Advanced Greek, ICCS-Catania, Spring 2009
PINDAR AND BACCHYLIDES
Nigel Nicholson
SYLLABUS
The syllabus is provisional. If we find ourselves behind or ahead, we will alter it.
Myth, Unity & Praise
I: Mon 2/2 Introduction
I: Weds 2/4 Pindar Nemean 1.1-40 (use commentary), for Chromios of Aetna (Catane), c. 476
II: Mon 2/9 Pi. Ne. 1.41-72; Peter Rose, “The Myth of Pindar’s First Nemean,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 78 (1974), 145-75
II: Weds 2/11 Pi. Olympian 3, for Theron of Acragas, 476
III: Mon 2/16 Pi. Olympian 3
III: Weds 2/18 Pi., Olympian 4, for Psaumis of Camarina, 452; Thomas Cole, Pindar’s Feasts or the Music of Power (Rome, 1992), 11-32; Pi. Olympian 1.1-15.
Poetics, Poet’s Persona
IV: Mon 2/23 Pi. Olympian 1.16-65, for Hieron of Syracuse, 476
IV: Weds 2/25 Pi. Olympian 1.66-105; Bruno Currie, “Euthymos of Locri: A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period,” Journal of Hellenic Studies 122 (2002): 24-44
V: Mon 3/2
Paper I: How unified is Olympian 1?
Analyze one or more of the features that unify this ode. 4-6 pages. Will be discussed in class.
V: Weds 3/4 Pi. Olympian 10.1-35 (with commentary), for Hagesidamos of Locri, 476; William Fitzgerald, Agonistic Poetry (California, 1987), 110-24
VI: Mon 3/9 Pi. Ol. 10.36-70; Rosemary Harriot, Literary Theory before Plato (London, 1969), 34-77
Exchange
VI: Weds 3/11Pi. Ol. 10.70-105; Ian Morris, “Gift and Commodity in Archaic Greece,” Man 21.1 (1986): 1-17
VII: Mon 3/16 Pi. Is. 2, for Xenocrates of Acragas, c.470; Bruno Gentili, Poetry and its Public in Ancient Greece, trans. Thomas Cole (Baltimore, 1988), 155-76
VII: Weds 3/18 Pi. Is. 2; Leslie Kurke, The Traffic in Praise (Ithaca, 1991), 240-56
Pi. vs. Ba.
IX: Mon 3/30 Bacchylides 5.1-96, for Hieron of Syracuse, 476
IX: Weds 4/1 Bacch 5.97-200
X: Mon 4/6 Mary Lefkowitz, The Victory Ode (Park Ridge, 1976) (or HSCP 73 (1968): 45-96)
Paper II: Pindar vs Bacchylides?
Examine some aspect of Bacchylides 5’s style, strategy or method, and compare this to that of Olympian 1 or another Pindaric ode of your choice. 4-6 pages. Will be discussed in class.
Hieron, Aetna and Power
X: Weds 4/8 Pi. Py. 1.1-30, for Hieron of Aetna/Syracuse, 470; Carol Dougherty, Poetics of Colonization (Cambridge, 1993),
XI [Field Trip]
XII: Mon 4/20 Pi. Py. 1.31-65; [in translation] Paus. 6.9.1-6.10.4 (Gelon, Glaucus), 6.11.2-6.12.4 (Hieron), 6.13.1 (Astylus)
XII: Weds 4/22 Pi. Py. 1.66-100; Murray? McGlew?
XIII: Mon 4/27 Pi. Ol. 6.1-53
XIII: Weds 4/29 Pi. Ol. 6.53-105
XIV: Mon 5/4 Sappho, frr. 1, 16; Leslie Kurke, “Archaic Greek Poetry,” The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece, ed. H. A. Shapiro (Cambridge, 2007), 141-68
XIV: Weds 5/6
Paper III: Olympian 6
Discuss some aspect of Ol. 6. You can draw on the work of this semester, or follow a new tack. Be ready to present your work semi-formally to the class. 4-6 pages.
XV: Mon 5/11 9:30-12:30
Final Exam
Two parts: (a) two passages from Ol. 1, 6, Py. 1, and Ba. 5 to translate and comment on, and (b) one as yet unseen ode, provided in English, to comment on. 3 hours.
Course Bibliography
Pindar, Olympians 1, 3, 4, 6; Pythian 1; Nemean 1; Isthmian 2. Bacchylides 5; Sappho frr. 1, 16.
Thomas Cole, Pindar’s Feasts or the Music of Power (Rome, 1992), 11-32
Bruno Currie, “Euthymos of Locri: A Case Study in Heroization in the Classical Period,” JHS 122 (2002): 24-44
Carol Dougherty, Poetics of Colonization (Cambridge, 1993),
William Fitzgerald, Agonistic Poetry (California, 1987), 110-24
Bruno Gentili, Poetry and its Public in Ancient Greece, trans. T. Cole (Baltimore, 1988), 155-76
Rosemary Harriot, Literary Theory before Plato (London, 1969), 34-77
Leslie Kurke, The Traffic in Praise (Ithaca, 1991), 240-56
Leslie Kurke, “Archaic Greek Poetry,” The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece, ed. H. A. Shapiro (Cambridge, 2007), 141-68
Mary Lefkowitz, The Victory Ode (Park Ridge, 1976) (or HSCPh 73 (1968): 45-96)
Ian Morris, “Gift and Commodity in Archaic Greece,” Man 21.1 (1986): 1-17
Murray? McGlew?
Peter Rose, “The Myth of Pindar’s First Nemean,” HSCPh 78 (1974), 145-75