Module CLAS2581: THE ANCIENT NOVEL

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2581: THE ANCIENT NOVEL

Prerequisites

• (CLAS1601) Remembering Athens and (CLAS1301) Monuments and memory in the age of Augustus.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To study representative examples of the Greek and Roman novel, to introduce students to a wide range of approaches to the study of the genre, and to explore the ways in which the genre developed in Greek and Roman antiquity.

Content

• The novel has become the dominant genre of the western literary canon. This course gives students the opportunity to experience the ancient world's take on extended imaginative prose literature. Through close study of representative texts such as, e.g., Longus Daphnis and Chloe, Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe, Heliodorus' Aethiopica and Apuleius' Metamorphoses, students will explore such themes as gender, narrative form and structure, and the post-classical reception of the works in question.

Learning Outcomes

• A knowledge of representative Greek and Roman novels (e.g. Achilles Tatius, Chariton, Heliodorus and Apuleius, to be read in translation only), of the main alternative approaches to and interpretations of the ancient novel in general and the target texts in particular, and an appreciation of the influence of the ancient novel upon subsequent literature, both ancient and medieval.

• An ability to handle a range of complex and diverse texts in such a way as to engage with their common features and idiosyncrasis;
• an ability to deploy different modes of literary interpretation to the elucidation of the target texts;
• an ability to assess the different stylistic features and narrative voices of the target texts.

• An ability to compare and evaluate evidence from different sources;
• an appreciation of the importance of contextualization and precise expression in the analysis of data;
• an ability to formulate and criticize detailed argumentation.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures focus on the main texts and topics covered in the course.
• Seminars enable students to discuss and develop their ideas in an interactive environment. They will be also devoted to a closer reading of the relevant texts, with a particular focus on intertextuality and genre conventions. Students must also deliver a short oral presentation on previously selected texts (in preparation for the written commentary to be submitted at the end of the term).
• Tutorials provide an opportunity to give specific feedback on written work and discuss any other matters of individual interest.
• Assessed commentary will be designed to test the students' ability to interpret specfic sections of the target texts, while the final essay will test their ability to locate, exploit and discuss sources - both primary and secondary - available to them and to handle with different methodological approaches.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay, 2,000 words maximum. No collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University