Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Special Subject B: Greek Epigram
School	History and Cultures
Department	Classics, AH and Archaeology
Module Code	09 37459
Module Lead	Dr Gideon Nisbet
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites	LH Special Subject A: Greek Epigram - (09 37458)
Co-requisites	LH Special Subject A: Greek Epigram - (09 37458)
Restrictions	None
Exclusions
Description	This module and its co-requisite (Special Subject B: Greek Epigram) will allow students to engage in in-depth research and study on a topic in Classics, Byzantine Studies, Egyptology, Ancient History, or Archaeology. Working in a small group format under the guidance of the module co-ordinator, students will engage with key primary material and with research findings, interpretative approaches, and methodologies associated with the module topic. The module will help students to develop and exercise advanced research skills and to learn through critique and discussion, as well as to acquire knowledge and expertise in their chosen topic. This module investigates epigram, a type of short poem originally inscribed on monuments and personal items, and later composed as literature to be recited at symposia and gathered into books. The epigrams of the Greek Anthology span more than a thousand years of history, from the Persian Wars (‘Go tell the Spartans’) to early mediaeval Byzantium. Agriculture and wild nature, relationships and sex, religion and education, food and drink, birth and death: these tiny poems capture famous names and events, but also the daily experiences of ordinary lives. They were a social medium through which the Greek-speaking world mourned loss, celebrated friendship, praised God, and cracked jokes. Students will read selected epigrams of the Greek Anthology in translation, situating these poems in their literary and historical contexts, and exploring the genre’s unique interplay between epigraphic inscription, social performance, and the written word. This module will explore the transmission of epigram in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as epigram’s modern reception.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: analyse and appraise key findings, interpretative approaches, and methodologies relevant to the material under discussion analyse and evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material offering where appropriate, an explicitly comparative perspective critically evaluate the scholarly context and trends of the subject under exploration summarise and evaluate the subject material with clarity and confidence, in writing
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 1 x 3,000-word take home examination (100%) Reassessment: Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List