A. The following

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CLAS 0150 Ancient Epic Poetry
Through close study of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Lucretius' On the Nature of Things, and Vergil's Aeneid, we explore the Greek and Roman epic poets' teachings about what constitutes human greatness and human happiness. We ask why Achilles chooses immortal fame and an early death at Troy over long life at home; why Odysseus chooses to return home to his aging wife Penelope, declining the nymph Calypso's promise to make him immortal on her isle; why Aeneas forsakes happiness with Dido in Carthage in order to found an Italian town and the promise of Rome's future greatness; and why Lucretius thinks that atomic physics, by exposing the mortality of man's soul, the non-existence of gods, and the instability of all human happiness, gives men true knowledge preferable to the illusory goods praised by the other two poets. 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT PHL EUR
CLAS/HIST 0131 Archaic and Classical Greece
A survey of Greek history from Homer to the Hellenistic period, based primarily on a close reading of ancient sources in translation. The course covers the emergence of the polis in the Dark Age, colonization and tyranny, the birth of democracy, the Persian Wars, the interdependence of democracy and Athenian imperialism, the Peloponnesian War, and the rise of Macedon. Authors read include Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plutarch, Xenophon, and the Greek orators. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. HIS LIT EUR
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CLAS 0151 Introduction to Ancient Greek Literature
An introduction to the literature of the Golden Age of Athens. The course traces the era of unprecedented intellectual innovation that begins with Greece's triumph over the Persian invasions in 490 and 480-479 B.C., continues through the emergence of radical democracy and imperialism at Athens, and culminates in the Peloponnesian War and Athens' defeat in 404 B.C. by her former ally, Sparta. Through intensive study of selected works of historiography (Herodotus, Thucydides), tragedy (Sophocles, Euripides), comedy (Aristophanes), and philosophical dialogue (Plato), we will explore the central concerns of the Athenians in the fifth and fourth centuries: freedom and power, knowledge and virtue, law and nature, and the place of the divine in the human world. 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT PHL EUR
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CLAS 0152 Greek Tragedy
A survey of selected tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, exploring the relation between tragedy and political freedom and empire in fifth century B.C. Athens. The course examines the tragic poets' use of traditional Greek myths to question not only the wisdom of contemporary Athenian imperialism but also traditional Greek views on relations between the sexes; between the family and the city; between man's presumed dignity and his belief in gods. Mythical and historical background is supplied through additional readings from Homer and Thucydides. The course asks how the tragedians managed to raise publicly, in the most solemn religious settings, the kind of questions for which Socrates was later put to death. The course culminates in a reading of Aristotle's Poetics. 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT PHL EUR
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CLAS/PHIL 0175 Greek Philosophy: The Problem of Socrates
The course surveys the development of ancient Greek philosophy from the Presocratics through Aristotle by focusing on what Nietzsche called "the Problem of Socrates": the question why Socrates abandoned "presocratic" natural science in order to dissect the opinions of his fellow Athenians, and why they eventually put him to death for it. The implications of Socrates' life, his thought, and his execution in 399 B.C. on charges of corruption and impiety are examined through close reading of selected works of Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates' relevance to our current crisis of wisdom in the natural and human sciences is highlighted through debate on Nietzsche's two claims: that Socrates corrupted Athens by introducing the imperative of universal enlightenment; that he thereby launched the West on a fatal course of rationalism and nihilism. 3 hrs. lect. LIT PHL EUR
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CLAS 0190 Greek and Roman Comedy
A survey of the comic playwrights of Greece (Aristophanes and Menander) and Rome (Plautus and Terence) in light of their ancient social, political, and religious contexts as well as modern theoretical approaches to laughter (including psychoanalysis and structural anthropology). We will trace enduring aspects of the comic tradition that can be found in both Greece and Rome and also look forward to Renaissance and modern comedy. These include: the nature of the comic hero; the patterns of comic plots; the dependence of comedy on language; the comic poet's concern with questions of freedom and slavery, desire and repression. (formerly CLAS 0160) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT EUR
CLAS/HIST 0132 History of Rome
This course will study Roman history from its origins to Constantine. Particular emphasis will be on the unique characteristics of Roman society, the rise and influence of imperialism, the transition from Republic to Empire, the role of Rome as a Mediterranean power, and the emergence of Christianity. Readings will focus on the ancient sources, all in translation; authors include Polybius, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Eusebius. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. HIS LIT EUR
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CLAS 0140 Augustus and the World of Rome
In 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated. Within two months his adoptive son, Augustus, still in his teens, traveled to Rome, soon extorted the highest office of the Roman Republic, and after 13 years of civil war became the state's first emperor. The resulting "Augustan Age" (31 B.C. to A.D. 14) produced a period of political change and cultural achievement unparalleled in Rome's long history. In this course we will examine the literature, art, history, and politics of this era, evaluate the nature of Augustus's accomplishments, and explore the Roman world. Readings include: Augustus, Vergil, Suetonius, and I. Claudius. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT HIS EUR
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CLAS 0143 Texts and Contexts in Roman Republican Literature
This course is an introduction to the literature, politics, culture and history of the Roman Republic (c.509-31BCE) - a period which saw Rome grow from a small city on the Tiber to the supreme power in the Mediterranean, and also saw the development of Latin literature. Our readings cover a broad variety of literary genres and authors: comedy (Plautus and Terence), lyric (Catullus), epic (Ennius), political speeches and letters (Cicero), history (Caesar, Sallust, Polybius), and didactic philosophy (Lucretius). As we read we will be careful to investigate how these texts present different and often conflicting ideas of what it means to be Roman, as well as how different ideologies of Rome compete throughout each work. 3 hrs. lect. 1hr. disc. LIT HIS EUR
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CLAS 0144 Literature of the Roman Empire
In this course we will investigate the literature, culture, and history of the Roman Empire, focusing on how Romans sought, often at the cost of their own lives, to define the role and powers of the emperor and their place as subjects to this new, autocratic power. Texts we will read include: epic (Lucan), tragedy (Seneca), history (Tacitus), biography (Suetonius), prose fiction (Petronius), as well as early Christian literature. As we read we will seek to answer questions about the nature of freedom and empire, what is gained and lost by replacing a republican with an autocratic political system, and whether literature in this period can offer an accurate reflection of reality, function as an instrument of change and protest, or of fearful praise and flattery. 3hrs lect. 1 hr. disc. LIT HIS EUR
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CLAS 0190 Greek and Roman Comedy
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CLAS/PHIL 0276 Roman Philosophy
In this course we will seek to answer the question of what is Roman philosophy - philosophia togata. Is it simply Greek philosophy in Roman dress? Or, while based in its Greek origins, does it grow to have a distinctive and rigorous character of its own, designed and developed to focus on uniquely "Roman" questions and problems, in particular, ethical, social, and political questions? We will investigate how some of the main schools of Hellenistic Greek thought came to be developed in Latin: Epicureanism (Lucretius), Academic Skepticism (Cicero), and Stoicism (Seneca). As we read we will investigate how each school offers different answers to crucial questions such as what is the goal of life? What is the highest good? Should one take part in politics or not? What is the nature of the soul? What is the nature of Nature itself? Is there an afterlife? Can we ever have a certain answer to any of these such questions? 3hrs. lect./1 hr. disc. PHL EUR

Courses & Requirements

A. The following

B. Five additional courses

C. Four courses in Greek or four courses in Latin

D. CLAS 0420 Seminar in Classical Literature

E. CLAS 0701 History of Classical Literature

Catalog Listing

Course / Exam Schedule