Thucydides, Books VI-VII: The Sicilian Expedition (Ordinario)
Prerequisiti
A good knowledge of ancient Greek is required. Attendance of the propaedeutic course activated for Greek literature is also required (but only for those who have not already attended it in the previous years). Greek philology is intended for bachelor and master students and is open to PhD students for the acquisition of attendance hours.
Programma
The great Athenian expedition to Sicily (415-413) is a turning point in the Peloponnesian War. It is the event that reverses the fortunes of the war by setting Athens on the road to an irretrievable military and political collapse. Paradoxically, Athens itself, victim of its own imperialistic ambitions, triggers this process. The account of the expedition to Sicily thus becomes in Thucydides’ pages also an opportunity to investigate in depth the limits and contradictions of Athenian democracy. Among the most successful and heartfelt of Thucydides’ entire work, the pages devoted to the Sicilian expedition occupy no less than two books of the eight of the entire work and cover a series of events that the author was largely unable to witness in person: their reading, therefore, represents a privileged case study for observing Thucydides’ compositional technique and, as far as possible, for tackling - also through the study of the manuscript tradition - the long-standing problems that characterise the “Thucydidean question”.
Lectures will be held between November and December and between February and March. Seminars will be held between May and June. On this occasion, students are expected to present an exposition of approximately one hour (with subsequent discussion), mostly consisting of an analysis of a passage from Books VI and VII of Thucydides’ work and its problems. The topics of the expositions and the timetable will be determined at the end of the lectures. Approximately one week before the seminar, students should send the teacher a document containing the texts they will use for the seminar, together with a list of the bibliography consulted.
Obiettivi formativi
Students will examine problems related to the composition of Thucydides’ work and Thucydides’ manuscript tradition. They will also become familiar with the philological practice of examinatio, i.e. the systematic discussion of the authenticity of the transmitted text.
Riferimenti bibliografici
Selected bibliography (other references will be provided in class):
G.B. Alberti, Thucydidis Historiae, I-III, Romae 1972-2000.
A. Andrewes, A.W. Gomme, K.J. Dover, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, IV, Oxford 1970.
R.K. Balot, S. Forsdyke, E. Foster (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides, Oxford 2017.
V. Bartoletti, Per la storia del testo di Tucidide, Firenze 1937.
L. Canfora, Tucidide continuato, Padova 1970.
L. Canfora, La grande guerra del Peloponneso (447-394 a.C.), Roma-Bari 2024.
A. Corcella (a cura di), Tucidide. La disfatta a Siracusa (Storie VI-VII), Venezia 1996.
U. Fantasia, La guerra del Peloponneso, Roma 2012.
B. Hemmerdinger, Essai sur l’histoire du texte de Thucydide, Paris 1955.
S. Hornblower, A Commentary on Thucydides, III, Oxford 2008.
A. Kleinlogel, Geschichte des Thukydidestextes im Mittelalter, Berlin 1965.
Ch. Pelling (ed.), Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Book VI, Cambridge 2022.
Ch. Pelling (ed.), Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Book VII, Cambridge 2022.
A. Rengakos, A. Tsakmakis (eds), Brill’s Companion to Thucydides, I-II, Leiden 2006.
E. Schwartz, Das Geschichtswerk des Thukydides, Bonn 19292.
Moduli
| Modulo | Ore | CFU | Docenti |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filologia greca - Tucidide, libri VI e VII: il racconto della spedizione in Sicilia (Ordinario) | 40 | 6 | Andrea Beghini |