Introduction to the Culture of Ancient Greece (with a canon of reading in Polish translations) 3700-FN-1-WDKGA
The course is designed as: 1/ an introduction to the history and literature of Ancient Greece from the Homeric times to the Hellenistic period with an emphasis on the most important (chosen) aspects of the ancient Greek civilization, especially those which are still present in Modern Greek culture; 2/an introduction to the work of an Ancient texts editor (eg. transmission of the Ancient Greek text, close readings of Greek authors in Polish translations, etc.).
Topics:
1-3. Introductory information. Topics description. Select bibliography and materials. What a "text" is? The characteristics of the Ancient text (from the scroll to codex); writing systems and materials) . How to read an Ancient text? (Transmission of the Greek Ancient text; its state of preservation; basic elements of textual criticism; Some problems of translation of an Ancient text.
4. Homer as a teacher of Greeks. Achilles and Odysseus as two models of aner aristos.
5. Greek lyric poetry: meters, types, poets.
6. From the history of Greek art I. In the world of Greek vases (forms and shapes of Greek pottery, styles, decorations, representatives).
7. Introduction to the Greek drama (Aristotle's Poetics).
8-9. Dramatic and theatrical conventions. Time and space in Greek drama.
10. Symposion - a Greek cultural phenomenon. Plato's Banquet.
11. From the history of Greek art II. Greek temple (architecture) and sculpture.
12. Rhetorics. Epitaphios logos.
13. From the history of Greek art III. Acropolis.
14. How to live (happily) according to Greek philosophers (from the Presocratic period to the great schools) .
Student workload:
30 h contact hours
c. 60 h individual work.
Type of course
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge: students completing the course will understand and be familiar with:
- the ties between philological sciences and other humanities disciplines;
- basic knowledge about the place of Greek among the Indo-European languages and its importance for the development of modern languages and contemporary scientific disciplines;
- the most important literary genres practised by the Ancient Greeks;
- literary periods, currents and movements in Greek writing as well as the Greeks’ literary achievements;
- examples of the reception of ancient heritage in Polish, Modern Greek and European literature.
Skills: students completing the course will be able to
- autonomously retrieve, evaluate and use information from different written and electronic sources, with due consideration for intellectual property protection;
- present orally or in writing simple research problems, also using different sources and critically referencing the literature of the subject.
Social competences: students completing the course will be ready to
- realize the limited extent of their own knowledge and skills;
- appreciate the importance of the Greek heritage in Polish and European culture and feel responsible for its preservation.
Assessment criteria
Students evaluation requirements:
- written test (mythology knowledge);
- oral analysis of readings (Ilias and Poetics in Polish translations);
- individual activity.
Bibliography
Obligatory
W. Lengauer: Starożytna Grecja okresu archaicznego i klasycznego, Warszawa 1999.
J. Łanowski, ks. M. Starowieyski: Literatura Grecji starożytnej. Od Homera do Justyniana, Warszawa 1996.
D. Dembińska-Siury: Człowiek odkrywa człowieka, Warszawa 1991.
A. Świderkówna: Hellenika. Wizerunek epoki od Aleksandra do Augusta. Warszawa 1974
K. Marciniak, Mitologia grecka i rzymska. Bohaterowie ponad czasem. Opowieści o bogach i herosach. Konteksty kulturowe. Historia i współczesność, Warszawa-Bielsko-Biała 2010.
Recommended:
J. Chadwick: Odczytanie pisma linearnego B, Warszawa 1975.
M.H. Hansen: Demokracja ateńska w czasach Demostenesa, Warszawa 1999.
O. Jurewicz, L. Winniczuk: Starożytni Grecy i Rzymianie w życiu prywatnym i publicznym, Warszawa 1968.
J.-P. Vernant: Źródła myśli greckiej, Warszawa 1969.
A.I. Finley: Grecy, Warszawa 1965.
O. Gigon: Główne problemy filozofii starożytnej, Warszawa 1996.
M. Kocur: Teatr antycznej Grecji, Wrocław 2001.
J. K. Davies: Demokracja w Grecji klasycznej, Warszawa 2003.
F. W. Walbank: Świat hellenistyczny, Warszawa 2003.
M. Bernhard: Sztuka grecka, Warszawa 1981.
Reception
W. Berschin: Grecko-łacińskie średniowiecze, Gniezno 2003.
T. Sinko, Hellada i Roma w Polsce, 1933.
I. Grześczak, Ścieżki śródziemnomorskie, Warszawa 2002.
M. Szymański, Ab ovo. Antyk, Biblia etc., Warszawa 2004.
Na pierwszym spotkaniu studenci otrzymują do powielenia Przewodnik bibliograficzny z obszerną literaturą.
Canon of texts in Polish translations
1. Epos: Homer – Iliada i Odyseja.
2. Lirycy greccy (wybór).
3. Dramat : Oresteja Ajschylosa; Edyp królem Sofoklesa; Bachantki Eurypidesa oraz 1 komedia Arystofanesa lub Menandra.
4. Tukidydes – Mowa pogrzebowa (Epitafios logos) z Wojny Peloponeskiej.
5. Platon – Obrona Sokratesa i Uczta.
5. Arystoteles – Poetyka.
Zalecane / Recommended
Owidiusz, Metamorfozy.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: