Undergraduate Modules

Advanced Greek II             

MODULE CODE:       1/2/3/MGK0620                         

TAUGHT: Lent term                                             

MODULE AUTHOR: Dr Owen Hodkinson

LEVEL: 4/5/6/7     

AVAILABILITY: On-campus and at a distance                                                 

CREDITS: 20

PREREQUISITE: Standard of Greek Intermediate II, or Greek A-Level or equivalent

TEACHING METHODS:                     

Lectures:    n/a

Seminars:   n/a

Classes:  20 hours (10%)

Field visits:   n/a

Directed Learning: 80 hours (40%)

JACS CODE:     Q720

AIM(S)

To enable students:

• to translate the Greek language at an advanced level
• to develop knowledge of Greek grammar through translation of the text studied and unseen translation work
• to extend their knowledge of Greek literature
• gain an understanding of the text’s historical and literary context
• increase their awareness of the author’s skill and art

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this module all students should be able to: 

A.  Subject specific skills and knowledge

• translate the set text
• demonstrate their knowledge of Greek grammar through translation of the text studied and unseen translation work
• demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the text studied

In addition pattern A students should be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the modern scholarship on this text

In addition Pattern B students should be able to:

• translate independently an additional 150 lines (or prose equivalent)
• demonstrate more advanced knowledge of the text studied
• demonstrate knowledge of the modern scholarship on this text

In addition Pattern C students should be able to:

• translate independently an additional 300 lines (or prose equivalent)
• present a detailed literary and linguistic analysis of the studied text
• evaluate critically the modern scholarship on this text

B. Transferable skills and knowledge:

• demonstrate appropriate written skills
• present written work in a manner appropriate for a relevant/professional audience
• demonstrate their critical, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• demonstrate independent learning skills through the use of the library and electronic resources

CONTENT

Students will study a work of Greek literature in the original language.  Each year one of the advanced modules will focus on prose (e.g. a book by Thucydides, a Platonic dialogue), and the other on verse (e.g. a Sophocles tragedy, a selection from Homer’s Iliad), and different genres are covered by each of the modules (e.g. epic, comedy, historical writing, ancient novel).  Detailed language work will be combined with the development of skills of literary criticism and attention to the historical context of the works studied.  In order to help students translate with greater skill and accuracy both modules contain an unseen translation component to continue linguistic teaching at an advanced level.  The three different assessment patterns and amounts of texts studied reflect the progression built into the module.

In this Advanced Greek II module, students will translate works by Lucian in the anthology N. Hopkinson (ed.) Lucian: Selections (Cambridge 2008). Lucian’s writings, in a variety of prose genres (dialogues, speeches, treatises), are comic (largely satirical or parodic). Although grammar will still be studied, literary interpretation will be our main focus.

ASSESSMENT

Pattern A (for all students coming up from intermediate and for level 4 students):

Examination: One two-hour exam      (50%)

Course work:  One 1,500 word critical analysis (25%)

                          One 1,500 word critical analysis (25%)

Text covered:  600 lines (or prose equivalent)

Pattern B (for all students who have already had one year of advanced language):

Examination: One two-hour exam (50%)

Course work: One 1,000 word critical analysis (20%)

                         One 2,000 word essay (30%)

Text covered:  600 lines + 150 lines of self-study (or prose equivalent)

Pattern C (for all students who have already had two years of advanced language):

Examination: One two-hour exam      (50%)

Course work: One 3,000 word commentary / essay (50%)

Text covered:  600 lines + 300 lines of self-study (or prose equivalent)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Essential

• Hopkinson, N. (2008), Lucian: Selections, Cambridge.
• It is essential that you buy a dictionary for studying Greek at this level. The following will probably suffice, but you may need to consult the larger version, which is available in the library: Liddell & Scott (1963), An Intermediate Greek-English Dictionary, Oxford.

Recommended

• Baldwin, B. (1973) Studies in Lucian, Toronto
• Anderson, G. (1993) The Second Sophistic: A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire, London
• Bracht Branham, R. (1989) Unruly Eloquence: Lucian and the Comedy of Traditions, Cambridge, MA.
• Hall, J.A. (1981) Lucian's Satire, New York
• Morwood, J. (2001), Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek, Oxford.

Updated: 10/09/2009

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