Introductory description

The aims of the course are to push through with learning the fundamental structures of the language and to begin reading some Greek by classical authors of a reasonable length. By the end of this module, students should expect to have:

• completed an introduction to the syntax of the language;
• developed a good working Greek vocabulary;
• read unadapted Greek; and
• started to develop an awareness of different literary styles;
• begun to develop interpretative skills to enable independent critical reflection on thematics and literary form in the original language.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module builds upon Greek 1 (taster) (and as a point of entry for students who have GCSE level Greek), aiming to improve the student's knowledge of accidence and syntax and accelerating their learning and confidence with the language to prepare them for the next-level advanced Greek Literary Texts module. Students will also be introduced to excerpts from original texts, in prose then verse, chosen for their intrinsic interest as well as their capacity to deepen students' understanding of the language.
Potential texts include: extracts from Lysias 1 (On the Murder of Eratosthenes); extracts from Euripides, Medea.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• By the end of this module students should expect to know all the designated vocabulary and grammar.
• By the end of this module students should expect to be able to use ancillary tools (e.g. a Greek dictionary, grammars, scholarly commentaries) effectively.
• By the end of this module students should expect to be able to prepare translations of set texts independently.
• By the end of this module students should expect to be able to translate unseen texts from a prescribed author.
• By the end of this module students should expect to develop an appreciation of stylistic features in set texts.
• By the end of this module students should expect to be able to have some facility with discussing the intersection between thematics and the literary form of texts in the original..

Indicative reading list

Textbook:
J. Taylor, Greek to GCSE vols 1&2 - to be supplemented by course extracts provided from D. J. Mastronarde, Introduction to Attic Greek.
Grammar:
The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek' by Evert van Emde Boas et al. (2019) and
Lexicon:
Liddell and Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon; or Cambridge Greek Dictionary.

Illustrative bibliography to allow some interpretation of original extracts:
C. Carey (2008) Lysias: Selected Speeches (Cambridge).
S. C. Todd (ed.) (2007) A Commentary on Lysias, Speeches 1-11 (Oxford)
S. Goldhill (1986), Reading Greek Tragedy (Cambridge)
E. Hall, (2009) Greek Tragedy: Suffering under the Sun (Oxford)
D. J. Mastronarde (2002) Euripides: Medea (Cambridge)
W. Allan, Euripides: Medea (Duckworth Companions to Greek and Roman Tragedy, 2002)

Subject specific skills

By the end of this module, students should expect to have:

• completed an introduction to the syntax of the language;
• developed a good working Greek vocabulary;
• read unadapted Greek; and
• started to develop an awareness of different literary styles;
• begun to develop interpretative skills to enable independent critical reflection on thematics and literary form in the original language.

Transferable skills

• Critical thinking
• Problem Solving
• Communication
• Information Literacy