| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|
| CLASSIC 36A | EARLY GREECE | STAFF | This course is the first installment in a three-part series about ancient Greek society. The focus will be on political and cultural developments in the formative periods of early Greece in the areas of literature, art, religion, and archaeology. Classical Greece, the cradle of Western democracy, has its origins in massive Bronze Age palace cultures spanning the entire Mediterranean, which rose around 1600 BCE and then mysteriously collapsed around 1200 (Homer sings their songs), an intervening Dark Age of steep poverty and high mortality rates (1200-750 BCE), and a rebirth of commerce, culture, and the city-state (the polis) during the Archaic era (750-480 BCE), a time of increased trade and colonization and of greater contact with the civilizations of the Mediterranean. Our survey will end with the early Archaic period (600 BCE). Visual images from art, architecture, and archaeology will supplement selections from Homer, Hesiod, and the lyric poets (Sappho, Archilochus), as well as passages from later Greek and Roman authors who discussed these earlier periods. Quizzes, midterm, and final examination. No prerequisites. Non-majors are welcome. This course may be used to satisfy the General Education requirement IV (Arts and Humanities). |
| CLASSIC 45A | THE GODS | STAFF | 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. Classics 45A is the first part of the Classical Mythology series (45ABC), which satisfies the Humanities General Education Requirement IV. |
| CLASSIC 45B | THE HEROES | STAFF | This course will concentrate on myths about ancient heroes, such as Hercules, Odysseus, Jason and those featured in the Trojan and Theban Saga. The overall goal is to understand the nature of the heroic, as depicted by ancient writers and artists, and to appreciate the ways in which the ancient Greeks used myths in order to interpret their world. The grade for this course will be based on five exams, each of which will have a combination of multiple-choice questions and short essay questions. |