CLAS45230: Linear B: Mycenaean Greek and Homers World

• Normally, at least one (essential) or two years (preferable) of Greek at University level

• None

• None

• The module aims at introducing students to the study of Linear B, the earliest written form of the Greek language, while also focusing on the socio-political structure of Mycenaean Greece to the extent that this can be reconstructed through the tablets and surviving material culture.

• Classes will begin with the introduction of the script and a first contact with historical linguistics before moving on to the actual reading of tablets and their association with the Mycenaean society and its Homeric echoes.
• Classes will further include students presentations and general discussions of tablets from a linguistic and historical point of view, as well as their relevance for our understanding of oral tradition in general and Homers poetry in particular.
• Some of the questions that will be considered during the module may include:
• How relevant is the study of Linear B for our understanding of the historical Greek societies?
• Can the study of the script help us reach any scholarly relevant interpretations of the Homeric text?
• What, if any, is the correlation between Mycenaean material culture and the world we observe in Homer?
• Can one speak of a heroic Mycenaean society based on our knowledge from the tablets?

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• A good understanding of the Linear B script, for the most part in transliteration, and the Greek presented therein.
• A broad understanding of the Mycenaean material culture.
• A broad understanding of the scholarly debate surrounding Homeric poetry and its relation to the Greeks prehistoric past.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Ability to read, comprehend and comment on Linear B tablets.
• Critical skills in the analysis of classical scholarship and its relation to its equivalent in the field of Bronze Age Archaeology
• Ability to make proper use at the appropriate level of reference and bibliography.

Key Skills:

• Capacity to handle and analyse a wide range of different sources with sophistication.
• Assessment of different methodologies and approaches.
• Ability to produce independent research and to communicate its results with sophistication in both written and oral format.

• Teaching takes place by fortnightly seminars (two-hour long) organised around specific research questions and sources.
• Formative assessment consists of a short essay submitted at the end of Michaelmas term (2,000 words) and a presentation on a topic of each student's own choosing.
• Summative assessment consists of a max. 5,000-word essay on a topic of each student's own choosing, which should be different from the formative essay. Students will have to discuss their topic and titles with the module convenor and get approval.

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