Corso di laurea magistrale in Filologia,
Letterature e Storia dell'antichità

Knowledge of Greek is required (full possession of noun and verb morphology; main elements of syntax)

The course aims to provide in-depth knowledge of the development of the Greek literary language from the archaic to the classical age (and Atticism) and of the constituent components of the language (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon semantics, pragmatics, textuality) in order for the student to be able to analyse and describe with adequate terminology the synchronic distribution and diachronic evolution of linguistic phenomena, framing the works in the diachronic development of the language, in their historical-cultural context and in their belonging to literary genres, applying, to each of the texts examined, the appropriate analytical methodology of linguistic and stylistic type, employing the bibliographical tools (dictionaries, language history manuals, critical essays) useful for translation and linguistic commentary, and presenting the results of the study with expository mastery and technical terminology. The course also aims to refine the skills of translation and commentary (language, style) of Greek texts in prose and poetry, with particular regard to Atticist texts.

At the end of the course, students will have to prove:

to be able to translate and analyse, on a linguistic and stylistic level, the texts presented in class, setting them in the diachronic evolution of the Greek language, in their historical-cultural context and in their belonging to literary genres; to be able to apply the methodology learnt to other texts similar to those examined in class, carrying out individual work of translation, linguistic analysis and critical interpretation of selected passages during the lessons to be able to present the results of the study orally with effectiveness and correct technical terminology; to have developed the ability to carry out personal in-depth studies on the evolution of the Greek language from the classical age to the imperial age (with particular regard to morphosyntax), developing the knowledge and skills acquired and employing the bibliographical tools (dictionaries, language history manuals, critical essays) illustrated during the course.

The Achilles Embassy (and the Second Sophistic)

The ninth book of the Iliad, famous for the speech of Odysseus, Phoenix and Ajax, was the subject of discussion since ancient times for some puzzles such as the number of ambassadors and the role of Phoenix; it was often a challenge for rhetoric: was it possible to be better than Odysseus (and Homer) and convince Achilles to take up arms? This is the commitment that in the second century A.D. the rhetorician Aelius Aristides took on in a famous mythological melete

The teaching will address the main features of the language of Epos, with particular attention to the specificity of the Homeric language, and will discuss possible performative situations and pragmatic functions in the text that has come down to us; a possible use of Homeric themes in the rhetoric of the imperial age will also be observed through the text by Elio Aristide. 

Six additional hours of Translation Workshop will also be made available to students to improve their translation skills in the second and third week of teaching (one hour at the end of each lecture block, Monday-Wednesday): see also below, Support activities.

The Greek texts translated in class (the ninth book of the Iliad; part of Oration 16 of Aristides) and subject to examination will be made available at the beginning of the lessons on the teaching webpage (Moodle; Materiale didattico); at the end of the lessons the complete list of the passages examined and subject to examination will be published on the teaching page.

Those who are not able to attend are kindly requested to contact the lecturer; the programme for non-attending students may be either entirely similar to that for attending students, with some critical readings to replace the work done in the classroom on the texts, or also agreed on other topics in the presence of any specific interests.

Lectures (36 hours in total, 6 CFU), which take place in the classroom, partly in frontal form and partly in seminars.

Expected knowledge and skills will be verified through an oral exam (maximum 30/30) which includes at least two questions- the questions will test the theoretical knowledge and the theoretical-practical methodologies as explained in the lectures - on the characters of the greek literary language (i.e. the Homeric language)  and on the literary and linguistic commentary of the text read, after an translation of a significant portion of the Greek texts discussed in class

In the second and third week of the module, an additional 6 hours of Translation Consolidation Workshop will be offered in connection with the training objectives and content of the module (lu-ma-merc one hour at the end of the lecture).

Students with Specific Learning Disorders are requested to inform the lecturer at the beginning of the course in order to agree on a personal learning path suited to their needs, even beyond the compensatory and dispensatory measures provided for the exam.
In general, Students with SLD or disabilities are asked to take note of the university modalities

• of support (https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-con-disabilitaopen_in_newopen_in_newopen_in_newopen_in_new),

• of welcoming (https://www.unito.it/accoglienza-studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsaopen_in_newopen_in_newopen_in_newopen_in_new),

• and of the procedures of exam support request: https://www.unito.it/servizi/lo-studio/studenti-e-studentesse-con-disabilita/supporto-studenti-e-studentesse-conopen_in_newopen_in_newopen_in_new     

Critical editions for the ninth song and for the text of Aristides (or. 16 LB):

Homeri Opera, recogn. brevique adn. crit. instruxerunt D. B. Monro-Th. W. Allen, Tomus I Iliadis libros I-XII continens, III ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford 1920 (and subsequent reprints: consult Moodle and Learning Material/Materiale didattico at the beginning of the activity) or Homeri Ilias, recensuit, testimonia congessit M. L. West, vol. I, B. G. Teubner, Stutgardiae et Lipsiae 1998

P. Aelii Aristidis Opera quae exstant omnia Orationes 1.-16. complectens / orationes 1. et 5.-16. edidit Fridericus Waltharius Lenz; prefationem conscripsit et orationes 2., 3., 4. edidit Carolus Allison Behr, Lugduni Batavorum, Brill, 1976-1980; Orationes 9.-16., addenda et corrigenda continens, Lugduni Batavorum, Brill, 1980

For the ninth song an indicative list of translations will be included on Moodle and in the Didactic Material/Materiale didattico at the beginning of the activity; for the Embassy to Achilles translations in modern languages other than Italian are available: 

P. Aelius Aristides. The Complete Works. Volume I. Oratiuns I-XVI. With an Appendix containing the Fragments and Inscriptions, Translated into English by C.A. Behr, Leiden, Brill, 1986

Elio Aristides. Discursos III. Las doce declamaciones (Biblioteca Clásica Gredos 234), Introducción, traducción y notas de  Fernando Gascó, Madrid 1997.

Commentaries for the ninth song:

B. Hainsworth, The Iliad: a Commentary III: Books IX-XII, Cambridge 1993; Homer. Iliad IX, ed. with introd. and comm. by J. Griffin, Oxford 1995.

For an introduction to Aelius Aristides' Embassy (or. 16):

J. Goeken,  Le Discours d’Ambassade à Achille (or. 16) d’Aelius Aristide. Une variation sur un thème de l’Iliade, in La Variatio. L’aventure d’un principe d’écriture de l’Antiquité au XXIe siècle, ed. H. Vial, Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2014,  69-84.

E. Berardi, Chi potrà convincere Achille? Una declamazione tra sfida e impegno (or. 16 LB), «Camenae» 23, mars 2019, 1-15 

For the language of epos and its performance:

Albio Cesare Cassio (ed.),  Storia delle lingue letterarie greche, 2. ed, Firenze : Le Monnier università-Mondadori education, 2016 (Parte prima. Introduzione generale di Albio Cesare Cassio, capp. 1-4; L'epica, di Enzo Passa, cap. 5).

A. Aloni, L'epica, in Storia della civiltà letteraria greca e latina, a cura di I. Lana e Enrico V. Maltese, I vol., Torino, Utet, 1998, pp. 9-100.

Students are invited to register on the teaching page.
It is not possible to take the examination in a language other than Italian.
A one-week study trip to Greece is planned for May 2024 (Viaggio di studio in Grecia), a trip that is independent of teaching and the course and open to the entire student body; the programme will be specified by October.