EDUCAZIONE E FILOSOFIA NEL MONDO GRECO
Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: CHIARA MILITELLOExpected Learning Outcomes
After attending the class on Education and Philosophy in the Ancient World, the student will understand how philosophy was born, will know the fundamental aspects of ancient philosophical thought, with particular attention to the theme of education (paideia), will grasp the elements of continuity and rupture between contemporary and ancient thought, and will assimilate the differences between the different types of educational relationships and between the different intellectual and ethical models that can be found in Greek history. This will accustom the student to confronting an “other” that is distant in time, which will in turn be useful for understanding the people who come from a different culture. From a more specifically methodological point of view, the student will be equipped with the hermeneutical tools necessary to recognize the origin and initial development of the main philosophical questions, to understand the ancient philosophical texts and grasp the main theories exposed in them, to understand which are the roots of “Western” civilization, and to apply the methods of philosophy to education. In general, the student will have a clear picture of the theoretical and methodological tools used in the study of philosophy and ancient educational processes.
The student will also be able to personally evaluate the different current theories on ancient thought, and to apply the lessons of ancient philosophers to modern educational problems with a critical spirit. The student will master the ancient philosophical vocabulary, but, above all, he will be aware of the importance of using a precise technical vocabulary. Finally, the student will cultivate their learning skills, including the (particularly important but not always practiced) skill of understanding a written text that does not have the form of a treatise, and will be used to consulting experts in the crucial moments of their learning-by-oneself path.
The expected learning objectives, declined according to the Dublin Descriptors, are the following:
Knowledge and ability to understand (DD1):
- To know theories and models proper to ancient philosophy in order to interpret educational and training events.
Applied knowledge and understanding (DD2):
- Relate the theoretical and methodological contents learned to the interpretation of ancient philosophical-educational texts.
Autonomy of judgement (DD3):
- Evaluate the relevance of the ancient theories studied to modern educational problems.
Communication skills (DD4):
- To be able to communicate and share analysis of events from knowledge of the history of one’s professional field.
Learning skills (DD5):
- To be able to define one’s own personal development plan, monitoring one’s actions.
- To be able to promote self-assessment actions aimed at one’s own professional development.Course Structure
The teaching will be carried out through lectures, a method that will ensure the transmission of contents and methods. In order to achieve the objectives relating to learning and communication skills, questions for clarification and deepening by the students will be encouraged during the lessons.
If the course is delivered in blended or remote mode, appropriate adjustments may be made to the above, in order to ensure consistency with the syllabus.Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
Textbook Information
1. Giulio Guidorizzi, Pietà e terrore. La tragedia greca, Einaudi 2023, 232 pp. [ISBN: 9788806257378]
2. Eric R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational, University of California Press 2004, 336 pp. [ISBN: 9780520242302]
3. Anton Bierl, Maenadism as self-referential chorality in Euripides’ Bacchae, in Choral Mediations in Greek Tragedy, edited by Renaud Gagné and Marianne Govers Hopman, Cambridge University Press 2013, pp. 211-226. [ISBN: 978-1-107-03328-3] [available on the website of the course on Studium]| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giulio Guidorizzi | Pietà e terrore. La tragedia greca | Einaudi | 2023 | 9788806257378 |
| Eric R. Dodds | I Greci e l’irrazionale | Rizzoli | 2009 | 9788817028561 |
| Renaud Gagné and Marianne Govers Hopman | Choral Mediations in Greek Tragedy | Cambridge University Pres | 2013 | 978-1-107-03328-3 |
| Eric R. Dodds | The Greeks and the Irrational | University of California Press | 2004 | 9780520242302 |
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Tragic | 1 (parte 1) |
| 2 | Tragedy in Action | 1 (parte 2) |
| 3 | Agamemnon's Apology | 2 (chapter 1) |
| 4 | From Shame-Culture to Guilt-Culture | 2 (chapter 2) |
| 5 | The Blessings of Madness | 2 (chapter 3) |
| 6 | Dream-Pattern and Culture-Pattern | 2 (chapter 4) |
| 7 | The Greek Shamans and the Origin of Puritanism | 2 (chapter 5) |
| 8 | Rationalism and Reaction in the Classical Age | 2 (chapter 6) |
| 9 | Plato, the Irrational Soul, and the Inherited Conglomerate | 2 (chapter 7) |
| 10 | The Fear of Freedom | 2 (chapter 8) |
| 11 | Maenadism | 2 (appendix 1) |
| 12 | Theurgy | 2 (appendix 2) |
| 13 | A choral reading of the Bacchae | 3 (§1) |
| 14 | The parodos | 3 (§2) |
| 15 | Choral self-referentiality in the rest of the play | 3 (§3) |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Midterm Exam
Midterm tests on the course content are scheduled, in the form of a multiple-choice questionnaire administered via a digital platform.
Students must pass this test with a score of at least 18/30 to avoid having to take the official oral exam on that section of the program.
The purpose of the midterm tests is summative, and the assessment results in a grade that is averaged into the final grade.
Final exam.
Oral examination, assessed on the basis of the following elements: relevance of the answers to the questions asked (necessary to pass the exam); content quality, ability to connect the various parts of the course, proper philosophical language, overall expressive skills (all these elements contribute to the final evaluation, provided that the answers are relevant).
Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it.
To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata — Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA) referring teacher within their department (https://www.cinap.unict.it/content/referenti).Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
What is, according to Guidorizzi, the main subject of Greek drama?
What is the plot of Euripides' The Bacchae?
In what sense, according to Dodds, can we speak of Homeric religion?
Who invented theurgy?
In what sense are the choral songs of Euripides' The Bacchae a multimedia performance?
In what sense are The Bacchae characterized by an opposition between external space and internal space?
Read this passage from Agamemnon and explain its meaning, contextualizing it within the work.