- UCAS course code
- VV30
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course unit details:
Dispute and Desire: the Erotics of Ancient Greek Literature
Unit code | CAHE30282 |
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Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
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.
Pre/co-requisites
CAHE30221 Advanced Greek 2 (higher is fine)
Aims
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.
Knowledge and understanding
- Have increased knowledge of the Ancient Greek language
- Connect and compare different treatments of the theme of erotic desire in different periods and genres
Intellectual skills
- 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
Practical skills
- 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
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Attention to detail
- Self-organisation and time-management
- Teamwork
Assessment methods
Commentaries (50%)
Online exam (50%)
Feedback methods
Written feedback within three weeks (ideally less)
Recommended reading
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
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Lectures | 11 |
Seminars | 22 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 167 |