RLS028 Love, Wine, and Muses: Greek Lyric Poetry

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025

The course is not taught in Spring 2025

Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Juraj Franek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. et Mgr. Juraj Franek, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
! KR028 Greek Lyric Poetry
Working knowledge of English language.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Following the successful completion of the course, students will acquire good knowledge of all leading figures of archaic Greek poetry, appreciation of the peculiar nature of preservation of their works and the ability to interpret foundational pieces of European poetical tradition.
The course will benefit not only classicists, but also students of European national literatures, students of religion and art historians.
Lectures are held in English, the course is therefore well suited for incoming Erasmus students.
Learning outcomes
Following the successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- identify central isses connected with the nature of preservation of archaic Greek poetry;
- present a detailed overview of the most important themes and topics found in archaic Greek poetry;
- describe different types of archaic Greek lyric, their occasion, themes, metres and the most important representatives;
- identify the influence of Greek lyric poetry on the subsequent development of European literature.
Syllabus
  • 1. General introduction to archaic Greek poetry
  • 2. Muse
    "Come, Muse, Calliope, daughter of Zeus, begin the lovely verses." (Alcman, frg. 27)
  • 3. Wine
    "Wine, dear boy, and truth." (Alcaeus, frg. 366)
  • 4. Erotic love
    "Love shook my heart like a wind falling on oaks on a mountain." (Sappho, frg. 47)
  • 5. Non-erotic love
    "I have a beautiful child who looks like golden flowers, my darling Cleis, for whom I would not take all Lydia." (Sappho, frg. 132)
  • 6. War
    "For no man is good in war unless he can endure the sight of bloody slaughter [...] This is excellence, this the best human prize and the fairest for a young man to win." (Tyrtaeus, frg. 12)
  • 7. Wealth
    "I long to have money, but I am unwilling to possess it unjustly, for the retribution assuredly comes afterwards." (Solon, frg. 13)
  • 8. Politics
    "Don't be led on by hopes of gain to increase a tyrant's power, and don't swear an oath by the gods to kill him." (Theognis, v. 823-824)
  • 9. Fate and moral responsibility
    "That story is not true, and you did not go on the well-benched ships and you did not reach the citadel of Troy." (Stesichorus, frg. 192)
  • 10. Lampoons and invectives
    "Bupalus, the mother-fucker with Arete, [...] preparing to draw back his damnable foreskin." (Hipponax, frg. 12)
  • 11. Old age and death
    "But precious youth is like a fleeting dream; in no time grievous and hideous old age, hateful as well as dishonoured, hangs over one's head." (Mimnermus, frg. 5)
  • 12.–13. Concluding remarks and discussion
Literature
    required literature
  • Gerber, D. E. (ed.) (1999). Greek Elegiac Poetry. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Gerber, D. E. (ed.) (1999). Greek Iambic Poetry. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1982). Greek Lyric I: Sappho - Alcaeus. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1988). Greek Lyric II: Anacreon - Anacreontea - Early Choral Lyric. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1992). Greek Lyric IV: Bacchylides, Corinna, and Others. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1993). Greek Lyric V: New School of Poetry - Anonymous Songs and Hymns. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
  • Campbell, D. A. (ed.) (1991). Greek Lyric III: Stesichorus, Ibycus, Simonides, and Others. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
    recommended literature
  • Page, D. (1955). Sappho and Alcaeus: An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Lesbian Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Bowra, C. M. (1961). Greek Lyric Poetry: From Alcman to Simonides. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Burnett, A. P. (1998). Three Archaic Poets: Archilochus, Alcaeus, Sappho. London: Bristol Classical Press.
  • Hutchinson, G. O. (2001). Greek Lyric Poetry: A Commentary on Selected Larger Pieces. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Budelmann, F. (ed.) (2009). The Cambridge Companion to Greek Lyric. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Gerber, D. E. (ed.) (2011). A Companion to the Greek Lyric Poets. Leiden - New York: Brill.
Teaching methods
Lectures and class discussions.
Assessment methods
Essay (min. 10.000 characters) in one of the following languages: English, Czech, Slovak, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin. Available themes for the essay will be specified at the beginning of the course. Students are expected to confront their ideas with available primary and secondary literature and to observe basic formal principles of scholarly writing.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is taught: every week.
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