Euripides’ Ion, Ancient Athens, and Pure Blood
Ancient Greek online course, 25th November, 2023- 4th January, 2024
The Ion, which opens with the mountains of Phocis bathed in the golden light of the morning sun, is considered to be one of the most atypical tragedies in Athenian drama. There is no unresolvable conflict, no gaping wound, no fissure to tear apart the world of men and the world of gods. Rather, the appeal of the Ion resides in the vitality and unpredictability of the plot which unfolds through oracles, schemes, misunderstandings until the final denouement which ushers in an auspicious ascendancy of the Athenian monarchy and foreshadows the maritime supremacy of Athens over the rest of Greece. The principal characters of the story are Creusa, the queen of Athens, her husband Xuthus whose infertility has rendered him heirless, and a young Ion serving in the temple at Delphi, born many years before through Apollo and Creusa. The auroral serenity of the narrative culminates in a vision of a Hellas divided by three peoples, the Aeolians, Dorians, and Ionians, while simultaneously betraying dark and earthy scents which betray memories of a legendary past swarming with reptiles, king-snakes, and gorgons. It is precisely in the traces of these memories that one finds the foundations of the Athenian autochthony and its relationship to their mythical past, an interest in pure blood, and the infusion of ἀμιξία into their defense of political independence and democracy.
Part 1: The Ion of Euripides
The first part of the course focuses on reading Euripides’ Ion alongside numerous ancient sources on the ancient mythical past of Greece with special attention to Athens.
This part of the course will take place in seminar format via zoom (webinar) every Saturday from 17:00 to 18:15 CET.
Each seminar will be conducted entirely in Ancient Greek (Attic).
Each session will be recorded and made available up through the end of the course.
Part 2: Writing and Conversation in Ancient Greek
Every Thursday at 18:00, Schola Humanistica will offer a series of Zoom sessions organized around on the themes of the readings with a focus on the practice of conversational and written ancient Greek. These sessions may be attended independently of the reading sessions.
This part of the course will focus on vocabulary pertaining to the following semantic fields: royalty, prophecy, bloodlines, ἀμιξία and ξενηλασία, conspiracy, and autochthony.
Each of these sessions will be designed to provide participants with an opportunity to converse with one another and engage with them face to face on the Zoom platform.
Each of these special exercises will likewise be recorded and made available for the duration of the course.
Last day to Register: 24th November, 2023
Enrollment in both parts or only one part of the course is possible (see the columns below for more information).
Program schedule
Enrollment in both parts or only one part of the course is possible (see the columns below for more information).
PART 1:
The Ion of Euripides
| Schedule | Topic |
| I. I. Saturday, 25th November, 17:00-18:15 CET | In Delphi |
| II. Saturday, 2nd December, 17:00-18:15 CET | The Infertility of Creusa |
| III. Saturday, 9th December, 17:00-18:15 CET | “The first whom you encounter outside the temple” |
| IV. Saturday, December 16th, 17:00-18:15 CET | Schemes of Homicide |
| V. . Saturday, 23rd December, 17:00-18:15 CET | Catastrophe |
| VI. Saturday, December 30th, 17:00-18:15 CET | The Ethnic Groups of Greece |
PART 2
Writing and Conversation in Ancient Greek
| Schedule | Topic |
| I. Thurdsay, 30th November, h. 18:00-19:15 CET | Royalty, Sons, and Succession |
| II. Thurdsay, 7th December, h. 18:00-19:15 CET |
Prophecy
|
| III. Thurdsay 14nd December, h. 18:00-19:15 CET | ἀμιξία and ξενηλασία |
| IV. Thurdsay 21th December, h. 18:00-19:15 CET | συνωμοσίαι |
| V. Thurdsay, 28th December, h. 18:00-19:15 CEST | Agnorisis |
| VI. Thurdsay, 4h January, h. 18:00-19:15 CEST | αύτοχθονία |
