Module description
Greek and Roman Literature & Thought: An Introduction is a first-year module aiming to introduce students to the literary culture of Ancient Greece and Rome. It is designed for students without any background knowledge of ancient literature and aims to offer a chronologically laid out, broad survey of periods, genres, ideas, and best-known authors of Greek and Roman literature and thought. All texts studied will be in English translation.
Major thematic stops of this module (indicatively) include: early Greek epic and lyric poetry; fifth-century Athenian drama; classical historiography; fourth-century oratory; Plato and Aristotle; Hellenistic poetry; imperial Greek literature; the literature of early and late Republican Rome; highlights from Augustan literature; early imperial literature and historiography; the Roman satirical tradition; the literature of the Late Empire.
Single semester (15-credit) versions:
- 4AACAL1A Greek and Latin Literature and Thought: An Introduction (semester 1) - focus on Greek Literature.
- 4AACAL1B Roman Literature & Thought: An Introduction (semester 2) - focus on Roman literature.
Assessment details
2 x 1800 word commentary's (50%) each.
Teaching pattern
20 x 2-hour lecture (weekly); 20 x 1-hour seminar (weekly)
Suggested reading list
Suggested introductory reading
These are suggestions for further reading and purchase of these books is not mandatory.
- T. Whitmarsh, Ancient Greek Literature (Cambridge 2004)
- P. E. Easterling and B. Knox (eds), The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 1: Greek Literature (Cambridge 1989) - also published in separate paperback period specific volumes
- M. Hose and D. Schenker (eds), A Companion to Greek Literature (Blackwell, June 2013)
- S. M. Braund, Latin Literature (N. York and London 2002)
- G. B. Conte, Latin Literature (Baltimore 1994)
- E. Fantham, Roman Literary Culture from Cicero to Apuleius (Baltimore and London 1996).
- E. Kenney and W. Clausen, Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 2: Latin Literature (Cambridge 1982) - also published in separate paperback period specific volumes
- S. Harrison (ed), A Companion to Latin Literature (Blackwell 2006)
- R. Rutherford, Classical Literature: A Concise History (Blackwell 2004)
- O. Taplin (ed.) Literature in the Greek and Roman World (Oxford 2000). NB. This invaluable book has also been published in two separate volumes, one for the Greek and one for the Roman period; these are in paperback, so easier to carry around.
- G. Boys-Stones, B. Graziosi, and P. Vasunia (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies (Oxford 2010)
- Barchiesi and W. Scheidel (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies (Oxford 2010)