Greek 402/502: Greek Reading Course

Greek 402/502: Greek Reading Course

Professor Robert Groves ()

Class: TR 2-3:15pmOffice Hours: TR 10-11am

Harvill 452Learning Services Building 211

Goals and Learning Outcomes: The primary goal of this course is to increase your ability to read and understand Greek (specifically, the Greek of the Greek Novels) more quickly, accurately, and fluently. By the end of the course, you should feel comfortable diving into these novels for research or for pleasure without the help of an instructor. You should also have a good sense for the genre of the novel as a whole, an understanding of many of the issues at stake in the scholarship on the novels, and develop a detailed body of knowledge about one specific aspect of those issues (to be demonstrated via a paper).

Texts: There are two required texts:

A Greek Novel Reader (Groves,ed.)--Our selection of text, and light commentary, a work in progress, which we will work on improving through our time together. I will provide this to you for free or at very low cost. (the cost of printing). Details to come soon.

Collected Ancient Greek Novels (Reardon, ed.)—The authoritative English translation of all the novels, including both those we will read selections of and those we won’t.

You will also need access to an Ancient Greek lexicon (the “middle Liddell” should suffice, though you may need intermittent access to the full LSJ), and a Greek grammar (Smythe). Note that both of these have various online formats as well, which may or may not be less cumbersome.

Grading: Your grade will be calculated according to the following distribution:

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Greek 402

Preparation and Participation: 20%

Mini-Exams: 40%

Final Exam: 20%

Discussion Leading: 10%

Annotated Bibliography:10%

Greek 502

Preparation and Participation: 20%

Reading Mini-Exams: 32%

Final Exam: 18%

Discussion Leading:7.5%

Annotated Bibliography:7.5%

Paper: 15%

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Note: Regardless of their overall score, 502 students who receive less than a “B” Grade in “Preparation and Participation” or less than a “C” on the paper will earn no better than a C in the course.

Participation implies attendance, though not vice versa. There will be no explicit penalization for missing class, though missing class will make it very difficult to participate in class that day. If you know will miss class, please talk to me about being excused, though as a rule only approved religious holidays and academic travel (a conference, for example) will be excused. In the event of a documented medical or family emergency, you may also be excused, but the sooner the notice the better. Preparation is part of this grade, but not all of it. Even if you find yourself unprepared for class, you will learn more (and earn more points) by attending than by skipping.

There will be 5 Mini-Exams. Students may take any 4 or all 5. In either case, the average of the highest 4 scores will constitute the grade for the category. The exams will be held on the class day after we complete each author. They will cover that author’s readings. These Mini-Exams will cover seen material, and will feature translation and grammatical questions, as well as some short questions to be sure you understand the plot of the novel as a whole. There will be no make-up mini-exams. Note: 502 students’exams will include their 502 assignments as well as the normal 402 material.

The Final Exam will consist of a number of passages to translate and write short essays in response to qustionsdealing with major themes from the novels. The final will emphatically be cumulative. Some passages may be (straightforward) sight passages.

Discussion Leading and Annotated Bibliography: Students will be assigned a topic early in the semester and will be asked to do two things with that topic. 1.) DISCUSSION LEADING--On the assigned day, lead a short class discussion on a topic of scholarly importance within the novel. These discussions will scheduled in such a way as to support and reinforce our readings of the Greek. For this, students should come up with a brief introduction to the topic (to be gained via perusing the “Starting Points” associated with the topic)and will then have a few discussion questions for their classmates to discuss. The entire business should take no more than 15 minutes. 2.) ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY—By Tuesday of Week 13, students will have produced an annotated bibliography on their topic, including5-6 major works (monographs)on their topic. Two scholarly articlesmay be substituted for one book. The Annotated bibliography should discuss the argument of the reviewed works as well as interesting features of approach. Articles should have been read in full, books should be extensively skimmed. Bibliographies will be shared with other students via the course website and should assist in the development of papers. I will provide a resource on how to complete this bibliography as it approaches.

The Paper should be 12-15 pages long (with standard fonts/margins/spacing), and will ideally build upon the work you have done in your discussion leading and annotated bibliography. The paper should present an organized and coherent argument rooted in scholarship and supported by analysis of the texts. Ideally this work will have an original argument, but this is not a requirement of the assignment. The paper should conform to the standards of the MA Guidelines: and the checklist for papers: Papers will be turned in via d2l no later than 5:00pm on Friday, December 19 via dropbox on D2L. Late papers will be penalized 10% per day late. Papers that are significantly shorter than the minimum will be severely marked down.

Tuesday / Thursday
Week 1
August
Callirhoe / 26
Chariton 1, 2(1.1.1-1.1.13)
502: Chariton 3 (1.1.14-1.1.16) / 28
Chariton 4, 6(1.4.5-1.4.12, 1.8)
502: Chariton 5 (1.5)
Week 2
September
Callirhoe / 2
Chariton 8, 11(2.8, 2.11)
502: Chariton 9 (2.9) / 4
Chariton 16, 17 (4.3.1, 5.3.5-5.3.11)
502: Chariton 20 (5.6.1-5.6.5)
Week 3
September
Callirhoe / 9
Chariton 21, 23 (5.6.5-5.6.11, 5.7.8-5.8.6)
502: Chariton 22 (5.7.1-5.7.7)
Discussion: The Origin of the Novel / 11
502: Chariton 25 (8.1.1-8.1.5)
Chariton 26, 27(8.1.5-8.1.14, 8.8.12-16)
Week 4
September
Ephesiaca / 16—MINI-EXAM 1
Xenophon 1, 2 (1.1-1.2)
502: Xenophon 4 (1.4-1.5.1) / 18
502: Xenophon 5 (1.6-1.7)
Xenophon 9-11 (1.14-1.16)
Discussion: The Genre of the Novel
Week 5
September
Ephesiaca / 23
Xenophon 15-17 (2.14, 3.2)
502: Xenophon 18 (3.5.1-8)
Discussion: Sexuality / 25
502: Xenophon 19 (3.5.9-3.6)
Xenophon 20-22 (4.2-4.3)
Week 6
October
Ephesiaca / 30
502: Xenophon 23 (4.5)
Xenophon 25-26 (5.1)
Discussion: Ancient Readers of the Novel / 2
502: Xenophon 24 (4.6)
Xenophon 27-28 (5.13-5.15)
Discussion: Religion and the Novels
Week 7
October
L&C / 7—MINI-EXAM 2
Achilles Tatius1, 3(1.1.1-1.1.7, 1.2-1.3.2)
502: Achilles Tatius 2 (1.1.8-1.1.13) / 9
Achilles Tatius 8, 9(1.16-17.2, 1.19, 2.7)
502: Achilles Tatius 12 (2.23.3-2.24)
Week 8
October
L&C / 14
502: Achilles Tatius 13 (2.35, 2.36)
Achilles Tatius 14, 15(2.37, 2.38)
Discussion: Interetextuality / 16
Achilles Tatius 16, 17(3.15, 3.21)
502: Achilles Tatius 18 (5.1-5.2)
Discussion: Foreign Lands and Peoples
Week 9
October
L&C / 21
502: Achilles Tatius 20, 21 (5.18, 5.20)
Achilles Tatius22, 23(5.26-5.27)
Discussion: Characterization / 23
Achilles Tatius 24, 28(6.20-6.22, 8.19)
502: Achilles Tatius 25 (8.9.1-8.9.6)
Discussion: The Body and Chastity
Week 10
October
D&Ch / 28—MINI-EXAM 3
Longus 1-3 (Prologue, 1.1-1.6)
502: Longus 7 (1.15-16) / 30
Longus 5, 6 (1.12.6-1.15.1)
502: Longus 8 (1.17-19.1)
Week 11
November
D&Ch / 4
Longus 9, 10 (1.28-1.31.2)
502: Longus 13 (2.7-8) / 6
502: Longus 15 (3.15-3.16)
Longus 17, 18 (3.17-3.20)
Discussion: The Reception of the Novel
Week 12
November
D&Ch / 11
NO CLASS
(Veterans’ Day) / 13
502: Longus 19 (4.11-4.12)
Longus 21, 23 (3.17-3.20)
Discussion: Class, City, and Country
Week 13
November
Aethiopica / 18—MINI-EXAM 4
Heliodorus 1, 2 (1.1-1.2.5)
502: Heliodorus 3 (1.2.6-1.3.3) / 20
Heliodorus 10, 13 (2.31, 2.35-2.36)
502: Heliodorus 14 (3.12-3.13)
Week 14
November
Aethiopica / 25
502: Heliodorus 15 (3.14-3.15.1)
Heliodorus 16, 17 (4.8-4.9.1) / 27
NO CLASS
(Thanksgiving)
Week 15
December
Aethiopica / 2
502: Heliodorus 18 (4.12-4.13.1)
Heliodorus 19, 20 (5.32-5.33.3) / 4
Heliodorus 21, 22 (6.14.1-6.15.2)
502: Heliodorus 23 (6.15.3-6.15.5)
Week 16
December
Aethiopica / 9—MINI-EXAM 5
Heliodorus 25, 30 (9.24.3-.8, 10.40-10.41)
502: Heliodorus 26, 27 (10.8-10.9.5) / 11
NO CLASS
(Dead Day)
Finals Week
December / Wednesday 17
Final Exam, 3:30-5:30

Policies:

On Missing Class: I will be treating you like the adults you are. I am aware that this class is not your life and acknowledge that it is possible that something else may take precedence over your time in class. You are responsible for getting notes on what you've missed from your colleagues. Please note that this class revolves around our time together and simply doing the reading or getting notes will most likely result in failure. I strongly encourage students who have missed class to come to office hours to discuss the readings from the day they missed. This is a great way to help regain material lost, but I cannot reproduce class in office hours. You will earn a zero for missed quizzes.

On Academic Honesty: I am HIGHLY devoted to maintaining the UA's Code of Academic Integrity. heating and Plagiarism are not only dishonest, they destroy the value of the system of which we are all parts. Submission of any work that is not wholly your own violates this policy and will be dealt with swiftly and without mercy. As a baseline, expect to earn a 0 on a paper, exam or quiz that was even partly the result of academic misconduct. Please contact me if you have any questions about what is fair or appropriate. You should also familiarize yourself with the information found here:

NOTE: Most cases of academic misconduct I have encountered were the result of students’ being up against a deadline and starting the assignment too late. There are two ways to avoid this: start assignments early, and if you find yourself in a crunch, take the late penalty rather than plagiarizing. Better 10% or even 20% off rather than 100% off (and possible disciplinary action).

Contacting You:I will make regular announcements via the course website (D2L),where you’ll also be able to find the articles, links to bibliographies, etc. Be sure your email is updated and that you check it regularly.

Contacting me:Email ( or ) is the best way to get a hold of me. I check it often andwill reply as quickly as I can. That said, do not count on me responding to my email immediately. You are welcome too to pop your head in if I’m in the office, even outside of office hours. If I’m busy, I can answer quick questions and if I’m not super busy we can speak more at length.

On Disability Accommodation and Access: It is the University’s goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to establish reasonable accommodations.

Please be aware that the accessible table and chairs in this room should remain available for students who find that standard classroom seating is not usable.

On Professionalism and Respect: We will cover issues of class, slavery, race, and sexuality. You are encouraged to form your own opinions about the values expressed and disagree with others. Simply remember to express your views and to disagree with others with the respect which this academic environment deserves. Threatening behavior in particular is prohibited ( Especially for those of you who plan to go on in academia, it is important to note that your professional career is underway. Please act like a young professional in class.

On the syllabus: The information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

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