Close
Description
Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 20 weekly classes.
Content: An introduction to Mycenaean Greek, including a basic review of Greek historical phonology and morphology. This module introduces the language, script and history of the Linear B tablets from Bronze Age Greece. A selection of Linear B texts will be studied, with attention to social, historical and archaeological context: core topics will include the dialectal affiliations of Mycenaean and Homeric Greek, and the evidence of the tablets for the history of the Greek language.
Skills: At the end of the module students will be able to give an account of the central linguistic issues raised by the decipherment of the Linear B tablets; will understand how Homeric Greek stands in relation to Mycenaean and classical Greek; will be familiar with basic linguistic principles and understand how they inform our analysis of ancient Greek of all periods; will be in a position to demonstrate how Greek stands in relation to other Indo-European languages.
S. COLVIN, A Historical Greek Reader (Oxford 2007): not necessary to purchase
J.T. HOOKER, Linear B: an introduction (Bristol 1980): recommended
Other recommended preparatory reading:
J. CHADWICK, The Decipherment of Linear B (Cambridge 1958, reprinted): strongly recommended.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
听