Classics Courses
Fall 2013
CG 110 Elementary Greek (4)
M 11:15-12:20 & TuTh 11:10-12:30
Prof. Mechem
Why study ancient Greek? To study Greek is to study ourselves as creators, leaders,
thinkers and as humans. Greek sharpens awareness and understanding of how languages
work and offers English speakers the opportunity to rediscover their own language;
over 30% of all English words (particularly those of the sciences and humanities)
are formed from ancient Greek roots. Students in this course will acquire the basics
of Greek grammar through reading selections from a variety of authors and texts, including
Aesop, Plato, Herodotus, and the New Testament.
Prerequisite: None.
CG 311 The Sophists (4)
MW 2:30-3:50
Prof. Porter
One cannot understand the Athens of 450-400 BCE without confronting that group of
brilliant intellectuals known as the sophists. The sophists are often cast as catalysts
for the fall of Athens in the later years of this period, not without some reason.
Perhaps even more important, and often overlooked, is that the sophists also catalyzed
Athens鈥� intellectual contributions to the western world, transforming the thinking
and fueling the achievements of many of the greatest Athenians 鈥� Pericles, Sophocles,
Euripides, Aristophanes, Thucydides among them; even Socrates, whom Plato and Xenophon
portray as the sophists鈥� opponent and antithesis, shared much with them. Since the
sophists鈥攁nd Socrates鈥攃onstantly focused on issues of language, one can understand
their contributions and impact only by reading them in Greek. At the heart of our
reading will be what we have from the sophists themselves, Protagoras, Gorgias, and
Antiphon in particular, texts as fascinating as they are at times fragmentary. We鈥檒l
also read selected passages from Plato, Herodotus, and Xenophon, and brief excerpts
from Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes that bear on the sophists. Complementing
these readings in Greek will be other texts read in translation and selected secondary
materials.
Prerequisite: CG 210 or permission of the instructor.
CL 110 Elementary Latin (4)
M 11:15-12:10 & TuTh 11:10-12:30
Prof. Curley
Latin, the root of the Romance languages of French, Spanish, and Italian, and the
language of the sciences and medicine, lies at the heart of Western civilization.
The study of Latin and Roman culture leads to a greater understanding of our own literature
and civilization, improves writing and reading skills, and helps to develop precise
thinking. Students in this course acquire the basics of Latin grammar and vocabulary
while reading selected prose passages and poems by Cicero, Catullus, Vergil, Martial,
and Caesar.
Prerequisite: None.
CL 311 Suetonius (4)
TuTh 3:40-5:00
Prof. Culey
The Lives of the Caesars by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus offers warts-and-all biographies
of the early Roman emperors. Students will read excerpts from his Augustus, Caligula,
and Nero in order to discover Suetonius鈥� purpose in writing the lives of these men
鈥� or are they monsters?
Prerequisite: CG 210 or permission of the instructor.
CC 220.001 and CC 200.002 Classical Mythology (3)
Section 001: Prof. Mechem: MWF 10:10-11:05
Section 002: Prof. Murray: TuTh 12:40-2:00
A study of the important myths in Greek and Roman culture, with attention to their
religious, psychological, and historical origins. Comparative mythology, structural
analysis, modern psychological interpretations, and the development of classical myths
in Western literature and art receive attention. Fulfills the Humanities requirement.
Prerequisite: None.
CC 227 Race and Ethnicity in Ancient Greece and Beyond (3)
TuTh 2:10-3:30
Prof. Murray
How did the ancient Greeks construct their 鈥渞acial鈥� and ethnic identity and why should
鈥淎ncient Greekness鈥� matter to us living in America today? Students will study the
dynamics of race and ethnicity in antiquity by comparing constructions of Greekness
and Romanness with constructions of ethnic identities in ancient non-Western cultures,
including the ancient Persian Empire (Iran and Iraq) as well as cultures of ancient
Africa, specifically the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Nubians, and Libyans. Students consider
ancient Greek evidence as well as historical and archaeological data shedding light
on non-Western perspectives. Students will learn contemporary race theory and the
difficulties and benefits of applying it to the study of ancient societies. Students
will also examine the role of ancestry, language, religion, mythology, literature
(including historiography) in the discursive formation of racial and ethnic identities
among the ancient Greeks and nearby non-Western cultures. Although centered in Ancient
Greece, students will move beyond its geographical boundaries through examination
of the Mediterranean culturally and its link to the 21st-century conceptualizations
of race and ethnicity.
Fulfills the Cultural Diversity and Humanities requirements. Prerequisite: None.
CC 365 Murdering Mothers (4)
MW 4:00-5:20
Prof. Curley
Medea, a mother who knowingly and willingly kills her own children, has become an indelible paradigm in the Western tradition. We will survey the Medea legend from antiquity to modern times, from Euripidean monster to feminist archetype. We will also consider contemporary acts of child-murder, and the difference between myth and reality, art and life. Prerequisite: none.
SSP 100.006 Den of Antiquities (4)
MW 4:00-5:20
Prof. Mechem
What is the difference between collecting and looting antiquities? What constitutes
ownership of an art object? What distinguishes individual from museum collections?
What are the ethical obligations of collectors? Students will examine the trade in
antiquities stretching from the first "collector" - a Roman general who stole art
from Sicily after sacking it in 212 BCE - to Lord Elgin's "purchase" of the Parthenon
marbles in 1806, to the current scandals in the trading of ancient art which have
embroiled NYC's Metropolitan Museum and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Our
discussions will include the most recent controversies that have embroiled the museum,
gallery and auction-house worlds, pitting national interests against private enterprise.
Various museum collections will serve as a laboratory for our study of these questions:
the Tang, local museums, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Prerequisite: None. Does not count towards any major.
PH 203 History of Greek Philosophy (3)
TuTh 11:10-12:30
Prof. Carli
Ancient Greek thinkers engaged in a continuous dialogue about certain core philosophical
questions, such as: What is the origin of philosophy? What is the nature of the cosmos?
What is the relation between being and becoming? What is knowledge? What is the nature
of human beings? What is happiness and how can human beings achieve it? It will be
our task to enter into that conversation and consider its relevance for our own lives.
Special attention will be given to Plato's and Aristotle's approaches to these questions.
Prerequisite: None. Fulfills the Humanities requirement.
PH 327 Aristotle (4)
WF 12:20-2:10
Prof. Carli
Aristotle's philosophy aspires to be a systematic whole. At the same time his writings
are rich in suggestions and open to the multiplicity of the phenomena. Our goal will
be both to identify the fundamental and pervasive principles of his thought and to
appreciate the complexity of the treatises we will study. We will focus primarily
on his theory of human nature and his view of the distinctive place of human beings
in the cosmos.
Prerequisite: one course in Philosophy. Counts towards the Classics and Philosophy
majors.