B. Five additional courses

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

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

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

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/PHIL 0276 Roman PhilosophyIn 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

CLAS/HIST 0331 Sparta and Athens
For over 200 years, Athens and Sparta were recognized as the most powerful Greek city-states, and yet one was a democracy (Athens), the other an oligarchy (Sparta). One promoted the free and open exchange of ideas (Athens); one tried to remain closed to outside influence (Sparta). This course studies the two city-states from the myths of their origins through their respective periods of hegemony to their decline as imperial powers. The goal is to understand the interaction between political success and intellectual and cultural development in ancient Greece. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc. LIT HIS EUR CMP

CLAS/HIST 0332 Roman Law
The Romans' codification of civil law is often considered their greatest intellectual achievement and most original and influential contribution to the world. This course treats the four main divisions of Roman law (persons, property, obligations, and succession). Great emphasis is placed on the role of law in Roman society. How did the law influence the lives of Roman citizens living under it? How did ordinary Roman citizens shape the law? Students will come to understand the principles of Roman law through actual cases. Designed for students with some background in Roman history and/or literature. 2 hrs. lect., 1 disc. HIS EUR

CLAS/HIST 0337 From Alexander to Rome
At the age of 19, Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world. His successful domination of the eastern Mediterranean led to a new world order known as the Hellenistic Age. Under Alexander's successors, literature, art, and philosophy flourished, but a little more than a century later the Hellenistic Greeks found themselves on a collision course with Rome's expanding republic. This course will investigate the political and cultural history of the Greeks and Romans in this period and consider the forces that created the Graeco-Roman world. Readings include Arrian, the Alexandrian poets, Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch. (This course replaces CLAS/HIST 0338: The Hellenistic World and the Foundations of Graeco-Roman Culture.)LIT HIS EUR

HARC 0213 Roman Art and Architecture
This course presents a chronological survey of the developments in architecture, sculpture, painting, and the decorative arts of Republican and Imperial Rome, from the eighth century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. Issues discussed include the relation between public and private art, art in the service of social ideology and political propaganda, the impact of breakthroughs in technology and engineering, the artistic exchanges between Greece and Rome, and the interactions between center (Rome) and periphery (the provinces). 3 hrs. lect. ART HIS EUR

HARC 0221 Greek Art and Archaeology
This course explores the artistic expression in architecture, urbanism, sculpture, and painting in the ancient Greek world (Greece, Sicily, southern Italy, and western Turkey). The chronological range spans from the late Neolithic period and the Aegean Bronze Age (with its Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean civilizations) to the formative archaic period, the classical moment during the age of Perikles, and the cosmopolitan Hellenistic age, ending with the advent of Imperial Rome in 31 BC. Special emphasis will be placed on how Greek art production related to developments in politics, history, literature, and science. 3 hrs. lect. ART HIS EUR 

HARC 0223 The Classical Tradition in Architecture: A History
From the Late Bronze Age to the postmodern present, this course traces the development of the classical formal language in western architecture. With elements, orders, and canons developed by the Greeks, the classical tradition first flourished as an "international style" under the Romans. After a setback during the Middle Ages, the classical tradition reemerges with vigor during the Renaissance, displays great flexibility during the Baroque, and reconnects with antiquity during the Neoclassical period. Attention is given to the relationship between architectural styles and archaeological discoveries and to the assimilation of developments in building technology. 3 hrs. lect. ART HIS EUR

HARC 0312 Of Gods, Mortals, and Myths: Greek and Roman Painting
Treating the Greco-Roman tradition as a continuum, this course presents a survey of the major monuments, artists, and developments in Greek vase painting from the geometric to the Hellenistic periods (black-figure, red-figure, white-ground techniques) and in Roman wall painting from the Republican period to the Late Empire (four Pompeiian styles and Late-Antique painting). Topics to be discussed include the development of pictorial narratives, the impact of technological breakthroughs, the invention of linear and atmospheric perspective, the problem of lost originals, and the relationship between literary and pictorial narration. 3 hrs. lect. ART HIS EUR

HARC 0320 Hands-on Archaeology: Theory and Practice
In this course we will explore the theory and practice of archaeology as a scholarly discipline. About half of our meetings will be devoted to investigating the history and scientific development of archaeology, its methods and theoretical underpinnings, and some of its techniques (surveying, stratigraphic dating), and its role in the fields of art history, classics, and anthropology. The other half will be spent on field trips, museum visits, and field research at a local archaeological site where we will survey, record, and catalog the finds, and measure, draw, interpret, and reconstruct the remains. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab. ART

PHIL 0201 Ancient Greek Philosophy
This class introduces students to the range and power of Greek thought, which initiated the Western philosophical tradition. We will begin by exploring the origins of philosophy as found in myth (primarily Hesiod) and in the highly original speculation of the Pre-Socratic thinkers (such as Heraclitus and Parmenides). We will then focus on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, examining their transformations of these earlier traditions and their own divergent approaches to ethics and education. We will also consider the influences of Greek philosophy on later thought. 3 hrs. lect. PHL HIS EUR

PHIL 0302 Philosophy of Plato
In this class, we will explore the significance, influence, and development of Plato's thought, paying special attention to the form of the dramatic dialogue and topics such as Platonic love, rhetoric and politics, learning and recollection, and the theory of forms. We will begin with the early period (dialogues such as the Meno and the Apology) focused on the historical figure of Socrates, continue to the middle period (Symposium, Republic), in which Plato develops his own distinctive views; and conclude with the later period (Philebus, Parmenides) in which Plato suggests a critique of Socrates and his own earlier positions. (Previous course in philosophy or waiver) PHL EUR

PHIL 0303 Philosophy of Aristotle
In this class we will explore both the original breadth and the contemporary relevance of Aristotle's thought. We will read a diverse selection of his writings, beginning with ethical and political works, continuing to works on art and poetry, the soul, and nature, and concluding with logical and ontological works. We will ask why Aristotelian virtue ethics in particular has enjoyed a recent renaissance and generated special interest in Aristotle's ideas about the ethical role of friendship, the perceptive power of the emotions, and the different kinds of intelligence. (Previous course in philosophy or waiver.) PHL HIS EUR

PHIL 0420 Love and Friendship in Greek Thought
In this seminar we will examine the special role the ancient Greeks gave to love and friendship in the cultivation of the soul and the vision of the good life. Readings include: Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus on transforming physical eros into metaphysical; Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics Books 8 and 9 on friendship as parallel to justice and on the friend as "another self"; and Sophocles's Antigone on the tragic denial of love and friendship. PHL EUR

PSCI 0101 Introduction to Political Philosophy
This course focuses on some of the most important texts in the field of political philosophy:  Central issues concern the relationship between politics and philosophy, types of truth and forms of power, and generally, how a critical understanding of politics and the human condition is achieved.  Specific works have included:  Thucydides, History;Plato, Republic,Aristotle, Politics,Machiavelli, The Prince,Hobbes, Leviathan,Rousseau, Second Discourse;Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Mill, On Liberty,Marx, Communist Manifesto, Capital;Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy;and essays by Weber, Arendt, and Havel. 3 hrs. lect./disc. PHL SOC EUR

PSCI 0317 Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy
We will study some classic works in ancient and medieval political philosophy: Plato (Laws, Republic); Aristotle (Ethics, Politics); Cicero (Republic, Laws), Maimonides (Guide to the Perplexed), Aquinas (Summa Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles), Alfarabi (The Political Regime). 4 hrs. lect./disc. (PSCI 0101 or PSCI 0107 or by waiver) PHL SOC

PSCI 0409 Seminar on Political Philosophy: 20th Century Thought
In this seminar we will study a number of 20th century writings on, or bearing on, political philosophy.  Authors whose work will be represented are Max Weber, Leo Strauss, Chaim Perelman, Michael Oakeshott, Martha Nussbaum, Pierre Manent, Hans Jonas, Jurgen Habermas, John Finnis, and Isaiah Berlin.  Topics include scientific social science, history, values or the good, rhetoric and discourse, rights and liberalism, and natural law.  3 hrs. sem. PHL

RELI/CLAS 0162 The Formation of Judaism in Antiquity
In 586 BCE, Judah fell to Babylonia; in 638 CE, Byzantine Jerusalem surrendered to the Muslims.  During the centuries between these two important dates, Israelite culture transformed into "Judaism."  In this course we will examine early Jewish society from a variety of topical perspectives.  We will consider Hellenistic novellas and canonical works; see Jewish culture through the eyes of Greeks and Romans; consider sectarian movements, such as Samaritans, Essenes, and early Christian communities; discover the origins and art of the early synagogue; and learn about Judaism as it was lived by Jews throughout the ancient world. 3hr. lect. PHL HIS AAL OTH

RELI 0287 Greco-Roman Religions
This course examines the diversity of religious thought and practice in the Greco-Roman world. After a brief treatment of early Greek and Roman religions, it will focus on the Hellenistic, late Republic, and early Imperial periods. Topics to be considered include: adaptation of early Greek and Roman "myths," sacrificial practices, the emergence of "oriental" religions, the Imperial cult, and critiques of religion. 3 hrs. lect. PHL EUR

RELI 0387 Seminar on the Religions of Rome
This seminar will examine the public religions of the late Republic and early Empire, the private religions of Roman households, and the emergence of religions from the east-including Mithraism, Judaism, and Christianity. Readings will deal with both theology and practice, with a view to discovering what was common and what unique. Primary readings will be drawn from histories, drama, novels, satires, philosophical treatises, and inscriptions; secondary readings will treat individual religious traditions and attempts to understand the period as a whole. Prior study of the history or religions of the period strongly recommended. HIS PHL