Classics 101-6 First-Year Seminar: Justice, Punishment, and Revenge in Ancient Greek Literature
All of us have a sense of justice, and, whether we like it or not, all of us feel the pull to punish and exact revenge on those who’ve done us or others wrong. This is no truer for us than it was for the ancient Greeks, who, like us, grappled with these sentiments in their literature. In this course, we’ll study their masterful portrayals and examinations of justice, punishment, and revenge in mythology, epic and lyric poetry, history, drama, forensic speeches, and philosophy. Our goal will be not merely to understand ancient Greek literary attitudes towards our themes, but also to gain a deeper understanding of our own views about them. No less importantly, we will improve our interpretive and argumentative skills by way of seminar discussion and written assignments.
Classics 101-6 First-Year Seminar: What makes a classic?
How does a work of literature become a “Classic?” What defines the “classical” style in art, music, and architecture? What belongs in the canon or educational curriculum, and who decides? Most importantly, what do a society’s answers to these questions tell us about its values and cultural identity?
To answer “What Makes a Classic?,” we’ll divide our attention between the literature and art that constitute the canon and the critical apparatus that maintains this special status for certain works while excluding others. In the first half of the quarter, we take Vergil’s Aeneid and its reception as our focus. Later we’ll turn to classics from other premodern cultures, such as the Icelandic Sagas and the 11th century Japanese novel The Tale of Genji, and conclude with students’ own ideas about recent cultural products that have the potential to become classics.
Classics 211-0 Greek History and Culture: From Homer to Alexander the Great
This course will serve as an introduction to the history, culture, and peoples of the Ancient Greek world between the age of Homer (c. 7th century BCE) and the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE). Our emphasis will be on social, political, artistic, and intellectual developments across the period. We will pay special attention to the unique nature of ancient Athenian democracy as well as the politics and culture of other city-states, including Sparta. Our primary sources will be literary, but we will also examine evidence from ancient art and archaeology for unique insights into ancient people's lives, ideas, and values.
Classics 212-0 Rome: Culture and Empire: Roman History
The course is a general history survey, starting with Rome’s humble beginnings and ending with the collapse of the Roman Empire. It will trace the story of how a small city-state in central Italy, on the periphery of the older civilizations of Greece and the East Mediterranean, established military and political dominance over Italy; how it built a Mediterranean empire and administered it for centuries; how a long period of crisis led to its decline and partition into an eastern and western half; and finally how the western half collapsed. In addition to this chronological narrative, the course will treat several key themes and concepts in Roman culture. The Roman military will receive attention, as will gender relations and public spectacles. Roman religion and the role of slavery will also be discussed.
In this course we will study the myths of the ancient Greeks through the reading of ancient texts themselves, in translation. We will begin by studying Greek myth broadly, focusing on our very earliest texts, and then gradually narrow our focus to mythology in Classical Athens. The legacy of Greek mythology is timeless yet the myths themselves grew out of unique times and a unique culture so we will work to understand these myths within their original contexts, yet we will also keep our eye on uses of Greek mythology in the modern world, including in contemporary Chicago.
Classics 310-0 Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean: Amazons
The Amazons were a fantastical race of warrior women who lived on the periphery of the Greek world. They represented a world turned upside down, antithetical to Greek masculine values. The queens of the Amazons were powerful enemies to the best of the Greek heroes, coming into conflict with Achilles, Heracles, and Theseus. In this course we will discuss the place of the Amazons in ancient literature, in various artistic traditions, and in relation to cultures on the periphery of the Greek world where the idea of female warriors did not seem so impossible.
Classics 310-0 Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean: The Archaeology of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae
The cities buried by Mt. Vesuvius hold an undying place in the modern imagination. Tourists marvel at the size of the sites and empathize with the plight of the towns’ inhabitants. However, Campania’s destroyed cities have much more to offer than the familiar story of the 79 AD earthquake. Rather than present a static picture of Campania’s towns as “frozen in time,” this course takes a diachronic approach to the rich archaeological material. Campania was not originally Roman territory and was conquered by force of arms. Pompeii, often presented as an archetypal Roman town, was not Roman at all for most of its existence. Still, at the time of the eruption Campania’s cities were thoroughly Romanized; they are now famous for the evidence they provide for Roman daily life. This course will survey key aspects of the evidence, which will include a discussion of current archaeological techniques and fieldwork. The course will also discuss the 18th- and 19th-century uncovering of Campania’s cities, which is a story in its own right.
Classics 320-0 Greek and Roman History: Thucydides The Peloponnesian War
Thucydides’ account of the war between Athens and Sparta is widely considered one of the world’s greatest histories, and a foundational text for Political Science. In addition, current work has progressively exposed the writer Thucydides as highly charged and a remarkable literary artist. Thucydides’ literary brilliance, including his drive to tell a great story, has contributed to an increasing unease about his historical judgments and even his representations of fact. What factors shaped Thucydides' account? And how far can we reconstruct a history of this war independent of his testimony? Weekly two-page papers. No midterm or final exam.
Classics 320-0 Greek and Roman History: Byzantium: Emperors and Hooligans
This course brings face to face two leading forces of the Byzantine culture: the Emperor and the Saint. The Emperor is the most visible figure of the Byzantine history. We know a lot of personal details about each of the thirty seven individuals who sat on the throne during one thousand one hundred years. Their appearance is also familiar to us, thanks to the Byzantine coins. The Emperor was the only person entitled to wear red boots. In his presence, his subjects and foreign ambassadors alike had to prostrate themselves on the ground. It was forbidden to touch the august flesh. The Emperor was the “animate law”, he was an embodiment of absolute power, unconstrained by anything. And yet, the secular authorities in Byzantium always felt themselves a bit “illegitimate”: for many сenturies there was no rule of succession, and each emperor was a usurper. Consequently, even the rituals of power emphasized the perishability of any earthly might. Also, there existed a counterbalance to the Emperor’s omnipotence, and, in contrast to the West, it was not the Church, but the Saint. Also in contrast to the medieval West, in Byzantium, a holy “person” became a saint not thanks to his or her virtues -- but despite his or her transgressions. The more blatantly did they violate common norms, the stronger was their sacred power. The saint dared to contradict Emperors, to reprove or even condemn them. We can say that Byzantium was an autocratic regime limited by saintly authority of the hooligans.
Classics 330-0 Ancient Economy: The Roman Economy: The Preindustrial Economy as a Historical Perspective
It is perhaps unsurprising that our own time - obsessed as it is with GDP growth, the ups and downs of the stock market, inflation rates, the trade deficit - produces scholarship that studies the ancient Roman economy. This scholarship has made us increasingly aware of how different Rome was from the modern world. This course will focus on what that difference means for the realities of everyday life, both past and present. Questions to be addressed are: What did economic growth mean for the economy of the Romans? Can we even measure it? What role did energy consumption play in economic performance? What was the role of social class in business? What was the influence on the economy of a demographic regime in which life expectancy was low? How was trade conducted over long distances without fast means of communication and transportation? What was the role of technology and technological progress in the economy?
Classics 350-0 Greek and Latin Literature: Women of the Trojan War: Ancient and Modern Adaptations
Homer, the Roman poet Statius tells us, left some things out. In this course, we’ll study the long history of supplementing Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, by revisiting the experiences of mythical women, from the early fragmentary poems of Sappho to the 2018 novel, The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. Combining literary and visual evidence, this course examines the techniques by which authors writing in the wake of Homer intersect with brief moments in his foundational poems to authorize new stories for Helen, Penelope, Briseis and others. Along the way, we’ll apply the theories and methods of modern fan studies, narratology, and adaptation studies to the evolving story-world of ancient Greek and Roman myth.
Classics 350-0 Greek and Latin Literature: Celebrating Festivals
What was the most popular sport at the ancient Olympics? Is Saturnalia really the origin of Christmas? What exactly are “mystery cults”? In this course we will read and discuss Greek and Roman literature connected to the celebration of ancient festivals. We will consider what these sources can tell us about how ancient festivals were experienced and examine this literature in connection with images and archaeology to reach a better understanding of how ancient festivals were celebrated.
Classics 380-0 Classics and Reception: Ancient Rome in Chicago
Ancient Rome is visible in Chicago—walk the city and learn to “read” the streets, buildings, and monuments that showcase Chicago’s engagement with the classical past! You’ll gain digital mapping and video editing skills as you collaborate on a virtual walking tour mapping Chicago’s ongoing dialogue with antiquity. With a combination of experiential learning and rigorous research methodologies, you’ll explore architecture, history, visual arts, and urban topography in this quintessential modern American city.
Classics 380-0 Classical Reception Studies: The Ancient Greco-Roman World in Posterity: The Image of Byzantium Through the Ages and Cultures
During its long history, Byzantium interacted with different foreign civilizations which created their own images of it. Needless to say, those images differ among themselves to the same extent as those civilizations differ from each other. Not that these images are completely unrelated to the ‘reality’, but they reflect it fancifully, which lends an opportunity to think about mechanisms of image-creation.
In this course we will study, in chronological order, what was written about Byzantium from the 5th until the 15th century, by Germanic kings and Armenian scholars; by Arabic enemies and Bulgarian disciples; by Georgian monks and Scandinavian mercenaries; Rus’ pilgrims and Italian merchants; Roman popes and Spanish diplomats; Jewish travelers and Catholic Crusaders; French novelists and Muscovite princes.
In the mid-15th century, the millennium-old Byzantine empire finally collapsed. Its image, however, not only survived but acquired new facets, disentangled from mundane credibility. It was used or rather misused and abused by the European enlighteners, philosophers, politicians, but most actively by the Russian authorities, from the eighteenth-century Empress Catherine the Great to today’s President Vladimir Putin. We will look how Byzantium was depicted in literature, from Russia’s greatest poet Alexander Pushkin to contemporary Italian philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco. We will analyze literary, political and mass media texts as well as movies (for instance, the Turkish 2012 film, Fetih) and architecture, including American ones: St. Louis Cathedral in St. Louis, Lakewood Memorial Church in Minneapolis, National Shrine of Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., etc. Finally, we will deal with the most recent events: the Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s decision to reconvert Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul from a museum to a mosque—and the Moscow ideologues’ reconceptualization of the annexed Crimea.
Classics 395-0 Research Seminar: Classics in the Digital Age
The course will provide students with fundamental research skills through hands-on learning and in-class work on an individual project. Students will learn how to use reference tools and online databases, allowing them to search, analyze and interpret ancient evidence ranging from literary texts to inscriptions, papyri and visual material. The course is designed to reflect current developments in the field of Classics. It therefore emphasizes digital approaches, including electronic tools for the study of ancient evidence as well as search engines that employ advanced computational methods. The seminar is intended for juniors with a reading knowledge of Latin and Greek. Sophomores and seniors may participate with departmental permission.
Classics 397-0 Exhibiting Antiquity: The Culture and Politics of Display
How do institutions such as museums, along with other created contexts such as websites and archaeological sites developed as tourist destinations, shape and construct our notions of the past? How are these institutions enmeshed with broader cultural and political agendas regarding cultural identity and otherness, the formation of artistic canons, and even the concept of ancient art? This course explores modern strategies of collecting and display of material culture from ancient Egypt, the Middle East, Greece, and Rome, both in Europe and the United States and in their present-day homelands.
The course approaches the construction of ancient Mediterranean, Egyptian, and Near Eastern art through modes of reception over the past two centuries. By analyzing programs of collecting and display, it seeks to understand both the development of modern scholarship in ancient art and the intersection of institutional and scholarly programs. Topics examined include the historical development of modern display practices in public and private museums; notions of authenticity and identity; issues of cultural heritage and patrimony; temporary and “blockbuster” shows; virtual exhibitions and museums; and the archaeological site as a locus of display. Chicago-area museums will provide important resources for studying firsthand examples of temporary and long-term installations.
Greek 115-1 Accelerated Elementary Ancient and Biblical Greek
This course is the first in a two-quarter series designed to teach students to read ancient Greek, making accessible much of the world’s most influential literature, from the biblical New Testament to Homeric poetry and Platonic philosophy. Since this is an ancient language there will be no spoken component and we will move swiftly through the grammar and basic vocabulary required to read actual texts. These two quarters will, in fact, teach all the fundamentals of the language and lead students directly into second-year courses in the New Testament, classical Greek oratory, and Homeric epic. Thereafter students will be able to progress even further to a wide range of genres from the classical and post-classical periods, including ancient Greek history, poetry, philosophy, drama, and more.
Greek 115-2 Accelerated Elementary Ancient and Biblical Greek
This course is the second in a two-term accelerated series designed to teach students to read ancient Greek, making accessible much of the world’s most influential literature, from the biblical New Testament to Homeric poetry and Platonic philosophy. In this course we will complete our study of the fundamentals of Greek grammar, making students ready to transition into second-year courses in the New Testament, classical Greek oratory, and Homeric epic. Thereafter students will be able to progress to a wide range of genres from the classical and post-classical periods, including ancient Greek history, poetry, philosophy, drama, and more.
This is the first course in the second-year ancient Greek series, designed to transition students into reading unaltered ancient texts while introducing them to some of the most important works written in the language. This first course will cover the Greek of the New Testament, introducing students to the history and idiosyncrasies of the texts, and allowing them their first real opportunity to know an ancient work in the original language. Accordingly, this course will focus on the gospel of Mark, the oldest, and shortest, of the gospels, which we will read nearly in its entirety. We will read selections from other gospels as well, to study the relationship between the texts. This course will also serve as a review of the grammar learned in first-year Greek and will include homework and classwork specifically geared toward that end.
Greek 201-2 Introduction to Greek Literature: Lysias and Plato
This course is the second of the second-year Greek series, designed to solidify the grammatical concepts learned in first-year while introducing students to the study of actual ancient literary texts. In this course we will focus on ancient Attic prose by reading from Lysias on the Murder of Eratosthenes as well as a Platonic dialogue. We will pay close attention to grammar and style, but we will also gain insight into the complexities of ancient Athenian culture, politics, and religion.
Greek 201-3 Introduction to Greek Literature: Iliad
This course, the final of the second-year Greek series, is designed to build fluency in reading Greek as students transition from the study of Greek grammar to Greek literature. This course will look closely at selections of the Iliad, but our goal will be to develop enough proficiency that students will be capable of reading Homeric epic on their own. The aim of this course is for students to reach the level of understanding of Greek and familiarize themselves with resources so that they can, in the future, read Greek literature independently.
Set in primordial times, Prometheus Bound dramatizes the conflict that led newly installed divine ruler Zeus to chain and torture the Titan Prometheus, dispenser of fire and inventor of all human techniques. The play offers a fascinating reflection on such themes as tyranny, justice, divine order, and the respective role of technology and political values in human societies. Its original production would have amounted to a spectacular performance, complete with a flying entrance by Oceanus, a virtuoso piece of solo dancing by Io, and a final cataclysm. We will read most of the tragedy in Greek and discuss its significance in the context of fifth-century Athens.
Greek 301-0 Greek and Latin Literature: Herodotus in Greek
In this course we shall read selections from Book 1 of Herodotus's Histories in ancient Greek, and the rest of Book 1 (91 pp.) in translation. Our primary goals are to improve our knowledge of ancient Greek, and to understand Herodotus as the West's first historian.
Elementary Latin is a year-long course designed to provide students with the basic skills for reading, understanding, and translating both Latin prose and poetry. In the first quarter of the sequence students acquire knowledge of the essential grammar of the Latin language and basic Latin vocabulary, and develop an ability to read, understand, and translate simple passages in both adapted and unadapted Latin. In addition, the course provides an introduction to Roman culture and history.
Elementary Latin is a year-long course designed to provide students with the basic skills for reading, understanding, and translating both Latin prose and poetry. It helps lay the foundation for further study of western culture, as well as Medieval Latin, Renaissance Latin, and other Romance languages.
In the second quarter of the sequence students continue to acquire knowledge of the grammar and syntax of the Latin language and Latin vocabulary, and to develop an ability to read, understand, and translate passages in both adapted and un-adapted Latin. In addition, the course provides an introduction to Roman culture, civilization, and history.
Latin 101-3 Elementary Latin: Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration
Latin 101-3 is the third quarter of the year-long Elementary Latin sequence designed to introduce students to the basic principles of classical Latin grammar and syntax. In addition to the mastering of these basic tools, the course will focus on vocabulary acquisition and the development of translation skills and reading competency necessary to continue successfully in the second year. During the first four weeks of the quarter, class meetings will be devoted to completing Chapters 34-40 of Wheelock’s Latin. For the rest of the term, primary Latin readings from Cicero’s First Catilinarian Oration will be assigned on a daily basis. Students will be expected to develop translation and literary analysis skills in prepared passages from the original Latin text.
Latin 201-1 Introduction to Latin Literature: Petronius and Cicero
The goal of second-year Latin (201-1, 2, 3) is the development of proficiency in reading Latin through the introduction of students to major works of Latin literature. During the fall quarter (Latin 201-1) we will read selections from works by Petronius and Cicero with attention to their interpretation and historical significance, in addition to the review and continued reinforcement of grammar and syntax.
Latin 201-1 Introduction to Latin Literature: Petronius and Cicero
The goal of second-year Latin (201-1, 2, 3) is the development of proficiency in reading Latin through the introduction of students to major works of Latin literature. During the fall quarter (Latin 201-1) we will read selections from works by Petronius and Cicero with attention to their interpretation and historical significance, in addition to the review and continued reinforcement of grammar and syntax.
Latin 201-2 Introduction to Latin Literature: Vergil's Aeneid
Latin 201-2 is designed to improve students’ understanding of the Latin language by close reading of major poetic texts, with special attention to grammar, vocabulary, and style. In this course we will examine the portrayals of major female characters in Vergil's Aeneid. Class activities will include careful reading and translation of the Latin text combined with literary discussion and interpretation. The course also provides a systematic introduction to the basics of Latin metrics and versification. Students will learn how to approach ancient Latin texts in the original language, analyze Latin grammar and style, evaluate our source materials and different linguistic interpretations of Latin texts and their composition.
Latin 201-2 Introduction to Latin Literature: Vergil's Aeneid
Latin 201-2 is designed to improve students’ understanding of the Latin language by close reading of major poetic texts, with special attention to grammar, vocabulary, and style. In this course we will examine the portrayals of major female characters in Vergil's Aeneid. Class activities will include careful reading and translation of the Latin text combined with literary discussion and interpretation. The course also provides a systematic introduction to the basics of Latin metrics and versification. Students will learn how to approach ancient Latin texts in the original language, analyze Latin grammar and style, evaluate our source materials and different linguistic interpretations of Latin texts and their composition.
Latin 201-3 Introduction to Latin Literature: Catullus
The third quarter of second-year Latin combines literary analysis with mastery of grammar and syntax at the intermediate level. This is mainly a workshop course, with discussion focusing on questions to and from members of the course. Though translation will be a component in evaluation (through homework), it will be a relatively small criterion of success. The main topics of discussion will be how meaning and emphasis are communicated in the poetry of Catullus.Though Latin 201-3 concentrates on language skills, it also develops skills of analysis that are foundational for the future study of literature in any language.
A grade of C- or better in this course satisfies the WCAS language requirement.
Students will learn how to a) approach ancient texts in the original language; b) analyze Latin grammar and syntax; c) use a variety of tools (dictionaries, grammars) while reading Latin;
and d) evaluate our source materials and different linguistic interpretations of Latin texts and their composition.
Latin 201-3 Introduction to Latin Literature: Catullus
The third quarter of second-year Latin combines literary analysis with mastery of grammar and syntax at the intermediate level. This is mainly a workshop course, with discussion focusing on questions to and from members of the course. Though translation will be a component in evaluation (through homework), it will be a relatively small criterion of success. The main topics of discussion will be how meaning and emphasis are communicated in the poetry of Catullus.Though Latin 201-3 concentrates on language skills, it also develops skills of analysis that are foundational for the future study of literature in any language.
A grade of C- or better in this course satisfies the WCAS language requirement.
Students will learn how to a) approach ancient texts in the original language; b) analyze Latin grammar and syntax; c) use a variety of tools (dictionaries, grammars) while reading Latin;
and d) evaluate our source materials and different linguistic interpretations of Latin texts and their composition.
Latin 310-0 Readings in Latin Literature: Memory and Prophecy in the Aeneid
The poem of the Aeneid promises a sweeping course of events from the fall of Troy to the founding of Rome. But its main narrative actually delivers very little of this action, adhering instead to an ancient preference for abbreviated plots. This class will investigate how Aeneas’ past and Rome’s future nevertheless find their way into the Aeneid through two narrative tools: memory and prophecy. As we shall see, memory is faulty, and prophecy is full of half-truths. Without the poet’s endorsement of any one version of events, we are left to piece together the story of Rome’s rise from Troy’s ashes on our own.
This course is ideal for students who want to bring their appreciation of the Aeneid to a new level by immersing themselves in the poem and its scholarship. Special attention will be paid to gaining fluency reading Latin and to developing a point of view in current critical debates. For graduate students, additional meetings will be curated around research interests.
Late ancient and medieval Christian authors might wrestle with the implications of pagan literature, but they were deeply steeped in it, and they kept reinventing classical Latin culture. They did so in four main stages: (1) First there were writers of late antiquity who were in direct continuity with classical Latin tradition and gave it Christian inflection. (2) Then there were Carolingian writers of (roughly) the 9th century who, having become aware of a distinction between Latin and the emerging Romance languages, self-consciously sought to revive classical language and literature. (3) Twelfth-century poets experimented with new forms but were deeply conscious of what they viewed nostalgically as the lost culture of Latin antiquity. (4) Humanist writers of the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, beginning in Italy, self-consciously reasserted what they viewed as classical alternatives to Scholastic and other recent trends. Apart from self-conscious revivals of classical Latin culture, there was what might be called simply survival of early literary tradition; in early medieval England, for example, standards of Latin learning remained high, and authors who built on classical sources did so in a spirit more of continuity than of revival.
Latin 310-0 Readings in Latin Literature: Seneca's Apocolocyntosis: The Pampkinification of the Emperor Claudius
This course focuses on the relationship between literature and power in the age of the emperor Nero. The primary materials will consist of a close reading of the Apocolocyntosis, a satirical pamphlet attributed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca lampooning the “excremental” death and deification of the emperor Claudius, along with selected passages from Seneca’s De Clementia, a treatise written by Nero’s tutor and advisor with the stated aim of portraying the ideal ruler for the recently acclaimed young emperor. While conducting a literary and historical analysis of these texts, students will address questions of genre, political ideology, and intellectual dissent. They will also work collaboratively to produce a translation suitable for a staged reading of the Apocolocyntosis, a text that continues to captivate scholars and students alike as the funniest and perhaps most baffling product of the Neronian age.
