Autumn

Readings include tragedies of Seneca the Younger along with their classical Greek precedents and their early modern English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish successors. Students taking this course as a Latin course will read at least one tragedy of Seneca in the original. Students taking it as a Comparative Literature course will read at least one non-English tragedy in the original language. Students taking it as as a Classical Civilization or Fundamentals course may read all the plays in English translation.

Readings concentrate on works of Roman prose, especially Cicero. The aim is to improve reading skills, discuss key concepts in Roman history and culture, and study problems of grammar as necessary. 

This course introduces the fundamentals of the Latin language, and the Ancient Roman culture in which it developed. The focus is on developing interpretive reading ability, but other language skills are also employed to enhance the learning of vocabulary, culture, and grammar. This course is intended for students with no previous experience in Latin.

In this course we will read the Greek text of Philo’s de opificio mundi, with other brief excerpts here and there in the Philonic corpus. Our aim will be to use this treatise to elucidate the thought and character of one of the most prolific theological writers of the first century. We will seek to understand Philo as a Greek author and the nature and origins of his style, Philo as a proponent of middle Platonism, and Philo as a Jew in the context of Alexandrian Judaism. We will also examine his use of the allegorical method as an exegetical tool, and its implications for pagan, Jewish and early Christian approaches to sacred texts.

Now that you can read Greek pretty well, this course takes a step back to look at the system as a whole. What are the major ways in which Greek syntax is different from English (and Latin)? How does the case system work? Are there really twenty ways to use the dative? What more can we say about tense and aspect, and how do you go about making a linguistic argument? And what is the difference with philology, anyway? We are fortunate that two new grammars of Greek (one in English, one in Spanish) have recently come out. We will look closely at what has changed in Greek linguistics between Smyth and the new Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, and we will do our own corpus-based research. PQ: one year of Greek or consent of instructor; recommended for MA students. Students will present in class and write a final paper.

We will read the entire play, focusing on syntax, religious ideas and scansion of the iambic trimeter.

We read Plato's text with a view to understanding both the grammatical constructions and the artistry of the language. We also give attention to the dramatic qualities of the dialogue. Grammatical exercises reinforce the learning of syntax.

This course introduces the basic rules of Ancient Greek.  Course work involves reading practice, presentational writing, and formal study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Ancient Greek text. Students who complete this course will be able to understand simple sentences, and often to combine them into larger units of meaning.  

The corpus of Greek literature transmitted in medieval manuscripts presents a notable lacuna in the field of poetry. However, the discovery of the Egyptian papyri in the 19th century and after have provided a new entry to this lost literary corpus. These discoveries open interesting questions about the formation of the canon and about how we have understood and misunderstood ancient literature. This course will approach the corpus of lost and found Greek poetry from two points of view: on the one hand, that of its textual and material transmission, and on the other, that of its literary value. It will include technical training in papyrology, a general overview of textual tradition, and discussions of specific poetic and scholarly traditions, including (potentially) that of Homer, Archilochus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Simonides, Timotheus, Menander, Bacchylides, Callimachus and Posidippus.  

How are democracies established and maintained? What are their advantages and disadvantages with respect to stability, security, liberty, equality, and justice? Why do democracies decline and die? This course addresses these questions by examining democracies, republics, and popular governments in Ancient and Medieval/ Renaissance Europe. We will read and discuss primary texts from, and social scientific analyses of, Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic, and the Florentine commune.