GK4200 Court, Classroom, and Canon: Allegories of Homer in Byzantium

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Available to General Degree students with the permission of the Honours Adviser

Planned timetable

To be confirmed

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr A Schoess

Dr A Schoess
This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Ann-Sophie Schoess

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module introduces students to the cultural and educational landscape of twelfth-century Byzantium with its rich engagement with ancient Greek literature. Taking John Tzetzes’ Allegories of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as a case study, students explore how Byzantine scholars and teachers sought to make the ancient texts more accessible to new audiences: Eustathios’ linguistic commentaries helped readers navigate the archaic language, while Tzetzes’ works taught them how to find a deeper meaning in the epic narratives. Throughout the module, students reflect on the place of Homer’s epics in literary culture and educational canon: ancient Greek schoolboys, Byzantine empresses, and medieval grammarians are linked through these foundational texts to today’s classroom. By studying the mechanisms behind Tzetzes’ allegories, students explore the rhetorical and exegetical strategies that helped Byzantine audiences make sense of the ancient texts within their own world.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

40 CREDITS FROM GK2001, GK2002 AND (GK2003, GK2004, OR GK3021, GK3022)

Assessment pattern

100% Coursework

Re-assessment

Examination = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

2 x 1 hr seminar (x11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

22

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

278

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • engage critically with the reception history of the Trojan War narrative and the Homeric epics
  • recognise and describe characteristic features of Byzantine Greek allegorical writing
  • analyse the language, content, narrative techniques, and style of the set texts
  • demonstrate expertise and advanced skills in translating these and related texts, seen and unseen, into good English
  • devise sophisticated, wide-ranging, and coherent arguments on critical research questions related to the prescribed texts on the basis of a thorough analysis of the primary text and the critical analysis of published scholarship