2019-20

28319 Ephron Seminar. "Imagining Nature among the Greeks"?

The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of the historical roots of the concept of nature (Greek physis), while being attentive to the diversity of ancient Greek thought about nature even in its early history. In the texts we will read, numerous notions of “nature” can be discerned: for instance, nature as the physical form of an individual, nature as an underlying reality of someone or something, nature as an autonomous thing distinct from human art and from the supernatural, nature as the all-encompassing natural order, or nature as the natural environment. The conceptual and ideological work done by these conceptions also varies wildly. Furthermore, the images associated with the concepts are similarly diverse, ranging from human bodies to magical plants and cosmic spheres, and with a comparable repertory of conceptual and ideological purposes. Yet discussions of the concept of nature typically deal almost exclusively in abstractions: this is true, for instance, of the standard study of physis written over a century ago as a U of C dissertation, which we will read in excerpt. Throughout this class, we will consider not only the explicit and abstract conceptualization of nature, but also a number of related images—especially in the form of metaphors, analogies and personifications—that ultimately fed into the literary and philosophical depictions of nature in the long traditions that have followed. 

2019-20 Winter

CLCV 26419/CLAS 36419 Magic in the Ancient Mediterranean

(ANCM 46419)

In this course we will mainly focus on the magical rituals (e.g. curses, necromancy, erotic spells, amulets and divination) practiced in the ancient Mediterranean beginning with the Greeks in archaic times and ending with the fall of the Roman Empire, with some discussion of Near Eastern and Egyptian influence at the beginning and Jewish and Christian reception at the end.  Course requirements include a midterm and final and the option to write a paper.

2019-20 Spring

CLCV 26119/CLAS 36119 Muses and Saints: Poetry Within the Christian Traditions

(BIBL 33000, RLST 23000)

This course provides an introduction to the poetic traditions of early Christians and the intersection between poetic literature, theology, and biblical interpretation. Students will gain familiarity with the literary context of the formative centuries of Christianity with a special emphasis on Greek and Syriac Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean from the fourth through the sixth centuries. While theology is often taught through analytical prose, theological reflection in late antiquity and early Byzantium was frequently done in poetic genres. This course introduces students to the major composers and genres of these works as well as the various recurrent themes that occur within this literature. Through reading poetry from liturgical and monastic contexts, students will explore how the biblical imaginations of Christians were formed beyond the confines of canonical scripture. How is poetry a mode of “doing” theology? What habits of biblical interpretation and narration does one encounter in this poetry? This course exposes students to a variety of disciplinary frameworks for studying early Christian texts including history, religious studies, feminist and literary critique, as well as theology. Students will also analyze medieval and modern poetry with religious themes in light of earlier traditions to reflect on the poetry and the religious imagination more broadly. Open to undergraduate and graduate students; Graduate students may choose to attend weekly translation group.

E. Galgay Walsh
2019-20 Spring

CLCV 26017/CLAS 36017 Gods and God in Roman Asia Minor

(HIST 2/30308, NELC DIV)

Roman Asia Minor in the Imperial period provides an extraordinary case of religious plurality and creativity. Pagans, Jews, Christians, even already Christian heretics, interacted in the same space. The frontiers between Jewish and Christian communities were, at least at the beginning, more fluid than was long thought. But even the frontiers between paganism and Judaism or Christianity were certainly not as rigid as was later imagined. This does not mean, however, that there were no tensions between the various groups. This class will examine the various aspects of this religious diversity as well as the social and political factors that may explain the religious equilibrium prevailing at that time in Asia Minor. Course Requirements: two papers, two quizzes. 

2019-20 Winter

CLCV 25808/CLAS 35808 Roman Law

( HIST 213004/31004, SIGN 26017, LLSO 21212)

The course has two chief aims. First, to investigate the Roman law as a topic of historical inquiry and to chart its development over time; to study its implication in political and demographic changes in the society it sought to map; and to raise problems of evidence and method in grappling with the sources of knowledge that survive to us. Second, to consider some areas of legal doctrine and legal practice both in Rome itself and in the communities over which Rome ruled.

2019-20 Spring

CLCV 25507/CLAS 35507 Ancient Greek Mystery Cults

This course will examine the major mystery cults of the Greek and Roman worlds, beginning with the Eleusinian and Samothracian mysteries and ending with the cults of Isis and Mithras.

2019-20 Spring

CLCV 25319/CLAS 35319 Gender and Sexuality in Late Antiquity: Precursors and Legacies

(BIBL 42919, RLST 22910, GNSE 22910/42910)
E. Galgay Walsh
2019-20 Autumn

CLCV 25219/CLAS 35219 Art of Rhetoric from Aristotle-Cicero

(LLSO 25219)

Rhetoric was the supreme technology of the Greco-Roman world, and the principal focus of formal schooling up to the end of antiquity and beyond.  The readings for the course show how the psychology of persuasion was reduced to a system, how the system was adapted to political structures of the very different societies in which it flourished, and how orators put it into practice: Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Cicero’s On the Orator and Brutus, and selected speeches of Demosthenes, Cicero, and others. 

2019-20 Spring

CLCV 25019/CLAS 24519 Classical Reception Studies: Key Texts and Ideas

( KNOW 24519)

Classical Reception Studies: Key Texts and Ideas Antiquity never really ended. Ancient texts, images, and ideas have continued traveling widely - from Baghdad to Toledo, from Rome to Tokyo - and they are still with us today in our daily lives, not just in literature and art but also in politics and propaganda. How can we study and understand the continued presence of ancient Greece and Rome? One of the still dominant approaches, which has emerged since the 1990s, is 'classical reception studies'. While this label might suggest a homogenous field of study, the field's methods and theoretical positions are quite diverse. This seminar works towards a better understanding of the different theoretical orientations in classical reception scholarship. We will discuss a selection of key texts of classical reception studies by, among others, Charles Martindale, Simon Goldhill, and Edith Hall. How do they conceptualize 'reception'? What is understood by 'the classical'? What traditions of research and thought do they respond to? And how do different approaches to reception relate to ideas about classical 'influence', 'tradition', and 'legacy'? The course is open to graduate students from various humanities disciplines interested in the many ways in which ancient texts, images, and ideas have been transmitted, interpreted, and reused in later periods. All texts will be made available. 

H. Lamers
2019-20 Spring

CLCV 24519/CLAS 34519 Dreams in the Ancient World

Dreams belong to the universals of human existence as human beings have always dreamt and will continue to dream across time and cultures. The questions where do dreams come from and how to unravel a dream have always preoccupied the human mind. In this course we will focus on dreams in the Greco-Roman and Greco-Egyptian cultural environments. We will cover dreams from three complementary perspectives: dreams as experience, dream interpretation and dream theory. The reading materials will include: (a) a selection of dream narratives from different sources, literary texts as well as documentary accounts of dreams; (b) texts which document the forms and contexts of dream interpretation in the Greco-Roman and Greco-Egyptian cultures and (c) texts which represent attempts to approach dreams from a more general perspective by among others explaining their genesis and defining dream-types.

2019-20 Autumn
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