Myth Matters: Receptions of Mythology in Modern Greek Literature and Culture (GR6)

This paper has two components:

Language

Language teaching focuses on comprehension and translation skills. The option of two levels of proficiency is available. The higher level is intended for students who have previously taken GR3 or have acquired a similar level of competence in Modern Greek. The aim is to help the student develop a knowledge and understanding of the linguistic features of the Modern Greek language and to become a fairly confident reader in a range of texts at basic or advanced intermediate level.

In the first two terms, language classes concentrate on the essentials of grammar for the basic level, while for the advanced intermediate level classes build on the grammar base already acquired in previous studies and mostly concentrate on language use. In the Easter Term the emphasis will be on translation from Greek.

Literature

Myth has shown a remarkable capacity to evolve throughout the ages and adapt to the intellectual and aesthetic requirements of different periods. Western European Literature is permeated by Classical Greek myths and it is well known that during the 19th and 20th centuries in particular writers explored and re-interpreted these myths in order to offer modern approaches to the inherited past, time, history, humanity’s yearning for order and individual and national identity.

The exploration of how Classical Greek myths have been adopted and reworked in Modern Greek literature and culture is a case in point because it offers students the opportunity to discover its interaction with and creative assimilation of European traditions. More importantly, however, it allows students to reflect on what happens when myths return to their “birthplace”: does their use in Modern Greek literature offer a different, alternative paradigm of reception and creative assimilation?

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