Greek 520 Hellenistic Poetry
Winter 2025
TTh 2:30-4:20
DEN 257
Instructor: James J. Clauss
E-mail: jjc@uw.edu
Office: 262-C Denny Hall
Office Hours: after class and anytime by appointment in person or on zoom
Required Text:
Neil Hopkinson, A Hellenistic Anthology Cambridge 2020 (second expanded edition)
Course Requirements:
Read assignments in Hopkinson and be prepared to translate in class. Feel free to use the online Loeb Classical Library for help.
Bibliography:
Martine Cuypers’ remarkable on-line bibliography can be found at:
https://sites.google.com/site/hellenisticbibliography/
Items in Hopkinson’s bibliography, which we’ll review in class on day one.
Annette Harder and Jacqueline Klooster, Cambridge Companion to Hellenistic Poetry. Cambridge Forthcoming.
Goals for the course:
Literary historical overview of the Hellenistic period
Observation of the esoteric style of writing of Hellenistic poets
Engaging the intertextual nature of Hellenistic poetry
Meeting a wide array of individual Hellenistic poets
Gaining a sense of the latest trends in scholarship on Hellenistic poetry
Grades:
Grades will be based on participation in the class and final paper.
Schedule of Readings:
Tuesday Thursday
Week 1 (1/6-8) Introduction IX Theocritus
Week 2 (1/13-15) X Theocritus VI- VII Aratus
Week 3 (1/20-22) Holiday XIII Theocritus
Week 4 (1/27-29) III Callimachus IV Callimachus
Week 5 (2/3-5) I-II Callimachus Nicander, Simias, Phanocles
Week 6 (2/10-12) XVII, IXI, XX Apollonius XXII - XXIII Bion
Week 7 (2/17-19) Holiday Out of town
Week 8 (2/24-26) XXI Moschus XXVI Herondas, XXVII Machon
Week 9 (3/3-5) Rhianus, Lycophron XI, XIV Theocritus
Week 10 (3/10-12) XXVIII Epigrams Presentations and Conclusions
Important UW policy-related things to know:
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