We read the text of the historian in Greek and contextualize his contribution to the classical period, with some discussion of his perspectives on the past, people, and artifacts he records.
GREK 20300 preferred
This class on Euripides’ Medea will work in lockstep with an upcoming production at the Court Theatre of the Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, a Medea that will be set in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen, which examines the tragedy of the American immigration system through the story of one family from Mexico. We will discuss the construction of the play through its performance, both in its original setting and each time it is adapted and staged, and will examine the circumstances of immigration in American portrayed by Luis Alfaro, who will be involved in the course as well as the production. We will attend rehearsals and talk to the director, crew and performers of the play as the production takes shape and will also attend the play at the end of the term. Readings will include Medea by Euripides, as well as a number of adaptions and critical texts. (No knowledge of Greek is required for the course, but those who wish to take it as a Greek course will have additional reading assignments in Greek.)
No knowledge of Greek is required for the course, but those who wish to take it as a Greek course will have additional reading assignments in Greek.
Lucian of Samosata (b. approx. AD 120), like many authors of the New Testament, wrote in Greek but was born and grew up in an Aramaic speaking community. His idiosyncratic literary output comprises around 70 prose pieces which reflect a engaging synthesis of comedy, satire, popular philosophy, and theological musing. Many of his works present a savvy commentary on his cultural and religious environment, and especially enjoyable is his mirthful abandon in identifying religious quackery and the victims of it. As one of the most important and prolific pagan authors of the early centuries AD, Lucian's works form an important background to the early Christian movement, both in his direct references to Christians (in the Peregrinus and Alexander) and in his sensitive description of the vast religious amalgam in which early Christianity grew.
The class will focus on daily close reading and analysis of Lucian's Greek and discussion of his ideas. We will read the first 20 or so of the Dialogues of the Gods, Lover of Lies, Alexander the False Prophet, and the Death of Perigrinus. These works represent a sampling of genres in which Lucian is at his best: mythic paraphrase and parody and religious and social satire.
What is the Iliad about? Although the poem famously announces its theme to be “the wrath of Achilles,” the first three books of the epic repeatedly expand and shift the poem’s scope, altering the audience’s perspective and sympathies. In this course, we will read in Greek the first three books of the Iliad, with an eye to the poem’s multiple “beginnings.” Our aim will be to explore how these layered openings set up the Iliad’s manifold and rich narrative.
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.
Greek 20300 or equivalent Latin Courses
Mastering Greek is an intensive Greek language course for pre-professional Hellenists. Do you find yourself fudging accents sometimes? Wondering about the use of infinitives versus participles? Pondering the future less vivid? Have you found yourself speaking Greek while looking in the mirror? This course will help you review Attic Greek from the level of the word to the short paragraph. Recommended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, especially those who aspire to teach Greek. Assignments will include extensive written homework in Attic Greek, analytic exercises, creative writing exercises, as well as regular quizzes in order to advance to strong, active mastery of the language.
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.
Greek 20300 or equivalent Latin Courses
This is the second quarter of a two-part course that will cover the long life of ancient Greek poetry and prose, touching on many genres in their first forms: epic and hymns, history, oratory, and philosophical dialogues, poetry that is theogonic, iambic, elegiac, lyric, epinician, tragic, comedic, and dithyrambic. We will seek to discuss key moments, passages, and poems that give us entry to larger literary questions and themes. We will pay particular attention to details of genre, dialect, and meter, while also being attentive to the history of scholarship that attends on these traditions. We will continue to read a lot of Greek.
This is the first quarter of a two-part course that will cover the long life of ancient Greek poetry and prose, touching on many genres in their first forms: epic and hymns, history, oratory, and philosophical dialogues, poetry that is theogonic, iambic, elegiac, lyric, epinician, tragic, comedic, and dithyrambic. We will seek to discuss key moments, passages, and poems that give us entry to larger literary questions and themes. We will pay particular attention to details of genre, dialect, and meter, while also being attentive to the history of scholarship that attends on these traditions. We will read a lot of Greek.
In this course, we will read mostly Plato, also some Aristotle.
