GRK 130 Later Greek: Lucian
Instructors: Valentina Popescu
We will read and discuss Greek selections from the works of Lucian of Samosata. Students will also read additional works in translation and become familiar with the most recent scholarship on Lucian in particular and on Imperial literature in general.
Lucian’s cultural stance is fascinating: a Syrian educated in Greek, an Eastern itinerant rhetor journeying to the Western borders of the Roman Empire, asserting exoticism while competing in pure Attic with the best of the Greeks, claiming allegiance to the Greek literary tradition while boldly innovating and comparing his works to hybrid monsters. Lucian’s displacement, both physical and cultural, finds expression in the wondrous versatility of an author who skillfully eludes labels and classifications and constantly hides behind many masks and many voices.
Format: Lecture/Discussion—3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: Greek 100 or permission of instructor (vpopescu@ucdavis.edu) GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and Writing Experience.
Textbooks:
Required: Lucian. Seventy Dialogues. Edited by Harry L Levy (2007), U. of Oklahoma Press
Highly Recommended:
- An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon
- Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar (Revised Edition), edited by Gordon M. Messing