LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY IN THE GREEK WORLD

This lecture course is part of the MA Degree Programme in Antiquities (Philology curriculum). It allows students to further their knowledge and understanding of the historical evolution of Ancient Greek through a specialist lecture course. The aim of the course is to train specialists able to analyse and discuss with competence the diachronic evolution of the language within its socio-historical and cultural context in the light of the latest linguistic methodologies.

By attending this course students will be able to:
- FURTHER their ability to recognize and discuss the main linguistic elements characterizing the historical evolution of Greek, from the Hellenistic period to the 2nd century CE;
- FURTHER their ability to critically analyze the details of the main phono-morphological, syntactic and lexical features of Greek, especially as concerns the koine and Atticising Greek;
- FAMILIARITY with the literary language of Imperial rhetoric and with lexicographical sources;
- LEARN how to connect Greek linguistic phenomena to wider historical, cultural, and identity trends;
- FAMILIARISE themselves with the tools necessary for the diachronic study of Greek (corpora, databases, lexica, grammars, dictionaries, etc.);
- ACQUIRE the ability to critically read, interpret and discuss the modern linguistic theories concerning the relationship between language and society;
- ACQUIRE first-hand experience in reading, understanding, commenting, and editing literary and non-literary texts of the Hellenistic and imperial periods.

- Adequate knowledge of Ancient Greek.
- Adequate knowledge of English (the course will be taught in English).
- Some familiarity with the main linguistic concepts (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon, semantics).

This year's course focuses on Greek in the Roman period through the study of some texts and authors that belong to the so-called Second Sophistic. In particular, we will tackle the role of rhetors and their approach to the literary language and to the broader question of Greek identity in this period, to reflect on the multiple connections between the use of language (and of a certain variety within of it) and phenomena of far-reaching cultural significance, such as the representation of power, the role of intellectuals, the self-definition of cultural elites, and the imitation (mimesis) and canonization of texts and figures of the past. The course will present an overview of the authors typically associated with the Second Sophistic (e.g. Lucian), but will closely focus on two texts: the Lives of the Sophists by Philostratus (3rd century CE), with its fascinating portrait of these itinerant rhetors, some of them authentic 'stars' of the oratory of the time; and the speeches To Rome and To himself by Aelius Aristides (2nd century CE), perhaps the most important author in this group of high-level speakers. These two works will be read in the light of the broader historical, literary and linguistic context of the time, characterized - among other things - by the growing split between the spoken language (the koinè) and the archaising language of high-level prose (Atticism), and by the wider phenomenon of Greek-Latin bilingualism. In discussing the stylistic choices of these authors, we will question how the language of the texts reflects the self-representation of intellectuals who lived in a period of crisis, when Greek identity was profoundly reshaped. To this purpose, in addition to the literary texts, we will also focus on some epigraphic texts which bear witness to the diffusion of the 'sophistic' movement throughout the Greek-speaking world, and which are a precious direct source on the self-representation (by means of topoi, language, and iconography) of the intellectuals of the time.
The ten weeks of the course will roughly cover the following topics:
1. The historical and historical-linguistic context: from classical Greek to the koine
2. The evolution of oratory and rhetoric between the Hellenistic and Imperial ages: Asianism, Atticism, and the reflection of Dionysius of Halicarnassus
3. Introduction to the Second Sophistic: periodization, authors, themes, evolution of the genre
4. The Second Sophistic in Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists
5. Greek-Latin bilingualism as the sociolinguistic context of reference: non-Greek rhetors (Lucian of Samosata, Favorinus of Arles) and their relationship with Latin
6. Between language and society: Atticism, purism, prescriptive lexica and linguistic choices in the texts of the Second Sophistic
7. The reflection from within: Lucian's Lexiphanes
8. The reflection from outside: inscriptions celebrating the sophists and their language
9. Tensions between different linguistic choices: Phrynichus the Atticist versus Favorinus
10. The triumph of Athens in Rome: Aelius Aristides and the construction of a new Greek identity

A) Greek texts (for alternative translations, into English, please contact the lecturer):

- Philostratus, Lives of the sophists, LOEB Classical Library. The parts to study and translate are:
Book 1: Introduction and lives 7, 8, 21, 23, 25 (the parts NOT to be studied therefore are chapters 1-6, 9-20, 24 and 26).
Book 2: lives 1,3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 20, 26, 31 (the parts NOT to be studied therefore are chapters 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14-19, 21-25, 27-30 and 32-33).
The critical edition is C. L. Kayser, Flavii Philostrati opera. Vol. II. Lipsia, Teubner, 1871 (see Moodle).

- Aelius Aristides, To Rome, LOEB Classical library (NOT chapters 69-90);
- Aelius Aristides, To himself, LOEB Classical library (only chapters 1-24, 68-83, 150-156).
- further short passages from works (e.g. from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Lucian, etc.) and epigraphic texts will be provided through handouts on Moodle and will be translated and commented in class.

B) Reading list
- S. Kaczko, La koiné, in A. C. Cassio, a c. di, Storia delle lingue letterarie greche, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2008, pp. 357-392.
- C. Vessella, Lessicografia atticista e greco classico, in in A. C. Cassio, a c. di, Storia delle lingue letterarie greche. Firenze, Le Monnier, 2008, pp. 392-396.
- L. Kim, The Literary Heritage as Language: Atticism and the Second Sophistic, in E. J. Bakker, ed., A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language. Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 468–482.
- T. Whitmarsh, The Second Sophistic. Cambridge, CUP, 2005.
- (non compulsory) S. Swain, Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World, AD 50-250. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996.

Oral examination. Questions will concern both the general part and the Greek texts (to be read, translated and commented upon).

Lectures with further textual material provided by the lecturer and uploaded on Moodle. Powerpoint presentations.

Italian

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