University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Planned timetable: TBC

This module will explore the symposium, a key cultural institution of the ancient Greek world, through its representation and dramatisation in both poetry and prose. The texts studied, which were produced for performance at symposia and/or designed to evoke the mentality and preoccupations (alcoholic, erotic, political, religious, and cultural) associated with sympotic gatherings, will range from the lyric and elegiac poetry of the archaic period, via the two Socratic Symposia of Plato and Xenophon in the fourth century, to the continued thematisation of the symposium in Hellenistic epigrams. The module will also make some supplementary use of pictorial evidence for the history of the symposium, paying comparative attention to the roles of poetic and visual material within symposiac culture.

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact:

Scheduled learning hours: 33

Guided independent study hours: 267

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews:

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 55%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 45%

Personnel