CL3ALEX: Alexandrian Poetry

Module code: CL3ALEX

Module provider: Classics; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

ECTS credits: 10

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Rachel Mairs, email: r.mairs@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 25 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module provides an introduction to poetry produced in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, from antiquity to the present day.  Students will study (in English translation) poetry written in Egyptian, Greek, Arabic and other languages, and learn about how the city of Alexandria inspired poets and created the artistic conditions for them to write.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand how the city of Alexandria, over more than two and a half thousand years, provided a conducive environment for poets.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the cultural and political changes in Alexandria over two and a half thousand years, from antiquity to the present day.
3. Appreciate the range of cultural influences acting upon Alexandrian poets who wrote in the city’s ancient and modern languages.

Module content

The city of Alexandria was nominally founded by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE, although recent scholarship now agrees that there was habitation on the site long before this.  In the third century, Alexandria became a centre of scholarship and the arts under the patronage of the Ptolemies.  Famous Greek poets such as Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes worked in Alexandria, but the cultural production of the period also shows considerable influence from indigenous Egyptian tradition.  After the Ptolemaic period, Alexandria has continued to be a cosmopolitan centre of learning.  This module will examine poetic production in Alexandria through the centuries, including mediaeval Arabic poetry, the 19th-20th century Greek poetry of C. P. Cavafy, and the many modern writers – in languages including Arabic, English and French – who have written in and about the city.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be taught by a combination of interactive lectures and seminars, for which students will prepare reading in advance.

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will be allowed to submit an essay plan for discussion two weeks before the summative assessment deadline.

Reassessment

Additional costs