BYZANTINE HISTORY AND LITERATURE

The module "Byzantine History and literature" has been designed to offer to the students of the MA in "History from the Middle Age to Present" and "Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology" a course that introduces to the history and the literature of the Byzantine Empire, id est the Eastern Roman Empire that flourished for more than a millennium from 330 to 1453, and was the
the heir, the continuator and the defender of the classical Greek-Roman culture during the Middle Ages and contributed to the splendor of the Italian Renaissance thanks to the great personalities who emigrated from Constantinople, together with their precious collections of Greek classics.

The course has two parallel courses, one for students who do not know Greek and one for students who have learned Greek in high school or are enrolled in the master's degree course in "Ancient sciences: literature, history and archeology".

- a basic knowledge of the History of the Byzantine Empire,
- a thorough understanding of the influences and the cultural heritage of the Byzantine Empire,
- an advanced knowledge of the most important themes of the Greek literature (4th-15th century),
- the ability to contextualise the most important authors of the Byzantine literature and their writings,
- an advanced knowledge of the main literary genres of the Byzantine literature.

It is of great help to have a sound knowledge of Roman History and Medieval and/or Byzantine History.
Knowledge of Greek is not mandatory: the module includes both a program for those who know Greek and one for those who do not know it.

The module dedicated to "Byzantine history and literature" is an introduction to Byzantine history and history of Byzantine literature based on the anthological reading of Greek sources in Italian translation (those enrolled in the master's degree in "Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology" are expected to read the texts in Greek).
Particular attention will be paid to Byzantine historians (Michael Psellos, Anna Komnene, Niketas Choniates, George Pachymeres, Sylvester Syropoulos).

"Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo, 3: Le culture circostanti, I: La cultura bizantina", ed. G. Cavallo, Roma, 2004.
L. Neville, "Guide to Byzantine Historical Writing", Cambridge, 2018.
R. Beaton, "The medieval Greek romance", Cambridge, 1989.
I. Nilsson, "Raconter Byzance: la littérature au XIIe siècle", Paris, 2014.
"Il romanzo bizantino del XII secolo", ed. F. Conca. Torino, 1997.
"Il mondo tardoantico: antologia delle fonti", ed. A. Marcone, Roma, 2000.
"Bisanzio nella sua letteratura", ed. U. Albini e E. V. Maltese, Milano, 1984.

C. Morrisson (ed.), "Il mondo bizantino, vol. I: L'Impero romano d'Oriente (330-641)", Torino, 2007. Only sections discussed during the lectures.
C. Morrisson (ed.), "Le monde byzantin. 1: L'empire romain d'Orient: 330-641", Paris, 2004.

J.-C. Cheynet (ed.), "Il mondo bizantino, vol. II: L'Impero bizantino (641-1204)", Torino, 2008. Only sections discussed during the lectures.
J.-C. Cheynet (ed.), "Le monde byzantin. 2: L'Empire byzantin (641-1204)", Paris, 2006.

A. Laiou e C. Morrisson (ed.), "Il mondo bizantino, vol. III: Bisanzio e i suoi vicini", Torino, 2013. Only sections discussed during the lectures.
A. Laiou e C. Morrisson (ed.), "Le monde byzantin. 3: L'empire grec et ses voisins (XIIIe-XVe siècle)", Paris, 2011.

Oral assessment questions focus both on the general introductory part (Byzantine history and history of Byzantine literature) and on reading, commenting and translating the texts illustrated and explained in class (the translation is mandatory only for students enrolled in the master's degree course in "Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology").

The course is divided into 3 basic activities:

1) lectures dedicated to the introduction to the Byzantine civilisation: Byzantine history, periodisation, tools and methods;
2) Lessons and structured seminar activities dedicated to the history of Byzantine literature: periods, literary genres, literary criticism;
3) Structured seminar activities : contextualisation, discussion and guided reading of an anthology of texts (in Greek and Italian and / or English or French translation) available on MOODLE platform.

Italian

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