Aims

Thorough syntax and stylistic study of Classical Attic language. Then, provide the students with "keys" to be able to handle non-Attic literary Greek.

Main themes

A. To reach the first objective: study of turns (of phrases) specific to the Attic prose, with the help of both synthesis courses and exercises sessions. Home reading of author extracts will strengthen this study.
B. For the second objective: after having placed the literary dialectology in the general environment of the Greek dialectology, we will study:
- for Ionian (a dialect), some extracts of lyric poets, of Herodotus, of the hippocraticum Corpus
- for Doric (another dialect), some texts of the choral lyricism, from Theocrite, Archimedes, and so on….
- Lesbians (another dialect) poets and of the idylls of Theocritus

Content and teaching methods

What kind of Greek was spoken during the Classical times?
The lectures will study the full range of the Greek tongues spoken in the Vth-IVth centuries. This obviously includes Attic and Ionian, the sources of the koine. The main other Greek dialects will also be surveyed (Arcado-Cypriot, Eolian and Doric groups). Whenever possible, the epigraphic texts will be compared with the literary works. Special attention will be devoted to the relationship between the written documents and the actually uttered Greek language.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite : It is expected that the students have a sufficient master of the Attic Language.
Evaluation : mainly based on the ability to apply theoretical points to unseen texts during the courses.
Texts and books : Booklet: "Applications de syntaxe grecque tirées de prosateurs attiques" (some books).

Programmes in which this activity is taught

Other credits in programs