BA Ancient History

This unit enables students to develop an enhanced understanding of how erotic desire was represented, debated, and criticised in ancient Greek literature. Students will read texts from a wide range of temporal periods (ranging from the archaic period to the Second Sophistic), authors, and genres. They will encounter a correspondingly wide range of literary forms and strategies, including lyric poetry, epigram, and philosophical dialogue, and see eros presented in numerous guises. A focus on close reading will enable detailed scrutiny of the linguistic means by which the texts fashion meaning and create emotional effects.

CAHE30121 Advanced Greek 1 (higher is fine)

1. To introduce students to the varieties of style, language and narrative structure in ancient Greek ‘erotic’ writing.

2. To enable students to develop a sense of the effects created by erotic writing across a range of genres.

3. To enable students to carry out close and comparative reading of original texts, developing technical skills acquired in earlier Greek Language course units.

• Have increased knowledge of the Ancient Greek language
• Connect and compare different treatments of the theme of erotic desire in different periods and genres

• Have increased ability to read and translate Ancient Greek
• Develop critical reflection on the literary qualities of texts and the scholarly debates surrounding them
• Be able to make a reasoned argument for a particular point of view regarding literary interpretation
• Developed a basic understanding of how scansion and other technical aspects learned in Advanced Language courses can enhance interpretation

• Have increased ability to use library, electronic and online resources to enhance the study of Ancient Greek texts
• Engage with other members of the class in order to develop literary reading as a communal activity

• Attention to detail
• Self-organisation and time-management
• Teamwork

Commentaries (50%)

Online exam (50%)

Written feedback via Turnitin within three weeks

S. Best and S. Marcus, ‘Surface Reading: An Introduction’, Representations 108.1 (2009), 1–21

T. Hubbard, ‘Pindar, Theoxenus, and the Homoerotic Eye’, Arethusa 32 (2002), 255–96

J. Rist, ‘Plutarch’s Amatorius: A Commentary on Plato’s Theories of Love’, CQ 51.2 (2001), 557–75