Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Hellenistic Literature
School	History and Cultures
Department	Classics, AH and Archaeology
Module Code	09 29632
Module Lead	Gideon Nisbet
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-20 hours Seminar-2 hours Tutorial-1 hours Guided independent study-177 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	Hellenistic literature is what connects the literary cultures of classical Greece and Rome. In the period between the death of Alexander and the fall of the Ptolemies (Cleopatra), Greek authors reflected a culture undergoing rapid change, and finding new ways of thinking about the individual’s place in the world. They produced whole new kinds of literature (epigram, epyllion) and studied the classics of the past in new ways: the literature of the age of Cicero could never have happened without them. In this module we will read some of the most important Hellenistic writers, including Callimachus and Theocritus, and find out how they changed the idea of ‘literature’ forever.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Give a critical account of Hellenistic literature in its cultural and historical contexts; Identify and account for the distinctive characteristics and innovations of Hellenistic literature; Comment in detail on specified literary texts; Analyse Hellenistic literature’s influence on Roman literary culture.
Assessment	29632-01 : 3000 Word Essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 1 x 3,000 word coursework (100%) Reassessment: Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List