic poems from antiquity, with a particular focus on the development of and intertextual interactions within the epic genre. The key texts to be studied will include selections from Homer's Odyssey, Books 1 and 3 of Apollonius' Argonautica, and Triphiodorus' Sack of Troy. The course will cover, too, the Homeric Hymns, Epyllion (esp. Callimachus) and texts from contiguous genres. |
| Course description |
The course is specifically structured to allow maximum scope for research-led teaching at this study level, and hence allows for variation in the weekly topics to reflect research developments and staff interests. A model of the teaching schedule looks as follows:
W1: Introduction: The Idea of Epic; Epic poetry through the ages; literary and cultural developments; Homer and the Epic Cycle; Introduction to the Odyssey.
W2: Discussion and Interpretation of Homer's Odyssey, with close reading of text prescribed.
W3: Discussion and Interpretation of Homer's Odyssey, with close reading of text prescribed.
W4: Discussion and Interpretation of Homer's Odyssey, with close reading of text prescribed.
W5: Introduction to Hellenistic Epic and Alexandrian Aesthetics; selections from Callimachus.
W6: Discussion and Interpretation of Apollonius' Argonautica, with close reading of text prescribed.
W7: Discussion and Interpretation of Apollonius' Argonautica, with close reading of text prescribed.
W8: Discussion and Interpretation of Apollonius' Argonautica, with close reading of text prescribed.
W9: Discussion and Interpretation of Apollonius' Argonautica, with close reading of text prescribed.
W10: Introduction to Imperial Greek poetry and its Hellenistic roots; introduction to Triphiodorus; Discussion and Interpretation of Triphiodorus, with close reading of text prescribed.
W11: Discussion and Interpretation of Triphiodorus, with close reading of text prescribed.
Conclusions
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Advanced-level ability in Greek language and literature, equivalent to two years' study at the University of Edinburgh (if uncertain, consult the Course Organiser). |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- show in both essay and exam understanding and knowledge of a wide range of Greek texts and their interrelations.
- demonstrate in both essay and exam a thorough understanding of the ancient genre of epic, its origins, developments and diversity across a broad chronological range of eras.
- show in essay and exam a detailed knowledge of the literary and cultural contexts which influence the generation of the texts studied.
- demonstrate in translation in both the exam and in weekly lectures and seminars a thorough knowledge of the linguistic, metrical and literary complexities of the original Greek of each text, and the differences in styles as the epic genre progresses chronologically.
- show in the essay and exam a thorough appreciation of the intertextuality between the specific texts studied, and especially of the significance of Alexandrian poetics.
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Reading List
Baumbach, M. & Silvio Bär (edd.). (2013) Brill's Companion to the Greek and Roman Epyllion. Leiden.
de Jong, I.J.F. (2001) A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey, Cambridge.
Garvie, A.F. (1994) (ed.), Homer: Odyssey VI-VIII (Cambridge).
Hainsworth, J.B. (1991) The Idea of Epic, Berkeley.
Heubeck, A. /S. West/J. B. Hainsworth (edd.) (1988), A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey I, Books 1-8 (Oxford).
Hunter, R.L. (1989) Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica book III, Cambridge.
Hunter, Richard. (1993) The Argonautica of Apollonius: Literary studies. Cambridge.
Lefkowitz, M.R. (1981) The lives of the Greek poets. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
Miguélez Cavero, L. (2008). Poems in Context. Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200-600 AD. Berlin.
Miguélez Cavero, L. (2013) Triphiodorus, "The Sack of Troy" A General Study and a Commentary, Berlin.
Stanford, W.B. (1947, with many reprints) The Odyssey of Homer, London. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Greek Epic |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Calum MacIver
Tel: (0131 6)50 3582
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Stephanie Blakey
Tel: (0131 6)68 8261
Email: |
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