Department of Classics

Department of Classics
Course Descriptions - Fall 2008
9-16-08
Classics 36 – Ancient Epic Narrative
Dr. Gallucci, TR, 5-6:15pm, Psych. 1924
36H: T, 1-1:50, HSSB 4065
Description: Description: Students and instructor in this course will read and analyze the Iliad
and Odyssey of Homer. We will attempt to reach an understanding of the epics through an
examination of their historical, social and literary contexts, the interplay between structure and
meaning and the effects of literary allusion. We will explore the “divine machinery” of epic, the
relationship of men and gods, and motivations of the heroic figures and will discuss ancient modes
of narration in general, simile, and other forms of ornament or illumination, and ancient modes of
argument (praise, blame, proof, rebuttal; consolation; exhortation, etc.)
Mid-term; final; optional paper; no knowledge of Greek or Latin required.
Texts:
The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. by Sandars (Penguin)
Homer’s Iliad, Stanley Lombardo (Hackett)
Homer, Odyssey, tr. Stanley Lombardo (Hackett)
The Aeneid, Vergil, trans. by S. Lind (Indiana University Press)
Trojan War, Strauss (Simon and Schuster)
Classics 39 – Women in Classical Literature
Dr. Gallucci, TR 3:30-4:45, Psych. 1902
Description: Study of the portrayal of women in selected Greek and Latin authors from the
seventh century B.C. to the second century A.D. and this portrayal’s relationship to the
literary, historical, and social backgrounds of the works concerned.
Texts:
Oresteia, Aeschylus (Oxford)
Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra (Oxford)
Homer, Odyssey, tr. Stanley Lombardo (Hackett)
Vergil, Aeneid, tr. Lind (Hackett)
Women in Classical World, ed. Fantham (Oxford)
Classics 40-Mythology
Professor Erickson, MWF 9-9:50, IV Theater 1
Classics 40H: M 1-1:50, HSSB 4202
Description: Introduction to the principal myths of ancient Greece and the ways in which
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Texts:
Classical Myth, Barry Powell (Prentice Hall/Pearson)
Homeric Hymns, Apostolos Athanassakis (Johns Hopkins)
Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, Shield,, Apostolos Athanasakis (Johns Hopkins)
Homer, Odyssey (Penguin)
Euripides, Euripides V, Three Tragedies (Univ. of Chicago)
Aeschylus, Aeschylus I, Oresteia (Univ. of Chicago)
Homer, Iliad, Fagles (Penguin)
Honors Section:
Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths? Paul Veyne (Univ. of Chicago)
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Maureen Kovacs(Stanford Univ.)
Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Jean-Pierre Vernant (Zone Books)
Pausanias, Guide to Greece, Volume I: Central Greece (Penguin)
Callimachus, Hymns, Epigrams, Selected Fragments (Johns Hopkins)
Classics 50 – Intro to Classical Archaeology
Dr. Mazza, MWF 11-11:50, HSSB 1174
Description: Examines the techniques and methods of classical archaeology as revealed
through an examination of the major monuments and artifacts of the Greco-Roman world
from prehistory to the Late Empire.
Texts:
Classical Archaeology, Alcock/Osborne (Wiley-Blackwell)
Ancient Cities, Charles Gate (Routledge)
Classics 130- Comedy and Satire
Professor Dutsch, MWF 9-9:50, HSSB 1174
Description: The comic playwrights, such as Aristophanes and Plautus, and satirists, such as
Lucian and Juvenal, in English translation.
Texts:
Aristophanes, Complete Plays (Penguin)
Plautus, Five Comedies (Hackett)
Classics 180A – Advanced Study in Classical Civilization
Dr. Gallucci, TR 9:30-10:45, HSSB 4065
Description: Perhaps the most famous story in Greek mythology is the tale of Troy.
Generations of students (and movie-makers) have read the story of how Troy was destroyed
by Greek forces led by King Agamemnon of Mycenae and of the exploits of the various
heroes in Homer’s Iliad. In this class we will examine the archaeological record of Troy
which was first excavated in the 1870’s by Heinrich Schliemann. We will also read the Iliad,
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Odyssey, and various research articles, looking at the relationship of Troy and the Trojan
War to history. Some of the questions that scholars have discussed include: Was there
really a Trojan War or was it just made up? If Homer is composing four to five hundred
years after the fact (in ca. 800-700 BC), how accurate can his story be? Can oral traditions
go back this far in time? What is the relationship of the world Homer describes in the Iliad
to that of the time period he is describing, late 13 th century Bronze Age Greece. For
example, are the military practices and weapons Homer mentions accurate reflections of
those of the late Bronze Age? Were the gods of Homer’s Iliad in existence in the late
Bronze Age? Was the late Bronze Age an age of kings as described by Homer? To answer
such questions, we look at the history and nature of selected Bronze Age kingdoms of the
eastern Mediterranean, investigate comparative oral traditions (especially recent
Anthropological studies) and epic poetry (e.g., European and Near Eastern epic), determine
how accurately historical information can be passed down orally over several centuries, and
compare the archaeological and historical relationship of late Bronze Age Greece and Dark
Age Greece (1100-750 BC) with the world described by Homer.
Texts:
Homer, Iliad (Richmond Lattimore translation) (Univ. of Chicago)
Homer, Odyssey (Richmond Lattimore translation) (Harper-Collins)
Epic of Gilgamesh, Sandars (Penguin)
The Trojan War, A New History, Strauss (Simon and Schuster)
In Search of the Trojan War, Michael Wood (Univ. of .Calif. Press)
The Trojan War, Carol Thomas and Craig Conant's (Univ. of Oklahoma)
Classics 211 – History of Greek and Latin Literature
Various Professors. Coordinator: Professor Dunn. M 4-5:50; HSSB 4065
tba
Classics 235 – Textual Criticism
Professor Renehan, W 3:30-6:20pm, HSSB 4065
Description: A graduate- level, "hands on" introduction to the principles and practice of
textual criticism. The chief continuous text to be examined will be the corpus Theognideum
(including some exposure to the most important manuscript) but specimen examples from a
variety of authors will also be studied.
Text:
Delectus ex Iambis et Elegis Graecis, M. L. West (Oxford)
Greek 1- Elementary Greek
Mr. Souther, MTWRF, 2-2:50, HSSB 1211
Description: Greek 1 is the first of a 3-quarter sequence in beginning Ancient Greek. No
knowledge of Greek is assumed. Fundamentals of grammar and syntax will be taught in
conjunction with reading of elementary texts.
Text:
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New Intro to Greek, Third Edition, Chase and Phillips (Harvard)
Greek 11 – Modern Greek
Dr. Skapoulli, MTWRF 2-2:50, HSSB 1215
Description: Greek 11 is the first of a 3-quarter sequence in beginning MODERN Greek. No
knowledge of Greek is assumed.
Text/tapes:
Greek Today: A Course in the Modern Language and Culture
Greek Today Workbook, Editors: Bien; Gondicas; Rassias; Karanika; Yiannakou-Bien.
Greek 100 – Greek Prose
Professor Dunn, MWF 12-12:50, HSSB 4201
Description: Reading and analysis of Attic prose writers such as Xenophon, Plato to develop
reading skills and introduce study of the style and thought of historical, rhetorical and/or
philosophical writers.
Texts:
Smyth, Greek Grammar (Triliteral/Harvard)
Freeman, Greek Readers for Schools (Bolchazy)
Greek 173/273-Hellenistic Poets
Professor Dunn, MW 2-3:20, HSSB 4065
Description: Introduction to poetry of the Alexandrian period, normally concentrating upon a
single major poet such as Apollonius Rhodius, Callimachus, or Theocritus. Reading, translation and
discussion, with attention to language, meter, generic innovation, cultural context, and formative
influence upon Latin literature.
Text:
Theocritus: Selected Poems, Dover (Bolchazy)
Latin 1 - Elementary Latin, 001, Professor Lindheim, MTWRF, 10:00-10:50, HSSB 1231
Latin 1 - Elementary Latin, 002, Staff, MTWRF, 11:00-11:50, HSSB 1223
Latin 1 – Elementary Latin, 003, Staff, MTWRF, 12:00-12:50, HSSB 1210
Description: Course will cover the fundamentals of Latin forms and grammar.
For all sections: Texts:
Wheelock’s Latin (Harper)
Wheelock’s Latin Workbook (Harper)
Thirty-Eight Latin Stories, Groton and May (Bolchazy)
English Grammar for Students of Latin, Goldman and Szymanski (Olivia Hill)
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Latin 100-Introduction to Prose
Staff, MWF 1-1:50, SH 1431
Description: Translation and analysis of Latin prose authors, including Caesar and Cicero,
combined with review of Latin grammar and syntax.
Texts:
Latin 103: Medieval Latin
Professor English, MW 3:30-4:45, Girvetz 1112
Description: The course will present the basic points of Medieval Latin grammar, syntax,
and vocabulary. Students should have already have a basic knowledge of classical Latin. We
will translate a variety of prose texts, some poetry, and a few exemplary texts from
Theology/Philosophy or notarial documents, all from between 300 CE and 1600 CE. Students
will be able to suggest texts fro translation. Although we will discuss and compare
particular points of Medieval grammar and usage with classical forms, the emphasis of the
course will be on translating. Students will be graded on quizzes and their translations in
class. There will be a take-home final examination.
Texts:
Reading Medieval Latin, Keith Sidwell (Cambridge University Press)
Wheelock's Latin, 6th edition (Harper), as a reference tool
A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin, John F. Collins (Catholic University of American Press)
Latin 120/220 – Sallust
Professor Morstein-Marx, TR 11-12:20, HSSB 4065
Description: Sallust: Bellum Catilinae: Sallust on the "Fall of the Roman Republic."
Historical as well as historiographical issues will be emphasized. One brief presentation (for
graduate students); midterm and final exams; paper optional.
Text:
C. Sallusti Crispi, Catilinia, Iugurtha Historiarum Fragmenta Selecta etc., ed by L. D.
Reynolds (Oxford, c 1991)
Latin 135/235 – Vergil
Professor Lindheim, TR 2-3:20, HSSB 4065
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Description: Reading, translation, and discussion of style and meter of Vergil's epic poem
Aeneid, as well as his Georgics and Eclogues.
Texts:
Vergil, Opera (Oxford) (978 019 8146537)
Virgil, Aeneid I-VI (IPM) (978 1853994968)
Virgil, Aeneid, VII-XII (IPM) (978 1 85399 5002)
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