| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|
| CLASSIC 37A | EARLY ROME | KARANIKA, A. | This course is a survey of some of the highlights of Roman civilization from its 8th century BCE beginnings to the civil wars of the first century BCE. We will look not only at political history, but also at social history, literature, art and architecture, and religion. The course will consider a number of questions, including the various factors underwriting Rome's rise to global dominion. We will also consider how the Romans were able to develop stable principles of government, and how these principles were eventually transformed by the actions of figures like the bloodthirsty dictator Sulla. Although Rome was, like America, a relatively inclusive mix of different ethnic groups and peoples, it maintained a fundamental cultural continuity throughout much of its history. The Roman achievement is undeniably impressive, but it was not without a great cost in human suffering. We will examine the Roman system of slavery (which was non-racial in character), the patriarchal nature of Roman society, and the plight of the poor and underprivileged. In brief, beside providing the students with a solid factual basis for Roman history, the course will also identify some of the issues that have made Roman civilization an abiding fascination, a source of both admiration and loathing for almost all subsequent ages, including our own.
Classics 37A is the first part of the Roman Civilization series (37ABC), which satisfies the
Humanistic Inquiry Breadth requirement. Same as History 37A |
| CLASSIC 45A | THE GODS | PANTELIA, M. | Classics 45 is a three-quarter sequence on Classical Mythology meant to provide an introduction to the most important myths of the Greeks and Romans. Classics 45A is the first part of the sequence and focuses on "divine" myths, namely myths about the Olympian deities. The online course covers the same materials taught in the regular Classics 45A normally offered in the Fall quarter of the academic year. A standard textbook will be used as a general reference. All lectures and other class materials will be available online through the EEE system. There will be no in-class meetings and students will be expected to keep up with the reading assignments, complete all activities and online quizzes and participate in class forums and general discussions. In addition to online exams, there will be a comprehensive final to be taken on campus during finals week. |
| CLASSIC 45A | THE GODS | PANTELIA, M. | Classics 45A is the first part of a three-quarter course on Classical Mythology. This class will be an introduction to the most important Greek and Roman myths, their historical and religious context, various interpretations and influence upon ancient and modern art, film and literature. Some of the topics we will discuss are: the creation of the universe, relations between gods and mortals, gender and sexuality, love, marriage, death and afterlife. We will use a standard textbook, but we will also read selected passages from primary sources such as Hesiod's Theogony, Ovid's Metamorphoses and selections from Greek tragedy. The course will make regular use of ancillary visual materials, especially computer resources. The grade for this course will be based on a combination of multiple-choice quizzes and short essay exams. |
| CLASSIC 160 | ILIAD IN LIT & FILM | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | Homer's Iliad, one of the foundational texts of the western literary canon, has influenced artists of all stripes throughout the millennia. Its graphic depictions of warlike violence, capricious gods, heroes and cowards, and its snapshots of domestic life, death, and the quest for immortality have moved and inspired readers across time and space. In this course, we will read most of the poem and three contemporary literary adaptations of it, Simone Weil's philosophical-theological essay The Iliad, or The Poem of Force (1940-1), Crista Wolf's novel Cassandra (1984) and David Malouf's novel Ransom (2009). We will also watch Wolfgang Petersen's film Troy (2004). Stress will fall on the poetics of adaptation and reception. The grade will be determined on the basis of class-participation, two exams, an oral presentation, and a final paper. |
| CLASSIC 170 | DAILY LIFE IN ROME | STAFF | Topics in Classical Civilization. |
| CLASSIC 220 | CONCEPTS OF WORK | KARANIKA, A. | The notion of labor is neither stable nor precise. It has undergone shift and transformation in meaning in various times and cultures. The main focus of this course is to examine the changes in the construction of the concept of work from early Greece to the Middle ages. The anthropology of work as expressed in our earliest sources often evolved around questions regarding the aversion to work or conversely the joy that derives out it, interwoven with notions of productivity. Some of the earliest texts in different cultures present work as a ‘necessary evil’ that man cannot escape. In late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the classical idea of leisure gave way to work as an ideal in its own and an indispensable tool to overcome idleness and vice. As primary texts we consider selections from a variety of texts (to be read in English translations) that include the Hesiodic corpus (Works and Days), Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Chaucer. The aim of this course is to go beyond tracing literary and philosophical trends and engage our ancient and medieval sources in an approach that seeks to see possible reflections or even social responses from the viewpoint of socio-economic history. In other words, this seminar seeks to provoke further work that explores how e.g. a possible dominance of the idealization of leisure or work, accordingly, interacts with major historical, social and cultural changes. How is the notion of work ‘manipulated’ or adjusted to fit in specific social, gender or religious parameters? |
| CLASSIC 220 | LUCAN'S BELLUM CIVILE | ZISSOS, P. | This course will examine Lucan’s Bellum Civile, an unfinished epic from the Age of Nero on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. We will consider the poem both from the point of view of the epic tradition (in particular its self-positioning against Virgil’s Aeneid) and in light of the historiographical sources used by Lucan in constructing his narrative. Attention will also be paid to Lucan’s language and style, his frequent recourse to elements of Stoic philosophy, and the reception of the Bellum Civile in later literature and art. |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | ZISSOS, P. | |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | PORTER, J. | |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | PANTELIA, M. | |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | KARANIKA, A. | |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | |
| CLASSIC 280 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | CLAXTON, C. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | CLAXTON, C. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | KARANIKA, A. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | PANTELIA, M. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | PORTER, J. | |
| CLASSIC 290 | RESEARCH IN CLASSIC | ZISSOS, P. | |