Undergraduate

This course will examine the application of ancient Greek political philosophy to practical activity and individual cases through the study of a number of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, along with a selection of Plutarch’s sources from philosophy, oratory, and historiography. Discussions will consider Plutarch’s treatment of questions such as “what is justice?”, “do the means justify the ends?” and “what kind of knowledge is required for political virtue?” Readings will fall into three main segments: first, Plutarch’s analysis of the good and the truth with an eye to his reading of Plato and its application to practical politics; second, his account of virtue, especially in relation to Aristotle; and third, his assessment of the Athenian and Spartan regimes, with comparisons of his thought and the writings of Xenophon and Thucydides. In writing assignments, students will engage in the careful interpretation of Plutarch’s text, and reflect on the possibilities and shortcomings of his methods. Interested students may attend translation sessions on selections from course readings in Greek or Latin. K.Weeda. Autumn.

This course examines the phonological and morphological development of the Latin language from Indo-European to Vulgar Latin.  That development is studied both for its own sake and as a point of departure for introducing linguistic concepts useful for the analysis of other layers of language and of aspects of literary texts.  Discussion of major topics in phonology and morphology will alternate with close examination of sample or otherwise relevant texts and lexical families.  Major topics are: the principles of historical and comparative linguistics; the development of the Latin sound inventory; Latin and its sister languages; the creation of the Latin nominal and verbal systems; (some of) the varieties of classical Latin; and the influence of Greek on Latin. B. Krostenko. Autumn.

We shall read extensively in Latin from the Satires of Juvenal.  We shall focus on language, poetic technique, and understanding the text (also with the help of early Latin-language commentaries).  M. Allen. Spring.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–44 BC) was the most accomplished orator of the Roman Republic.  Among the most fascinating of his speeches are the three “Caesarian” speeches delivered to Julius Caesar on behalf of persons who had opposed Caesar in the civil war.  In the speeches Cicero, in many different ways, uses his hard-won rhetorical and literary skills, practiced over a lifetime in lawsuits, political debates, and philosophizing, not merely to speak on behalf of the immediate subjects of the speeches, but also to suggest social and political roles for Caesar himself.  Caesar’s place in the Roman world is as much a topic of the three speeches as the immediate issue of each speech.  The chief purpose of this class is to reach an understanding of the basic issues of each speech and the roles that Cicero scripts for Caesar in them. B. Krostenko. Autumn.

Tertullian was the first to attribute the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews to Barnabas, and that ascription found favor with no less an ancient figure as Jerome, and even with notable scholars of the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries, such as Albrecht Ritschl and Friedrich Blass. Although no one can know who wrote it, there are fruitful literary and thematic parallels between the Epistle that bears the name Barnabas and the canonical Hebrews, including their critique of Judaism and their interpretatio Christiana of the Hebrew Bible, with particular regard to Levitical institutions and the temple. We will read thoroughly the Greek text of each treatise with focus on the language and style of the two texts, their relation to Hellenistic Judaism, and their respective treatments of Hebrew Bible/Septuagintal themes. D. Martinez.  Winter.

In this course we will read book 1 of Thucydides, his description of the run-up to the Peloponnesian War, in Greek. We will pay attention to Thucydides' style and approach to historiography, sinking our teeth into this difficult but endlessly fascinating text.

We will read in Greek substantial parts of three of Aristophanes‘ plays and two of Menander’s. We will discuss and analyze various aspects of the evolution of Greek comedy, textual tradition, the language of comedy and its political background. Coursework will include translation as well as secondary readings. S. Torallas Tovar. Spring

This class will read selections from the poetry of the Hellenistic period, especially the hymns of Callimachus, the pastoral poetry of Theocritus, and the epic parody “The Battle of the Frogs and Mice.” Alongside these Hellenistic texts we will read some of their poetic predecessors (Homer, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, choral and monadic lyric), with an eye to the Hellenistic poets’ interest in poetic form, self-positioning, and play. E. Austin. Autumn.

Cicero famously called history the “schoolmistress of life.” This course explores how ancient and early modern authors – in particular, Livy, Plutarch and Machiavelli – used the lives and actions of great individuals from the Greek and Roman past to establish models of political behavior for their own day and for posterity. Such figures include Romulus, Brutus, Camillus, Agathocles, Nabis, Cleomenes, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, Julius Caesar, and Augustus. We will consider how their actions are submitted to praise or blame, presented as examples for imitation or avoidance, and examine how the comparisons and contrasts established among the different historical individuals allow new models and norms to emerge. No one figure can provide a definitive model. Illustrious individuals help define values even when we mere mortals cannot aspire to reach their level of virtue or depravity. Course open to undergraduates and graduate students. Readings will be in English. Students wishing to read Latin, Greek, or Italian will receive support from the professors. M. Lowrie, J. McCormick. Winter

This course centers the objects of the ancient Greek world, from prehistory to the Hellenistic period, as avenues for exploring the practice, history, and motivations of the discipline of Greek archaeology. From the mundane to the spectacular, we will closely consider twenty things – pots, statues, coins, knives, bones, inscriptions, among others – whose compelling if fragmentary biographies reveal how archaeologists reconstruct and explain ancient social lives. Discussions will interrogate histories of object analysis, identification, and interpretation; schemes of periodization and categorization; theories of gender, class, economy, politics, and religion; developments in technologies and aesthetics; the intersections of artifact discovery and museum or market acquisitions; and the making of Greek archaeology within the wider discipline.  C. Kearns. Winter.