Examination procedure
Seminar presentation
Examination procedure notes
Presentations for the seminar will be assessed based on students' ability to present the state of the art concisely and clearly, to employ appropriate methodologies, and to achieve plausible results. The assessment will also consider each student's seniority, with objectives set commensurately with their academic year of enrolment.
Prerequisites
Designed primarily for undergraduate students, the course is also open to PhD students. A good knowledge of ancient Greek is required.
Syllabus
The course analyzes the relationship between the texts of Isocrates and Plato's Phaedrus. The topics to be studied include the linguistic, philological, rhetorical, philosophical, literary, and historical-religious interpretation of the texts examined.
The supplementary teaching aims to provide the essential concepts of philology and linguistics required to tackle the course and to prepare the seminar presentations.
The supplementary teaching will begin in October 2026; course lectures will begin in November 2026.
The student seminars are scheduled for May 2027, but alternative dates can be arranged upon request.
The seminar presentation must address a topic related to the core theme of the course, to be agreed upon with the professor at least one month in advance of the scheduled date. The approximate duration of the oral presentation is 45 minutes. Students must prepare a written paper (approximately 4–10 pages) featuring the main citations from ancient sources (with translation) and the critical bibliography necessary to examine the chosen interpretive problem; the paper must also include the works cited. A draft of the written paper must be submitted electronically to the professor at least one week before the seminar, and the final version must be sent on the day of the seminar. It is recommended to print no more than a couple of pages containing the core texts; the full paper can be uploaded to the dedicated online course platform.
In addition to the seminar, students will also be required to participate actively in the discussion of a research topic (gender theories and the study of Greek literature) during a couple of dedicated sessions, reading one of the assigned texts (Foucault or Sissa) and responding to the interpretative proposals put forward by the PhD students.
Bibliographical references
Asmis, E. (1986) '"Psychagogia" in Plato's Phaedrus’, Illinois Classical Studies 11, 153-72.
Bonazzi, M. (2011) Platone: Fedro, Torino.
Capra, A. (2014) Plato's four Muses: the Phaedrus and the poetics of philosophy, Cambridge (MA).
Erler, M. (1993) 'Il Panatenaico di Isocrate e la critica della scrittura nel Fedro: "aiuto" e "senso nascosto"’, Athenaeum 81, 149-64.
Haskins, E. V. (2004) Logos and power in Isocrates and Aristotle, Columbia, SC.
Möllendorff, P. v. (2019) 'Isocrates: Περὶ ἀντιδόσεως (353 BCE) [Antidosis] and Lucian: Περὶ τοῦ ἐνυπνίου (2nd Century) [Dream]' in M. Wagner-Egelhaaf (ed.), Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction, 1285-3000.
Nicolai, R. (2004) Studi su Isocrate: la comunicazione letteraria nel IV sec. a. C. e i nuovi generi della prosa, Roma.
Ober, J. (2004) 'I, Socrates . . . The performative audacity of Isocrates’ Antidosis' in T. Poulakos, D. Depew (eds.), Isocrates and Civic Education, 21-43.
Pinto, P. M. (2003) Per la storia del testo di Isocrate: la testimonianza d'autore, Bari.
Pinto, P. M. (2012) 'The title of Isocrates’ Antidosis’, Hermes 140, 362-8.
Poulakos, T. (2022) Speaking for the polis: Isocrates' rhetorical education, Columbia, South Carolina.
Roscalla, F. (1998) 'Strategie letterarie a confronto: Isocrate e Platone’, Athenaeum 86, 109-32.
Rowe, C. J. (1986) Plato: Phaedrus, Warminster.
Too, Y. L. (1995) The rhetoric of the identity in Isocrates: text, power, pedagogy Cambridge.
Too, Y. L. (2008) A commentary on Isocrates' Antidosis, Oxford.
Tulli, M. (1990) 'Sul rapporto di Platone con Isocrate: profezia e lode di un lungo impegno letterario’, Athenaeum 78, 403-22.
Vallozza, M. (ed.) (2017) Isocrate: per una nuova edizione critica, Firenze.
Yunis, H. (2011) Plato: Phaedrus, Cambridge.
Michel Foucault, Storia della sessualità. I. La volontà di sapere, Milano 1978
Michel Foucault, Storia della sessualità. II. L'uso dei piaceri, Milano 1984
Michel Foucault, Storia della sessualità. III. La cura di sé, Milano 1985
Michel Foucault, Storia della sessualità. IV. Le confessioni della carne, Milano 2019
Olsen, S., "Embracing Thetis in Euripides’ Andromache", Classical Antiquity 41 (2022) 67–90 https://doi.org/10.1525/ca.2022.41.1.67
Sissa, G., I generi e la storia: femminile e maschile in rivoluzione, Bologna 2024
Sissa, G., Controcanto. Quando il pensiero maschile celebra le donne, Milano 2026