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090053 UE Medieval Greek/ Reading Byzantine Texts (2025S)
Continuous assessment of course work
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max. 20 participants
Language: German, English
Lecturers
Classes
Currently no class schedule is known.
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Aims, contents and method of the course
Welcome to Medieval Greek!Between the fourth and the fifteenth century, Greek was one of the major languages of the Mediterranean world. It was not just the official language of the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) state until its fall in 1453, but was also spoken or written by communities, e.g., in Southern Italy and the Medieval Levant. This has produced an incredible amount of texts—more than 15.000 letters and almost 20.000 poems are extant. Only a part of this material has been edited or translated. Even less has been properly studied or truly enjoyed as it deserves, since only in recent decades has a long-standing tradition of negative prejudice against Byzantine literature been overcome.This course has two main goals. First, it offers a small sample of the astonishing variety of fascinating Greek texts produced in this period. We will encounter a Medieval collection of stories about the ancient statues of Constantinople (and their eerily supernatural side), a Greek life of Buddha, a female historian experimenting with her authorial voice, poems on lead seals and sacred objects, and much more. Each session will be devoted to a different text, so that by the end of the course students will have gained at least a sense of what Byzantine literature has to offer. Second, and even more importantly, the course aims at giving the basic skills to access this wealth of material (in class sessions) and enable students to independently pursue their own interests (in the final assignment). By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the basic resources to tackle the vocabulary, morphology, syntax, meter and rhythm of a text.A more detailed syllabus will be distributed and discussed during the first session of the course.N.B. Presentations by the instructor will be in English, but students can choose between English and German for their in-class translations and assignments. The instructor will be mindful of the fact that expressing oneself in a second language may cause additional difficulties.
Assessment and permitted materials
A. Weekly assignments (50%)I. Preparation for in-class translation. You will have ten assignments over ten weeks, with Week 1 devoted to introductions and Weeks 12 and 13 to student presentations. Every week you will be given a passage (ca. 400 words of Greek) to translate. The texts will often be accompanied by generous annotation. This is meant to help you, but you remain responsible for figuring out the grammar of the whole passage (e.g., being able to parse each word and give its dictionary form or to understand the syntactic structure of the sentences).II. Doubts. Please send me one written Doubt (ca. 50-100 words) that the text has prompted through Moodle at least one hour before each class. They can be on points of grammar or meaning. You are encouraged to be specific about your thought process. Examples: (for grammar) ‘I struggled figuring out what tense the form πεποιήκει is in. I thought the form might be X, but according to grammar book Y…’, (for meaning) ‘I am not sure how to translate the word οἰκονομία. I checked dictionaries X and Y, but…’.B. Final assignment (50%)I. In-Class Presentation (10%): This is where you are invited to think about what you like! In conversation with me, you will select a Greek text from 300 to 1500 CE (ca. 500 to 1000 words), based on your own personal interests. You will give a 15-minute presentation on the text, followed by a 10-minute discussion with the class. As you present the text, take time to articulate your doubts and questions. Please come to my office hours by the end of Week 6, so that we can think about what text could be a good fit for you.II. Annotated passage (40%): You will submit a portfolio (in one single document) containing:• An introduction (200 words)
• The excerpt from the Greek text itself (same as you presented on)
• Its translation into English or German
• A commentary (ca. 1500 words, excluding bibliography). You can focus on whatever sparks your curiosity—issues of translation, language or content (literary, historical or otherwise). The specifics for this format will be given in class.The priority here will not necessarily be to come up with all the correct solutions, but to show that (a) you can formulate your doubts and thoughts clearly and (b) you are able to use the basic tools of the trade that have been presented in class (e.g., dictionaries, TLG, reference grammars etc.).
• The excerpt from the Greek text itself (same as you presented on)
• Its translation into English or German
• A commentary (ca. 1500 words, excluding bibliography). You can focus on whatever sparks your curiosity—issues of translation, language or content (literary, historical or otherwise). The specifics for this format will be given in class.The priority here will not necessarily be to come up with all the correct solutions, but to show that (a) you can formulate your doubts and thoughts clearly and (b) you are able to use the basic tools of the trade that have been presented in class (e.g., dictionaries, TLG, reference grammars etc.).
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Prerequisites
The course presupposes two semesters of Ancient Greek (Graecum or Ergänzungsprüfung or Altgriechisch I-II or equivalent). This is because we will *not* systematically go through the chapters of a grammar book. However, I am aware that previous experience with Greek among the participants may vary and we can certainly revise some of the trickier grammar points, either in class or during office hours. If you are uncertain about your level of Greek, feel free to get in touch with me.Weekly Assignments
50 points: 5 points for each class Weeks 2 to Week 11
• 3 points for in-class preparation: having prepared the readings, looked up words, revised the points of grammar that come up etc. I do not expect you to solve all of the grammar issues, but it is important that you identify those unclear to you.
• 2 points for the ‘Doubt’ submission.Final Assignment
50 points:
• 10 points for the in-class presentation: 15 minutes, ideally divided into 5 minutes of introduction to the author/text, 5 to contextualize the passage you chose, 5 to talk about a question you have (like the ‘Doubt’ but a bit more thoroughly). You are expected to produce a handout (two pages max.) or a power-point presentation (max. 7 slides including first and last).
• 40 for your submitted portfolio: you will be assessed on the overall correctness of your translation and on the basis of your use of the skillsets we discussed in class (e.g., use of TLG, grammars, dictionaries and similar scholarly resources).Grading scale:
100-80: 1. 79-70: 2. 69-60: 3. 59-50: 4. <50: fail.Absence policy
Please get in touch with me ahead of time if you cannot attend a session. Two absences are allowed, in which case three 'Doubts' instead of one will have to be submitted for the assignment of the day.
The course presupposes two semesters of Ancient Greek (Graecum or Ergänzungsprüfung or Altgriechisch I-II or equivalent). This is because we will *not* systematically go through the chapters of a grammar book. However, I am aware that previous experience with Greek among the participants may vary and we can certainly revise some of the trickier grammar points, either in class or during office hours. If you are uncertain about your level of Greek, feel free to get in touch with me.Weekly Assignments
50 points: 5 points for each class Weeks 2 to Week 11
• 3 points for in-class preparation: having prepared the readings, looked up words, revised the points of grammar that come up etc. I do not expect you to solve all of the grammar issues, but it is important that you identify those unclear to you.
• 2 points for the ‘Doubt’ submission.Final Assignment
50 points:
• 10 points for the in-class presentation: 15 minutes, ideally divided into 5 minutes of introduction to the author/text, 5 to contextualize the passage you chose, 5 to talk about a question you have (like the ‘Doubt’ but a bit more thoroughly). You are expected to produce a handout (two pages max.) or a power-point presentation (max. 7 slides including first and last).
• 40 for your submitted portfolio: you will be assessed on the overall correctness of your translation and on the basis of your use of the skillsets we discussed in class (e.g., use of TLG, grammars, dictionaries and similar scholarly resources).Grading scale:
100-80: 1. 79-70: 2. 69-60: 3. 59-50: 4. <50: fail.Absence policy
Please get in touch with me ahead of time if you cannot attend a session. Two absences are allowed, in which case three 'Doubts' instead of one will have to be submitted for the assignment of the day.
Examination topics
See above
Reading list
Becoming familiar with the 'tools of the trade' will be one of the fundamental goals of the course.Pointers on secondary literature will be given at each session, but a good place to start is the online bibliography kept by Stratis Papaioannou at https://byzbooks.wordpress.com/
Association in the course directory
Last modified: Th 23.01.2025 17:45