Information about the Ancient Greek and Latin Summer school to be held in Siracusa in August 2021 can be found here:
On-Line Courses 2020
“KNOW THYSELF” is among the most famous sayings from ancient Greece. Have you ever wondered how it sounds in the original Greek? If you would like to familiarize yourself with the language of Plato, join us at the Exedra-Fonte Aretusa Greek Summer School now on-line because of the Covid 19 crisis.
We are arranging Ancient Greek for Philosophy courses for adult learners at two levels – beginners and intermediate, over two weeks in August 2020.
Join us for a magical journey through Greek language and culture designed to help us know ourselves—and ancient Greek—a bit better! “ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΑΥΤΟΝ”
The online courses will consist of 6 x 120-minute classes (with a short break) which will take place between 3rd – 8th of August and the 9th-14th August 2020.
Since these are ‘taster’ sessions, we have decided to focus on the text of Plato’s Apology in a way that will allow all of you to participate regardless of your familiarity with Greek. Plato’s Apology is one of the best-known works of ancient Greek literature, in which the voice of Socrates can be clearly heard. We will examine not only the language, but also the philosophical argument and Socrates’ novel rhetorical approach to the Athenian court, which condemned him to death but made his ideas famous.
The classes will include reading the text from the original and then translating it by focusing on the most important syntactical constructions and bringing up the grammar when necessary. At the same time, we will provide a philosophical and intertextual commentary which will focus on the rhetorical techniques and construction of philosophical argument of the text — the aim is to be able to understand the main ideas and the general philosophical concepts used by Plato and Socrates.
In this way, we believe that all of you, from absolute beginners to advanced learners of Greek, will be able to get something out of the classes and enrich them with your participation.
Further to that, grammar and syntax handouts will be provided electronically before the beginning of each class (beginner and intermediate), in order to make sure that you will be able to identify the main linguistic points of each section we cover. We believe that this format will help us overcome the possible difficulties of online teaching and will ensure that the classes will be enjoyable and beneficial for all.
All courses will be taught in English by George Gazis and Chiara Blanco.
Dr Gazis is Assistant Professor in Greek Literature at the Department of Classics and Ancient History, at Durham University. His research interests lie in Archaic Greek Poetry (mainly Homer), as well as Greek Lyric and Tragedy. He is the author of Homer and the poetics of Hades (OUP, 2018) and the editor of Aspects of Death in Greek Literature (LUP, forthcoming).
Dr Blanco is a Research Lecturer in Classics at Trinity College, University of Oxford. Before joining Trinity, she was a Lecturer in Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, and she also taught Classics at Durham University and the University of Cambridge, where she also completed her PhD. Her main research interests lie in the intersections between ancient literature (Greek tragedy in particular) and medicine, and she is also interested in the role of the senses and emotions in Greek and Roman culture.