Advanced Greek: Pindar and Bacchylides

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