| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|
| CLASSIC 36B | CLASSICAL GREECE | CLAXTON, C. | This Classical Civilization course is a survey of ancient Greece during the Late Archaic and Classical Periods. We will examine its main cultural achievements, especially those in the fields of literature, philosophy, historiography, and art. Special attention will be paid to these achievements as a reaction to the major historical events of the period and their overall cultural settings. We will also examine the development of democracy in Athens and contrast this with the political system in Sparta. Readings will include selections from the works of ancient authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato and others. Quizzes, midterm, and final exam. Same as History 36B. |
| CLASSIC 37C | THE FALL OF ROME | ZISSOS, P. | This course will examine the ‘fall’ of the Roman Empire, paying attention not only to the various external pressures and crises it faced, but also to the political, cultural, economic, and religion changes within Roman society that influenced its historical course. A particular focus will be the rise of Christianity, which is often blamed for (or credited with) Rome’s demise. The Fall of Rome remains one of the great puzzles of human history. How could so mighty a civilization collapse? More fundamentally, did Rome really fall – and, if so, when did this occur? Some historians prefer to see not so much a collapse as a period of transition, leading to the birth of Europe as we know it. The principal chronological focus will be 180-476 CE, but we will also consider earlier and later events as they pertain to and help us understand the broader themes and questions of the course. |
| CLASSIC 45C | CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | Classics 45C is the third part of the Classical Mythology series. This class will focus on a few important Greek myths, their interpretations, and the influence they have exerted on modern literature and film. We will use a standard textbook, as well as readings from ancient and modern works of literature. |
| CLASSIC 160 | THE ODYSSEY | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | In this course we will read Homer's "Odyssey" in English. Among other things, we will look at Odysseus the trickster and voyager, the uses of nostalgia, the role of family and women, death and revenge, monsters and cannibals. History, psychoanalysis, and ethnography will be some of our interpretative tools. Grade assessment will be based on two exams, an oral presentation, and a final project of some sort. |
| CLASSIC 160 | THE POWER OF SPEECH | PORTER, J. | "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." So goes the nursery rhyme. But is it true?
Words can in fact be used for arguing with the world, changing it, contesting it, venting anger against it. This course will explore the power that words can exert in the world, the real impact they can have, be this for harm or for benefit. The readings will follow a series of influential writers on the topic, starting with ancient Greek authors (Gorgias, Aristotle, Plato) and culminating in contemporary theories (J. L. Austin, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler), by way of two case studies that are as much about the power of words as they are an expression of it: Spinoza's attack on the religion of his day (1670) and Arendt's critical analysis of the Eichmann trial in 1961. The course is ideally suited to anyone who wants to discover how language can engage with and shape reality, above all human reality. Classics majors and pre-law students are especially welcome. |
| CLASSIC 192B | SENIOR CAPSTONE | GIANNOPOULOU, Z. | |
| CLASSIC 220 | THE 30 TYRANTS | EDWARDS, A. | In 404/3 BCE, following the Athenians’ final surrender to Sparta at the end of 30 years of war,
the democratic government of Athens was suspended and power in the city was handed over
to an extra-constitutional board known as “the Thirty.” Their regime did not last quite a year,
but murdered approximately 1,500 Athenian citizens, confiscated the property of thousands,
and drove many thousands more into exile before the Spartan king Pausanias brokered a new
government and amnesty. We have better sources for this brief episode than perhaps for any
other period in Athenian history. We will rely primarily on the testimony of Xenophon and the
Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia for 404/3 and upon Thucydides for important background in the
years 415 and 411, but Diodorus Siculus, Justin, and Lysias will be valuable as well. Our work
will be organized by a series of topics covering some of the more important problems for
understanding the Thirty. The final weeks will be reserved for presentation of research
projects to be written up and turned in subsequently. An optional fourth hour for translating
Greek will be arranged for interested students. |
| CLASSIC 220 | LATIN HISTORIANS | SCANLON, T. | A survey of several texts of Roman historians to study questions of their intertextuality (with
Greeks and other Roman authors) and their notions of casuality. We will see whether and
how intertextuality relates to questions of causation, including how the narratives relate to
bigger questions of the reception of views of fate, divine agency, and human nature. Authors
tentatively include selections from the fragmentary early Latin historians, Caesar's Bellum
Gallicum, Sallusts's Bellum Catilinae, Livy Book 1, Tacitus Historiae 1. Readings will focus on
proems, speeches, digressions, narratives (especially battle), and authorial comments. |
| 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. | |