Course Catalogue

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This course examines, principally through reading the texts in Greek, some of the most important and influential poets of antiquity, viz. Callimachus, Theocritus, and Apollonius of Rhodes. These poets, working principally in the recently founded city of Alexandria, helped to shape all later views of ancient literature, from those of Virgil and Ovid onwards. They worked in the wake of the  conquests of Alexander, which greatly expanded the horizons of the Greek world; this course examines the changed situations and contexts in which these poets worked, which were very different from those of earlier poets, the relationship between the different Hellenistic poets (and their poems), and their attitudes to and reform of the past, from their use of Homer to their treatment of perceptions of the Greek world. 

1 x 1 hour lectures per week over 10 weeks; 1 x 1 hour seminars per week over 10 weeks; taught at same time as CLASSIC4096

None

CLASSIC4096 Hellenistic poetry [UG in-translation course of which this is the mirror], CLASSIC5135 [PGT in-translation version of this course]

None

The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Translation and commentary on a Greek set text (in-class test) 45 mins 25%

■ Essay 2,500 words 75%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There are no alternatives to the assessments, but flexible deadlines/extra time can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:

■ Develop in students a broad but deep knowledge of central texts of Greek poetry in Greek.

■ Increase students' awareness of current debates on a wide variety of relevant critical and theoretical topics.

■ Develop skills in close reading and analysis of literary texts, studied in Greek

■ Develop students' exploration of an important body of literature from a variety of different perspectives, reflecting the key themes of the course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Write literary commentaries on the poems of Callimachus, Theocritus and Apollonius (among others) 

2. Show evidence of understanding of the social, historical, and cultural contexts of Hellenistic poetry

3. Present their own research relating to the themes of the course in a coherent and scholarly form

4. Translate selected Greek texts into good English, showing appropriate awareness of the significance of individual phrases and vocabulary

5. Show awareness of the interrelated nature of literature with cultural and historical contexts