Greek 433/533: Readings in Ancient Greek Poetry (Lyric)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Greek 433/533: Readings in Ancient Greek Poetry (Lyric) Professor Rob Groves M/W 3:30-4:45 [email protected] Learning Services Building 246 Learning Services Building #211 Office Hours: TR drop-in 9:00-3:00 Goals and Learning Outcomes: The primary goal of this course is to increase your ability to read and understand Greek (specifically, the Greek of various Archaic Greek poets) more quickly, and accurately. A secondary set of goals for this course revolves around the performance of Lyric poetry, with an eye to appreciating these poems not only as literary creations but also as sonic/aesthetic creations. Significant time and effort will therefore be devoted to developing your ability to read Greek aloud with good, reconstructed pronunciation, pitch accent, in the appropriate meter. Finally, the course will make you familiar with some of the basic scholarly problems surrounding lyric poetry and encourage you to think about its legacy. Texts: There is only one required text for 433 and a second for 533: Greek Lyric Poetry: A selection of early Greek lyric, elegiac, and iambic poetry (Campbell) (533 only:) Hesiod’s Works and Days (Hamilton, Rainis, Ruttenberg) (Bryn Mawr) o Hesiod’s Works and Days is an archaic poem which is not usually linked with lyric poetry. Although written in hexameter, the poem shares much with some kinds of lyric poetry and in addition to using the poem to build up or reinforce students’ abilities with Greek similar to Homer’s, we will also use this poem to think through the limits of the category of “lyric poetry” You will also need access to an Ancient Greek lexicon (the middle Liddell should mostly suffice, but may need to be supplemented with the full LSJ), and a Greek grammar (Smythe). I will also provide in pdf format various other references on matters such as dialect, pronunciation and meter. Grading: Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution: Greek 433 Greek 533 Preparation and Participation: 15% Preparation and Participation: 15% 1 Advanced Performance Task : 15% 2 Advanced Performance Tasks: 15% Midterm: 25% Midterm: 25% Final Exam: 25% Final Exam: 25% Poem Adoption: 20% Advanced Poem Adoption: 20% Preparation for this course will consist of both your preparation of all relevant Greek for translation and discussion in class and an individual set of lines to recite for the class. Participation implies attendance, though not vice versa. There will be no explicit penalization for missing class, though missing class will make it very difficult to participate in class that day. If you know will miss class, please talk to me about being excused, though as a rule only approved religious holidays and academic travel (a conference, for example) will be excused. In the event of a documented medical or family emergency, you may also be excused, but the sooner the notice the better. Preparation is part of this grade, but not all of it. Even if you find yourself unprepared for class, you will learn more (and earn more points) by attending than by skipping. Performance tasks will be assignments that you will prepare individually to present to me or the class. These will start fairly simple and gradually become more involved. Rubrics for each task will be forthcoming. Elementary Tasks: o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines with good pronunciation. o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines with good metrical performance. o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines with good pitch accent performance. o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines from memory. Advanced Tasks: o The performance of an appropriate length of lyric (non-elegiac or -iambic) poetry with good pronunciation and metrical performance. o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines with good pronunciation, metrical performance, and pitch accent. o The performance of 20 elegiac or iambic lines from memory with good pronunciation and either pitch accent or meter. Notes: o You must earn a satisfactory performance on 3 elementary tasks before you may attempt an advanced. o Tasks will be attempted either in class or in office hours. Either way attempts must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance. o You may use the same set of lines for multiple elementary tasks but not for multiple advanced tasks. o Tasks may be repeated until the desired grade is earned, but you may not attempt more than one task a week. o It will make sense to wait until after certain skills (e.g. pitch accent) have been taught in class before attempting to complete tasks that involve these skills. The Midterm and Final Exams will feature passages of seen Greek to translate and answer questions about (both grammatical and contextual/scholarly). Each test will cover half the course. (i.e. the final will not be comprehensive). Due to the inclusion of at least one passage from the “Works and Days” readings, the 533 versions of the midterm and final will be somewhat longer. Note that the final will be held in-class on the last day of class. The Poem Adoption stands in place of a traditional paper. In this project, you will complete a cluster of related activities involving a single poem (or a small group of poems) NOT read as part of this course. You will be expected to provide 1.) a polished literary translation of that poem, as well as 2.) a commentary highlighting any interesting linguistic, metrical or poetic features, 3.) a close reading analysis pointing out how the poem works poetically (on its own, or in its historical or performative context) and finally 4.) a short history of the legacy of the poem (was it parodied by Hellenistic poets?, translated or adapted by Roman poets?, the inspiration for Romantic English poetry?, oddly neglected? 2 What have scholars done with this poem? etc.). The Poem adoption will be presented as part of the Symposium which will be held during exam week during our exam slot. The 433-version of the assignment will allow a student to only present/write portions 1 and either 2 or 3. The 533-version will expect all portions. Policies: On Missing Class: I will be treating you like the adults you are. I am aware that this class is not your life and acknowledge that it is possible that something else may take precedence over your time in class. You are responsible for getting notes on what you've missed from your colleagues. Please note that this class revolves around our time together and simply doing the reading or getting notes will most likely result in failure. I strongly encourage students who have missed class to come to office hours to discuss the readings from the day they missed. This is a great way to help regain material lost, but I cannot reproduce class in office hours. On Academic Honesty: I am HIGHLY devoted to maintaining the UA's Code of Academic Integrity. Cheating and Plagiarism are not only dishonest, they destroy the value of the system of which we are all parts. Submission of any work that is not wholly your own violates this policy and will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy. As a baseline, expect to earn a 0 on a paper, exam or quiz that was even partly the result of academic misconduct. Please contact me if you have any questions about what is fair or appropriate. You should also familiarize yourself with the information found here: https://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/academicintegrityforstudents. Contacting You: I will make regular announcements via the course website (D2L), where you’ll also be able to find relevant pdfs. Be sure your email is updated and that you check it regularly. Contacting me: Email ([email protected] or [email protected] ) is the best way to get a hold of me. I check it often and will reply as quickly as I can. That said, do not count on me responding to my email immediately. You are welcome too to pop your head in if I’m in the office, even outside of office hours. If I’m busy, I can answer quick questions and if I’m not super busy we can speak more at length. On Disability Accommodation and Access: It is the University’s goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to establish reasonable accommodations. Please be aware that the accessible table and chairs in this room should remain available for students who find that standard classroom seating is not usable. On Professionalism and Respect: We will cover issues of class, slavery, race, and sexuality. You are encouraged to form your own opinions about the values expressed and disagree with others. Simply remember to express your views and to disagree with others with the respect which this academic environment deserves. Threatening behavior in particular is prohibited (http://policy.web.arizona.edu/threatening-behavior-students). Especially for those of you who plan to go on in academia, it is important to note that your professional career is underway. Please act like a young professional in class. On the syllabus: The information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor. 3 Schedule of Topics and Readings: Assignments to be prepared on the day assigned below. Numbers in brackets refer to page number in Campbell.