Courses

The Major in Ancient and Modern Greek
Offered by the Classics Department

The major in Ancient and Modern Greek is designed to offer students an opportunity to integrate the study of post-classical Greek language, history, and culture into the departmental program in Ancient Greek and Classical Civilization. The program covers Hellenic civilization from the Bronze Age to the modern day, and traces the development of the language and the culture across traditionally-drawn boundaries. The study of both ancient and modern Greek allows the student to appreciate how familiarity with one enriches understanding of the other, and to chart the development of a language which has one of the oldest continuous written traditions in the world. The literature, history, philosophy, religion, and art of the ancient Greek and Greco-Roman worlds are studied both as an end in themselves and also as a foundation for appreciating later (medieval, Ottoman and modern) developments in these areas. Students are encouraged to develop a sense of the continuity of Greek language and culture, and an understanding of how Byzantine and modern forms relate to their ancient forebears.

Admission to the major. There are no formal pre-requisite courses. Students may start both Ancient and Modern Greek from scratch at Yale. Students who take MGRK 130 must either have completed MGRK 115, or must be able to satisfy the director of the program in Hellenic Studies that they have the required proficiency. All students interested in the major should meet with the program directors of both Classics and Hellenic Studies as soon as possible to discuss a program of study.

The Standard Major. The requirements for the standard major are:

Candidates must complete at least ten term courses as follows:

* No fewer than six term courses at the level of 390 or above in Ancient Greek, of which four are the double-credit Survey for the Major in Ancient Greek. The language courses should include GREK 390.
* One additional course in Ancient Greek history.
* No fewer than two term courses in Modern Greek must be elected, at the intermediate level (MGRK 130) or above
* At least one term course in the history, art history, literature or culture of the Greek-speaking Balkans (or the Hellenic diaspora) in the medieval, Ottoman, or modern period.

For more information please visit www.yale.edu/classics

Hellenic Studies Program Course Descriptions

Language Courses:

MGRK 110/120: Elementary Modern Greek (L1 & L2)
Maria Kaliambou
MTWThF 9.25-10.15
An introduction to modern Greek with emphasis on reading, writing, speaking and oral comprehension. The course will cover all major noun and adjective groups and their declension; the basic verb conjugations, all tenses, active and passive voice, as well as the basic uses of the subjunctive mood; basic daily vocabulary; the basic syntactical structure of Greek.

MGRK 130, 131: Intermediate Modern Greek (L3 & L4)
Maria Kaliambou
MTWThF 10.30-11.20
The course intends to develop the student’s proficiency in understanding, speaking, reading and writing modern Greek. Exposure to contemporary cultural material (newspapers, Greek websites, films, literary and musical material) will be complemented with grammar, vocabulary, and exercises in an effort to expand students’ familiarization with modern Greek language and culture.

Other Courses:

Folktales and Fairy Tales
MGRK 212b/LITR 328b/GMST 212b
Maria Kaliambou
T 2.30-4.20
The course first approaches the folktale as a genre of oral literature. Some basic concepts of folktale and fairy tale scholarship will be discussed. The folktale will be placed in the oral literary canon by discussing and challenging the academic classifications of oral narratives., analyzing topics such as performance, storytellers, and audience. In the second part, the course scrutinizes the most important theoretical approaches, such as formalism, psychoanalysis, feminism and history-sociology. For the third and last part, the course will deal with the problem of orality versus literacy, as expressed in early European folk and fairy tales from Italy and France, followed by the Brothers Grimm collections through to popular chapbooks of fairy tales.

Nikos Kazantzakis: From Revolution to Nihilism
MGRK 215a/ CLCV 209a/HUMS 213a/LITR 230a
George Syrimis
W 3.30-5.20
No other Greek figure of the modern era has caused more controversy than the poet, novelist, essayist, philosopher, playwright, and travel writer Nikos Kazantzakis. The course examines the philosophical influence of Darwin, Nietzsche, and Bergson on Kazantzakis’ thought and his fascination with the figures of Christ and Odysseus. Emphasis is also given to questions of fiction and autobiography, history and revolution, travel writing, twentieth-century existentialism, and the reception of the Homeric tradition.

Dionysus in Modernity: The Irrational in the Age of Reason
MGRK 216b/ CLCV 216b/HUMS 214b/LITR 226b
George Syrimis
F 1.30-3.20
The course examines the fascination with the myth of Dionysus in the modern age by focusing on questions of agency, identity and community, psychological integrity, and the modern constitution of the self. It examines the various manifestations of the Dionysiac mode in literature, anthropology, and music, and historicizes the Apollonian-Dionysiac dichotomy as a modern configuration and constitution of the tension between rationality/law and emotion/chaos, its cultural manifestations as the antithesis of the Enlightenment and Romanticism, as well as twentieth-century variations of the same themes in psychoanalysis, surrealism, and magical realism.

Twentieth-Century Southern European Dictatorships: Tyranny, Demise and Legacies
Konstantina Maragkou
MGRK 227a/HIST 248Ja
F 3.30-5.20
The seminar is two-pronged; its first part explores the historical reconstruction of various authoritarian regimes in Southern Europe by examining a handful of countries that experienced dictatorial rule in the twentieth century. Later work focuses on particular themes, including ideology, the leadership cult and culture, which will be comparatively examined. Concluding sessions revolve around those regimes’ legacies and the democratization process, and also focus on their domestic and international contexts, the role of NGOs and international organizations, and on memory and reconciliation.

Greece and Turkey in the Twentieth Century
Konstantina Maragkou
MGRK 228b/ HIST 239Jb/INTS 271b/MMES 143b
F 1.30-3.20
This seminar traces the parallel, intertwined, and conflicting national histories of twentieth-century Greece and Turkey. It focuses on analyzing the long-standing legacy of friction that underpins the relations of the two neighboring countries and accounts for the various factors that have historically galvanized it. It places particular emphasis on the influence of nationalism and the impact of the resulting myths and narratives on nation-building and foreign policy-making, as well as major contentious bilateral issues, such as their rivalries over Cyprus and the Aegean. After placing Greek-Turkish relations in their historical context, the course will conclude with the examination of current trends and concerns, including both countries’ modernization efforts, the EU challenge, and the recently emerged geopolitical environment within which détente arose, as well as policy alternatives for the near future.

Balkan Instability in the Twentieth Century: World Wars, Civil Wars and Dictatorships
MGRK 229b/HIST 248Jb
Konstantina Maragkou
M 1.30-3.20
This seminar provides an overview of the political evolution of the Balkan states in the past century by surveying prevalent moments of instability in their modern history. The political, social, economic, and cultural developments, in tandem with their external dimensions and internal dynamics, that caused the outbreak of wars and establishment of authoritative regimes are analyzed to understand the underlying forces that shaped the emergence and vicissitudes of the five countries composing the current geopolitical map of the Balkan peninsula. As the struggle goes on in many Balkan countries today, although in greatly changed circumstances, and several problems can be traced to the past, the study of the origins and evolution of the nationalist movements and ethnic conflicts in the region also aspires to contribute to a better understanding of the issues currently involved. The main themes include nationalism, world wars, civil wars, fascism, and communism, with emphasis on a comparative approach of concurrent developments.

Courses

The Major in Ancient and Modern Greek Offered by the Classics Department

Hellenic Studies Program Course Descriptions

The Major in Ancient and Modern Greek
Offered by the Classics Department