502460 - CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY - B

courses

ID:

502460

Duration (hours):

36

CFU:

SSD:

FILOLOGIA CLASSICA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 22/05/2026)

Course Objectives

The course aims at making students familiar with the method of textual criticism in its general features, i.e. as a way of reading a written text and of assessing the textual conditions of written records. More specific objective of the module b- is the knowledge of the transmission of Greek and Latin texts and of the history of classical philology from the birth in antiquity to the modern and contemporary age. At the end of the course students will have to know how Greek and Latin texts were transmitted and know some examples of direct and indirect tradition; they will have to know the main phases of the history of classical philology and the main exponents of textual criticism from ancient to modern times.

Course Prerequisites

Students must have previously attended Classical philology - A and passed the oral examination. It's also required a good knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin languages and literatures. Due to the specialised character of the discipline, it is strongly recommended that students only take this examination after having taken the Greek Literature and the Latin Literature exams (1st year of Cds "Lettere").

Teaching Methods

Lectures, with the active participation of attending students in the philological analysis of the texts discussed in class. Some subjects will be illustrated with the support of powerpoint presentations or by means of other types of screen projections. Teaching materials will be made available on the Kiro e-learning platform (htttp: //idcd.unipv.it/). Students unable to attend are invited to contact the teacher.

Assessment Methods

After the successful completion of module A, the oral examination will be oral only. During the examination, students will be assessed on how well they have integrated the knowledge acquired in the two modules that make up the course and, therefore, on the level of achievement of the course's learning objectives. The assessment will take into account the ability to communicate the content learned and to use specialised language.

Texts

Reference texts: - F. Stok, I classici dal papiro a Internet, Roma, Carocci, 2012 - T. Braccini, La scienza dei testi antichi. Introduzione alla filologia classica, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2017 (chapters 1-4; 6; 10) - A. La Penna, Filologia e studi classici in Italia tra Ottocento e Novecento. Vol. I: Orientamenti, istituzioni, temi; vol. II: Maestri e metodi, a cura di S. Grazzini e G. Niccoli, Della Porta Editori, Pisa 2023/2024 (some selected essays) Recommended texts for further information: - F. Montana, La filologia ellenistica. Lineamenti di una storia culturale, Pavia, Pavia University Press, 2012 - Storia della filologia classica, a cura di D. Lanza e G. Ugolini, Roma, Carocci, 2016 (especially, chapters 3; 5; 10; 13)

Complementing the a- module, this module aims to provide an introduction to classical philology in historical perspective. It will be divided into three main sub-modules: a) history of writing, of writing materials, of book types and libraries in the ancient, late antique and medieval world: b) history of the transmission of texts and examination of some case studies of direct tradition and of indirect tradition; c) history of classical philology from the Hellenistic age to the twentieth century, through the presentation of the main philological personalities and the illustration of concepts, methodologies, techniques and tools of the discipline during its evolution in western culture.

Course Language

Italian

More information

The final mark will consist of the weighted average of the results achieved in modules A and B, into which the course is divided. Module A is preparatory to module B, and therefore students may first take the exam for module A and then the exam for module B. Alternatively, they may take the exam for both modules during the same exam session.