Undergraduate

This course will examine the iambic, elegiac, lyric, and epinician genres of archaic and classical Greece, including the poetry of Sappho, Archilochus, Corinna, Bacchylides, Pindar, and many other. We will focus on questions of performance, genre, and context; on the texts’ relationships to each other and other ancient poetic traditions; and to a broad range of cultural, social, and political aspects of the archaic and classical Greek world(s), including sex and sexuality, class, gender, and other forms of identity, and the relationship of the individual to the community. The mythological, dramatic, and formal poetic aspects of these poems will be explored as well as questions of meter and dialect.

Introduction to Attic Greek introduces students to the fundamentals of the ancient Greek language through which students may access the works of Homer, Sappho, Plato, Thucydides, and Sophocles (among countless others).   This course represents the first step.  Course work involves the reading and writing of Attic Greek, alongside the development of vocabulary and the formal study of grammar.  Students encounter authentic texts throughout the course.  Successful completion of this course will prepare students for GREK 102. This course is appropriate for students who have not previously studied ancient Greek. 

Plutarch’s biographies and his writing on literature and morality stand in a long tradition. In this class we will read passages from Plutarch in Greek and compare them to similar texts, such as the relevant sections of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Poetics. The aim is to evaluate Plutarch’s contribution to a literary critical tradition while also comparing his Greek to that of his predecessors.

Martial’s epigrams can be funny, obscene, groveling, literary, outrageous, illuminating, and more.  In this course we’ll read a selection from the many volumes he wrote, starting with the fascinating Liber de Spectaculis describing apparent snuff plays. We will be using the epigrams as a window into different aspects of first century imperial Roman culture, including doctors, criminal justice, mythology, misogyny, city life, intertextuality, sexuality, obscenity, politics, and more.  Please be aware that he can be very vulgar.

Tacitus made his debut as a historian with the Histories, a grim but vivid account of Roman imperial rule from Galba to Domitian.  The focus of the course is book 1, which describes the succession of coups and revolts that made 69 AD the “Year of the Four Emperors”.  It provides a rare opportunity to see how Tacitus structures his narrative in comparison with parallel sources, and to appreciate the bold effects which make his style uniquely Tacitean.”

Plautus' Pseudolus is read in Latin, along with secondary readings that explain the social context and the theatrical conventions of Roman comedy. Class meetings are devoted less to translation than to study of the language, plot construction, and stage techniques at work in the Pseudolus.

The course continues the work of grammatical extension and consolidation. We shall cover a variety of poetry and prose by great Latin stylists from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, including Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter of Blois, Petrarch, and Dante. The authors chosen will all be significant for their efforts to reflect the highest classical standards.

The course continues to consolidate the foundations extended in the autumn course based on readings from Cicero. We shall cover a variety of poetry and prose from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, including selections from Boethius, Bede, Lupus of Ferrières, Nithard, and others. The authors chosen will all be significant for their efforts to reflect the highest classical standards.

Immerse yourself in real writings from Ancient Rome, and the long subsequent tradition of Latin literature. This course involves reading selections from a major monument of Roman literature (for instance, Vergil's Aeneid). There will be discussion of the relationship between language and literary art, the legacy of the work or works studied, and study of grammar and vocabulary as necessary.

Immerse yourself in real writings from Ancient Rome, and the long subsequent tradition of Latin literature. Readings this quarter concentrate on selections of Roman poetry (for instance, by Ovid). The class involves discussion of poetic language, the literary and historical context of Roman poetry, and study of grammar and vocabulary as necessary.