Università Roma Tre

The sophistic movement was a cultural and intellectual revolution in fifth-century Athens and Greece. They defied traditional paideia, but unfortunately only a fraction of their texts has been transmitted by ancient sources. A selection of key texts will be the basis for an assessment of crucial aspects of the sophistic revolution (myth, ethics, politics, intellectual paideia). The following texts will be discussed and commented upon in class (the references are to the sixth edition of pre-Socratic philosophers by Diels and Kranz): Protagoras, 80 B1-4, C 1; Gorgias, 82 B 11 (encomium of Helen) and 11a (Palamedes’ apology); Prodicus of Ceos, 84 B 1-2 (Heracles at the crossroads); Thrasymachus, 85 B 1; Antiphon, 87 B 44, 44a, 49, 53, 54, 58-61; Critias, 88 B 1, 2, 4, 5, 25 (from the Sisyphus).

The selection of texts discussed in class will be circulated via the website of the teacher (http://studiumanistici.uniroma3.it/mgiuseppetti/bacheca/). Students are also encouraged to read M. Untersteiner, I sofisti, Mondadori, Milan 1996; M. Bonazzi, I sofisti, Carocci, Rome 2010.