MA History: Hellenic Studies

This strand of the MA History is offered at the Hellenic Institute, History Department with the collaboration of the Classics Department.

The aim of the MA History: Hellenic Studies is to give students from various backgrounds the opportunity to have an overall view and appreciation of Greek history and culture, from the Homeric and Classical age, through the Hellenistic and Roman times, the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine period to the modern world. Its diachronic and interdisciplinary nature enables students to examine the elements which characterise Hellenic culture through the centuries, at the same time helping them to acquire a deeper knowledge of a certain period and discipline, including philosophy, history, law, religion, theatre, language, literature, papyrology and palaeography.

The MA History: Hellenic Studies consists of four elements (1-4) which add a total of four units (students may opt for a combination of half- and/or full-unit courses in elements 2-3). Language-learning courses are assessed by written tests and/or examination. Non-language courses are assessed by coursework (usually by 2-4 essays of 12,000 words in total). Some courses are assessed by a combination of coursework and written tests. The courses listed below are half-unit courses, unless otherwise stated (full-unit: FU). For a description of courses and assessment requirements please click here.

1. HS5117 The Greek Tradition (FU): a compulsory core course consisting of twenty two-hour seminars by different tutors on important aspects of Greek history and culture from the archaic period to the modern era, placing emphasis on those elements which characterise Hellenic culture across the centuries:

• The Hellenic tradition: scope and methodology
• Homer and his legacy
• The tradition of Athens and Sparta (title tbc)
• Classical Greek philosophy: Plato and Aristotle
• Emergence, evolution, and the development of the Classical in literature
• The tradition of classical art and architecture (title tbc)
• Greek drama and its reception
• Education and the Greek heritage in the Hellenistic and Roman period
• The Ancient polis and the developments of urbanism in the Eastern Mediterranean in Late Antiquity
• Philosophy in Late Antiquity: Neoplatonism
• The Hellenic tradition in Byzantium: Christianity and Greek Paideia
• The Hellenic tradition in Byzantine education
• The Hellenic tradition and Byzantine scholarship
• The Hellenic tradition and Byzantine historiography
• The Hellenic tradition in Byzantine art
• The Hellenic identity in Byzantium (tbc)
• Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance: The teaching and the diffusion of classical texts in the West
• The Hellenic tradition in the Post-Byzantine period
• The Hellenic tradition and the Enlightenment: Philhellenism and the Greek War of Independence
• The Hellenic tradition in the modern world

2. Skills course (FU) (one of the following):

• Classical Greek language:
  • either 7AACM005 Beginners' ancient Greek for research
  • or 7AACM015 Intermediate ancient Greek for research
• MB02 Byzantine Greek (II) language
• CL2737 Aspects of Modern Greek language and culture
• CL5118 Comparative Philology of Latin and Greek
• CLASGG08 The Greek Dialects
• 7AACM730 Greek Epigraphy
• CLASGG03 Greek Papyrology
• Greek Palaeography:
  • either MB23/HS5123A Elementary Greek Palaeography
  • or M380/HS5124A Greek Palaeography

3. Optional course/s: at least one from the following list of available MA courses offered at Royal Holloway and other Colleges of the University of London. Courses offered in 2010/11 are marked with an asterisk.

• CL5810 Homer (in Greek)*
• K160 Hellenistic Poetry (FU)
• 7AACM150 Greek Lyric Poetry (FU)*
• CLASGG06 Four Greek Plays (FU)*
• 7AACM320 Attacking the theatre*
• 7AACM321 Defending the theatre*
• CL5117 The Ancient Novel (in translation) (FU)*
• AB/MA26 The Greek Novel and Its Influence (1st to 21st Centuries) (FU)
• CL5653/CLAS3203 Dialogues of Plato*
• CLASG150 Plato, Gorgias (FU)
• CLAFG500 Philosophy under the Roman Empire (FU)
• 7AACM500 Sources and Methods in Ancient History (FU)*
• 7AACM410 Territory and Identity in Ancient Greece (FU)*
• CL5305 Greek Law and Lawcourts (FU)
• ARCLG052 The Aegean Bronze Age (FU)
• (Code tbc) The Aegean from the First Farmers to Minoan States (TBC)*
• (Code tbc) The Late Bronze Age Aegean (TBC)*
• HISTGA05 The Economic and Social History of Archaic and Classical Greece (FU)*
• 91AHG026 Codes and Practice: the World of Roman Law from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages (FU)
• HICL004P Ancient Political Thought and its Medieval Legacy
• (Code tbc) The Medieval Mediterranean
• CL5314 The Late Roman and Early Byzantine City (FU)
• MB06 Constantinople and its Descriptions (FU)
• CLASG145 Thucydides, Books 6 and 7 (FU)
• CL5319 - Greek Religion in a Mediterranean Society (FU)*
• M592 Mystery Religions in the Greek and Roman Worlds (FU)
• CL5444 Studying Ancient Myth (FU)*
• 7AACK806 Pausanias (FU)*
• CL5606 City of Rome (FU)*
• 7AACM851 The City of Rome (British School at Rome Annual Postgraduate Course) (FU)*
• M590 Byzantine Egypt (FU)
• M700 Undertaking Research in Classical Archaeology (FU)
• 7AACM830 Greek pottery and painting (FU)*
• K820 Greek Sculpture ca. 700-300 BC (FU)
• K855 Archaeology of the Western Roman Provinces (FU)
• 7AACM818 Ancient mosaics: making and meaning (FU)*
• 7AABMB10 Living in Byzantium: Material culture and built environment (ca. AD 300-1500) (FU)*
• CLASG131 The Classical Past in Modern Greece (FU)
• (Code tbc) Homer’s Legacy (FU)
• 7AACM470 Alexander's Afterlife (FU)*
• CL5100/CLASGR08 Ancient Greek Theatre and its Reception (FU)*
• CLASGR01 Approaches to the Reception of the Classical World (FU)*
• HEBRG139: Greeks & Jews (FU)*
• M720 The Christianisation of the Roman World: from Constantine to Justinian (FU)
• 7AABMB07 The reign of Constantine I (FU)*
• 7AABMB03 Byzantium and the West, AD 800-1054 (FU)
• HS5219 Byzantium and the First Crusade*
• HS5220 Byzantium and the Fourth Crusade*
• K866 Gender from Antiquity to Byzantium (FU)
• 7AABMB09 Byzantine Hagiography (FU)
• HS5128 Byzantine Autographs of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century) (FU)
• HS5127 Greek Hands of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century) (FU)

4. MA dissertation (HS5125) of 12,500-15,000 words on an approved subject, under the supervision of a member of the staff.

Studentships, bursaries and prizes

Those who apply for a place in this MA programme at The Hellenci Institute are eligible for the following studentships:

• The Panagiotis and Eleni Xenou Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies
• The Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies.

These studentships cover the annual tuition fees at UK/EU rate. A number of Studentships are also available at the History Department of RHUL.

RHUL applicants who are not awarded any of these studentships may apply for a George of Cyprus Bursary funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, or a Julian Chrysostomides Memorial Bursary or a Pat Macklin Memorial Bursary in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies funded by the Friends of the Hellenic Instituite, to meet general expenses of studying.

The Friends of the Hellenic Institute are also offering The John Penrose Barron Memorial Prize in Hellenic Studies in memory of the eminent Hellenist Professor J. P. Barron (1934-2006), former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, and Friend and member of the Steering Group of the Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway College. The Prize is awarded to students who complete the MA History: Hellenic Studies with the mark of distinction.

For further information on our Studentships, Bursaries and Prizes, please click here.

Legal Disclaimer: The information on this web site is accurate at the time of being uploaded, but tutors may be changed and/or courses may be withdrawn in the light of tutor availability and student numbers. While the Hellenic Institute/History Department makes every effort to run all listed courses, it cannot guarantee the availability of every course throughout the duration of each student's time on the MA course. In the event of unavoidable changes to the programme students may still be enabled to study their chosen themes by special arrangements within the broad ambit of some of the MA programmes - via choice of topics for essays, Skills Project or Dissertation, in consultation with the Programme Director.

For further information on the MA History, please contact the Programme Director Professor Helen Graham and the Research and Postgraduate Studies Administrator Mrs Marie-Christine Ockenden, History Department, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom, tel. +44 (0)1784 443311, fax +44 (0)1784 433032

Enquiries about the strand of the MA History: Hellenic Studies should be addressed to Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, Director, The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom, tel. +44 (0)1784 443791/443086, fax +44 (0)1784 433032