GREEK HISTORIOGRAPHY

This Course belongs to the historical Area in both LM curricula.
The Course aims:
- advanced competence, methodological and epistemological skills in the analysis and interpretation of historiographical texts of the Greek literature;
- knowledge of the political and cultural context between the 5th century B.C. and the early Roman imperial age;
- knowledge of the most important figures in the Greek historiography;
- knowledge of philological, literary and lexical tools (with particular attention to fragmentary tradition);
- knowledge of the theoretical tools in the critical approach to Greek historiographic texts, with particular reference to the history of studies between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

At the end of the course the student can:
- correctly frame the most important figures and lines of Greek historiography from a literary and historical point of view;
- read, translate and interpret historiographic texts in Greek;
- confront the theoretical and methodological debate concerning the essential nodes of the development of Greek historiography;
- use the most important tools for the discipline, and construct a bibliography (including basic tools, general studies and specific contributions) relating to a specific theme;
- to propose a written commentary on a text, enhancing its significative aspects from the point of view of literary tradition and the stratification of sources, the lexical and methodological peculiarities;
- communicate in oral form using the specific terminology of the discipline;
- participate in a discussion led by the teacher around thematic nodes proposed for the shared discussion.

It is necessary to have the basic notions of Greek History (see the Syllabus of the basic Course of Greek History: FT0252 or FT0253). Students who have not acquired the necessary skills must contact the teacher in advance.
It is also essential a good knowledge of the Greek language; the students can acquire it by following the Course of Greek Language; very useful, moreover, is a specific competence in at least one of the disciplines related to Greek Literature (L-FIL-LET/02) or Classical Philology (L-FIL-LET/05).

SPEECH AND POWER BETWEEN HISTORY AND LITERATURE. THE DISCOURSES OF WAR IN HERODOTUS
Historiographical, linguistic and literary-historical studies share a deep interest in the persuasive power of speech, especially political speech, declined in the most diverse contexts, on a diachronic and synchronic level. Ancient historiography and classical oratory established the norm of public communication for centuries; they influenced and still influence the way of speaking, writing and thinking in Western culture today. Literature and poetry have created models, forms and images that have enriched the wealth of tools through which to express messages, political and otherwise.
This theme is at the centre of a didactic pathway entitled 'Word and Power between History and Literature', proposed and coordinated by the teachers of the MA courses of Greek Historiography SP, History and Civilisation of the Romans SP, Analysis of Latin Texts SP, Rhetoric SP This pathway proposes an integrated educational experience within which students can confront themselves at a specialist level with a broad and multifaceted theme such as that of the 'power of the word' from different but interrelated points of view. For those who are not interested in the integrated course, it is of course possible to choose one or more courses. During the course, there will be some moments of sharing of contents and tools as well as scientific insights (through the invitation of external guests). As an integral part of the training course, participants will be able to choose a topic agreed upon with one of the lecturers and transversal to the topics covered. Participants will present the results of these in-depth studies on a dedicated final day.
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The course is structured as follows.
In the first part we consider the Outlines of Greek historiography from the beginning of the 5th century to the early Roman imperial age.
- paper and digital tools in the study of Greek historiography;
- the textual dimension: texts and fragments
- figures and themes of Greek historiography


-In the second part we will consider some speeches reported in the last books (VII-IX) of Herodotus' Histories, dedicated to the account of the so-called Second Persian War. After an introduction on the research tools used by the historian and on the truthfulness status of the speeches reported in direct form (also in the light of the comparison with Thucydides), we will focus on the speeches that great political and military figures delivered at important junctures of the conflict, analysing in detail their vocabulary, argumentation and communicative strategies. This analysis will also allow us to ascertain whether and to what extent the historian consciously differentiates speeches according to subject, context or audience, with particular focus on the oppositional diptych Greeks vs. barbarians.

PART 1
Introduzione alla storiografia greca, a cura di M. Bettalli (nuova edizione), Roma, Carocci, 2009.
P. Desideri, Scrivere gli eventi storici, in I Greci. Storia, cultura, arte, società. I, a cura di S. Settis, Einaudi, Torino 1996, 955-1013

PART 2
L. Porciani, Come si scrivono i discorsi. Su Tucidide I 22, 1, «Quaderni di storia», XLIX, 1999,103-135.
P. Vannicelli, Resistenza e intesa. Studi sulle guerre persiane in Erodoto, Bari 2013
Texts from Hdt. VII-IX (available on Moodle), with Historical Commentaries.

Specific bibliographical indications useful for the preparation of the paper will be given during the lessons.

For the students who can not attend the frontal lessons:
A. Momigliano, La storiografia greca, Torino 1982, pagg.1-272.
O. Longo, Introduzione, in Tucidide, Epitafio di Pericle, Venezia 2001.
These students are still required to discuss and present a written paper on a topic agreed with the teacher.

All the students expose a paper in the class and then they present it in a written version (approximately 10 pages ) 7 days before the exam.
The examination will focus on the topics discussed in the lectures on the texts indicated in the literature, on the papers of the other students discussed in the class .
The final mark results from the assessment of these aspects:
oral presentation of the paper (35%)
written paper (35%)
exam (30%)

For non attending students:
written paper (50%)
exam (50%)

The course has a seminar structure, involving the active participation of students both in moments of collective discussion on general problems, and on the occasion of the seminar exhibitions.

Italian

Students are invited to follow the activities, lectures, and opportunities (in particular related to the Ancient World) organized in the DSU and reported on the web page of the Course and of the Laboratory of Greek Epigraphy (http://virgo.unive.it/archeolab/index.php?it/264/laboratorio-di-epigrafia-greca ).

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development