Greek 560: Hellenistic Greek

This course will familiarize advanced readers of Greek with the major poets of the Hellenistic period. The main task will be close reading in the original Greek of Callimachus’ Hymns and Book 3 of Apollonius’ Argonautica, seminal works of the 3rd century BCE. Emphasis will be placed on expanding vocabulary and morphology (Ionic and Doric forms) and reviewing grammar constructions, with a specialized focus on the language and style of hymnic and epic poetry. Students will also explore the contexts of these poems (religious, political) and their composition and reception histories with an eye toward critical interpretation.

Required textbooks:

• Callimachus: The Hymns (Stephens 2015)
  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/callimachus-9780199783045?lang=en&cc=us
• Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica Book III (Hunter 1989)
  https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/classical-literature/apollonius-rhodes-argonautica-book-iii?format=PB&isbn=9780521312363