Undergraduate Courses 2000-2001

• Classical Civilization
• Greek Language and Literature
• Latin Language and Literature

Undergraduate Classics Courses

The University of Chicago follows the quarter system: the regular academic year consists of three terms, each comprising ten weeks of classes and one week of examinations. Undergraduate courses observe a reading period on the last two days of tenth week (classes are normally not held or, if they are held, are used for review).

 Classical Civilization

201.  Athenian Democracy & Its Critics. (=PoliSci 201/304, Cl 301, AncSt 201) This course analyzes the workings of Athenian democracy and the criticisms directed at that type of regime by the city's playwrights, orators, and philosophers. We will look at institutional history, law court speeches, and tragedy in order to uncover the ways in which the Athenian democrats understood concepts crucial to their politics: e.g. equality, rhetoric, autonomy, anger, gender relations, slavery, law, and reciprocity. We will also discuss texts that take positions critical of the democracy's policies and/or of its conceptions of justice (e.g. Thucydides, Euripides, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato).  D.S. Allen.  Fall.

203.  Archaic Greece.  (=Cl 303, CAMW 303, AncSt 203, Hist 203/303) In order to understand the institutions, ideals and practices that characterized Greek city-states in the Classical period, it is necessary to look to their genesis and evolution during the preceding Archaic period (ca. 700-480 BC). This course will examine the emergence and early development of the Greek city-states through a consideration of ancient written sources, inscriptions, material artifacts and artistic representations as well as more recent secondary treatments of the period. General topics to be covered will include periodization, the rise of the polis, religion, warfare, the advent and uses of literacy, tyranny and the emergence of civic ideology.  J. Hall. Winter.

204.  Ethnicity in Classical World.  (=Cl 304, CAMW 304, AncSt 204, Hist 202/302) If the current resurgence of interest in ethnic studies is a direct reflection of a contemporary upsurge in ethnic conflict throughout the world, it remains the case that notions of peoplehood and belonging have been of periodic importance throughout history. This course will study the various expressions of ethnic identity in the Classical Mediterranean (predominantly - though not exclusively - in Greece and Italy) within their political, social and cultural contexts. Individual case-studies will be interspersed with consideration of theoretical issues such as anthropological definitions of ethnicity, the difference between ethnic and cultural identities, methods for studying ethnicity in Historical societies and the intersection of ethnicity with politics.  J. Hall.  Winter.

207. Ancient Mediterranean World I. (=AncSt 207) Fulfills the Common Core requirement in civilizational studies. This course surveys the social, economic, and political history of Greece to the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.).  The main topics considered include the development of the institutions of the Greek city-state, the Persian Wars and the rivalry of Athens and Sparta, the social and economic consequences of the Peloponnesian War, and the eclipse and  defeat of the city-states by the Macedonians. J. Hall. Autumn.

208. Ancient Mediterranean World II. (=AncSt 208) .  This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilizational studies.  The focus of this course is on Rome from the Gracchi to Nero.  We study the politics, society, and culture of Rome as it was transformed from a city-state to a great empire.  Attention is given to the major social changes that led to the collapse of the Republic and the subsequent reconstitution of the social order by Augustus.  Readings include Livy, Sallust, Virgil, and Tacitus.  R. Saller.  Winter.

209. Ancient Mediterranean World III. (=AncSt 209).   Fulfills the Common Core requirement both in civilizational studies, and music, visual, and dramatic arts. The course illustrates the relationship between art and politics in Greece and Rome, from the 10th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. Themes include 1. Introduction to the visual language of Greeks and Romans  2. Ancient art and the organization of consensus  3.Official monuments and private dedications connected with contemporary political events. They include on the Greek side: the commemoration of fallen warriors in the archaic and classical age,  official votive dedications for the Persian wars, the Perikleian building program in Athens, Alexander's portrait and its impact on the iconography of power;  and on the Roman side: Republican war memorials, Augustus' building program in Rome.  I. Romeo. Spring.

212. History and Theory of Drama I. (=AncSt 212, Cl 312, ComLit 205/305, Eng 138/310, GS Hum 242/342) PQ: May be taken in sequence with Eng 139/311 or individually. This course is a survey of major trends and theatrical accomplishments in Western drama from the ancient Greeks through the Renaissance: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, medieval religious drama, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson, along with some consideration of dramatic theory by Aristotle, Horace, Sir Philip Sidney, and Dryden. The course features optional but highly recommended end-of-week workshops in which individual scenes are read aloud dramatically and discussed. The goal is not to develop acting skill but, rather, to discover what is at work in the scene, and to write up that process in a somewhat informal report. Students have the option of writing essays or putting on short scenes in cooperation with some other members of the class. D. Bevington, N. Rudall. Autumn.
 
228. Roman Historiography (=Cl 328, AncSt 228, Hist 204/304)  This course offers a general survey of the historiographical tradition in the Roman world from the beginnings through late antiquity, focusing on the major surviving works and their place in the evolution of ancient historical writing. Our discussion of selected readings from the works of Latin authors and of Greek historians of the Roman period will be accompanied by an introductory overview of the development of the genre. We will also consider the tension between the literary and rhetorical character of Roman Historiography and its uses as historical evidence.  W. Scheidel.  Spring.

234. Life and Death in the Ancient World. (=Cl 334, AncSt 239, Hist 219/319) For all its conspicuous achievements, Greek and Roman civilization rested on fragile and primitive foundations. New interdisciplinary research has only recently revealed patterns of life and death that were tacitly taken for granted by ancient authors but are completely alien to modern observers. Analyzing ancient literary, documentary and archaeological evidence within a global comparative framework, we will explore crucial features of ancient societies such as demographic structure, hygiene, disease, medicine and nutrition as well as their impact on family life, gender roles and the development of material culture. Much in this survey is applicable to pre-modern societies in general and provides an essential context for our understanding of early cultures. W. Scheidel. Winter.

248.   Sources and Narratives of Late Antiquity.  (=Cl 348, AncSt
248) We shall read a wide range of primary sources that document the nature and transformations of the Late Antique World.  These readings will invite, in turn, a reconsideration of the various narratives of decline, fall, and evolution that underlie and stimulate current debates about what made and remade the Late Roman World.  M.I. Allen. Autumn

255.  The Art of the Ancient Near East and Egypt.  (=AncSt 233, CAMW 370, Cl 355, NECiv 233/333) This course will introduce students to the art and architecture of the ancient Near East and Egypt, beginning with the Neolithic Period and ending with the 4th century B.C.  Although the primary emphasis will be on the arts of ancient Mesopotamia, Iran, and Egypt, the class will also become familiar with the cultures of neighboring areas such as Syria-Palestine , the Levant, and Turkey, during selected time periods. K. Wilson.  Winter.

256.  Athenian Vase-Painting: Depiction and Ideology. (=AH 304, Cl 356,  CAMW 371, AncSt 234) PQ: Art History 150 or 195 or permission of instructor.  All readings will be in English. From roughly 1100 to 400 B.C.E., the city of Athens produced some of the finest pottery the world has ever seen.  The vases were often lavishly decorated: at first with abstract, geometric patterns, later with elaborate figural scenes.  These vases provide the richest, most complex, and most varied set of images to have survived from Archaic and Classical Greece; the current scholarship on this material is equally varied.  This course will examine Athenian vase-painting from a variety of critical perspectives.  Topics will include: the consolidation of civic identity during the early years of the Athenian city-state; the politics of upper-class display; mortuary practice; the construction of masculinities, same-sex eroticisms, and femininities; the development of democratic ideology in the early fifth century; re-thinking the development of naturalism and the history of style; discourses of slavery and "barbarity"; the connection between poetry, sophism, and painting; the notion that a work has a particular "author"; and the invention of portraiture.  R. Neer.  Winter.

258. Hellenistic and Roman Art. (=Cl 365, AncSt 237, CAMW 373) This course will present the artistic production of the Hellenistic states (Egypt, Syria, Macedonia, Greek Asia Minor) between the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.) and the Roman conquest of the East, which culminated in the appropriation of Egypt  in 30 B.C. We will then proceed to assess to what extent Hellenistic art, together with other non-Greek sources of inspiration, contributed to the shaping of Roman art itself; finally we will discuss Rome's original contribution to the development of European art.  Architecture, sculpture, painting and minor art in Rome and in the Imperial provinces, from the Republic to the Late Antique period, will illustrate how the Romans were able to create, and make sophisticated use of, a variety of stylistic languages admirably suited to express ever-changing private and public concerns. I. Romeo.  Spring.

296. Ancient Studies Seminar: Politics and Governance in Ancient Societies. (=AncSt 271)  Arguably the dominant preoccupation orienting studies of early complex societies since at least the late 19th century has been the concern to elucidate the formation of political orders and the structure of governmental apparatus in the ancient world.  Archaeological and historical inquiry has, for most of the last half-century, focused resolutely upon the problems posed by the State: what is it and from whence does it arise?  Yet as an increasing number of critics have pointed out, this framework for discussion has left us rather unprepared to address the question of what civil authorities actually did in archaic polities.  How did regimes form?  By what means was legitimacy secured?  How was sovereignty maintained?  What ties amongst institutions constituted governance?  This seminar will address questions of politics and governance in ancient societies through a comparative examination of several critical case studies from both the New and Old Worlds.  A. Smith.  Winter.

297. Reading Course. PQ: Consent of faculty sponsor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
 
298. B.A. Seminar. This seminar is designed to teach students research and writing skills necessary for writing their B.A. paper. Lectures cover classical bibliography, research tools, and electronic databases. Students discuss research problems and compose preliminary drafts of their B.A. papers. They are expected to exchange criticism and ideas in regular seminar meetings with the preceptor and with other students writing papers, as well as to take account of comments from their faculty readers. The grade for the B.A. Seminar is identical with the grade for the bachelor's paper and, therefore, is not reported until the bachelor's paper has been submitted in the spring quarter. The grade for the bachelor's paper depends on participation in the seminar as well as on the quality of the paper. D. Cromley. Autumn.

 Greek Language and Literature

101. Introduction to Attic Greek I. PQ: Knowledge of Greek not required. This course introduces students to the basic rules of ancient Greek. Class time is spent on the explanation of grammar, translation from Greek to English and from English to Greek, and discussion of student work. Knowledge of Greek not required. N. Rood. Autumn.
102. Introduction to Attic Greek II: Prose. PQ: Greek 101. The remaining chapters of the introductory Greek textbook are covered. Students apply and improve their understanding of Greek through reading brief passages from classical prose authors, including Plato and Xenophon. C. Faraone. Winter.
103. Introduction to Attic Greek III: Prose. PQ: Greek 102. Students apply the grammatical skills taught in Greek 101-102 by reading a continuous prose text by a classical author such as Lysias, Xenophon, or Plato. The aim is familiarity with Greek idiom and sentence structure. Staff. Spring.

111-112-113. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I, II, III.
This course sequence covers the introductory Greek grammar in fifteen weeks. Like Greek 101-102-103, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (Greek 204-205-206).

111. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I. PQ: Knowledge of Greek not required. This course introduces students to the basic rules of ancient Greek. Class time is spent on the explanation of grammar, translation from Greek to English and from English to Greek, and discussion of student work. J. Redfield. Autumn.
112. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek II. PQ: Greek 111. The remaining chapters of the introductory textbook are covered. Students then apply and improve their knowledge of Greek as they read selections from Xenophon. D. N. Rudall. Winter.
113. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek III. PQ: Greek 112. Students apply the grammatical skills taught in Greek 111-112 by reading a continuous prose text by a classical author such as Lysias, Xenophon, or Plato. The aim is familiarity with Greek idiom and sentence structure. Staff. Spring.

204.  Plato’s Apology. PQ: Greek 103 or equivalent.   Selections will be studied with the aim of  bringing students to some familiarity with Plato's style and extending their command of the ancient Greek language.  Staff.  Autumn.

205.  Sophocles Antigone. PQ: Greek 103 or equivalent.  The course includes close analysis and translation of the Greek text, in addition to a discussion of Sophoclean dramatic technique and relevant trends in fifth-century Athenian intellectual history. S.  Bartsch.  Winter.

206.  Introduction to Homer. PQ: Greek 103 or equivalent.  An introduction to the Homeric dialect and to the convention of oral epic through a study of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.  Staff.  Spring

231.  Lyric & Epinician Poetry. (=Greek 331) PQ.  Greek 206 or equivalent.  This class involves reading of the major fragments of Greek monody and of selections from choral poetry, with special emphasis on the lyrics of Sappho and Alcaeus and the odes of Pindar and Bacchylides. There is a discussion of lyric meters and also of the occasions for which these early poems were composed.  D.N. Rudall.  Autumn.

232.  Aristotle: The Art of Poetry. (=Greek 332) PQ: Greek 206 or equivalent.  A close reading of Aristotle’s The Art of Poetry, together with a study or Aristotle’s influence in the Hellenistic period, is the focus of this class.  The readings include Plato’s criticism of poetry in the Republic and Philodemus’s On Poems.  Among the topics that are discussed are poetry as imitation, emotional catharsis, and the educational uses of poetry.  E. Asmis. Winter.

233. Thucydides.  (=Greek 333) PQ: Greek 206 or equivalent. All of
Thucydides' history is read in English, but the narrative of the Sicilian expedition in books 6 and 7 is singled out for careful study in Greek. Lectures, discussions, and secondary readings address the principles on which Thucydides constructs history and the art by which he shapes a narrative.  D. Allen.  Spring

297. Reading Course. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter.
 
344. Greek Prose Composition. PQ: Consent of instructor. Intensive study of the structures of the Greek language and the usage of the canonical Greek prose, including compositional exercises. Not offered 2000-2001. Will be offered 2001-2002.

 Latin Language and Literature

101-102-103. Introduction to Classical Latin I, II, III.
This course sequence covers the introductory Latin grammar in twenty-two weeks and is intended for students who have more complex schedules or believe that the slower pace allows them to better assimilate the material. Like Latin 111-112, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (Latin 204-205-206).
101. Introduction to Classical Latin I. PQ: Knowledge of Latin not required. This course introduces students to the basic rules of ancient Latin. Class time is spent on the explanation of grammar, translation from Latin to English and from English to Latin, and discussion of student work. L. Behnke. Autumn.
102. Introduction to Classical Latin II. PQ: Latin 101. This course begins with the completion of the basic text begun in Latin 101 and concludes with readings in Latin from Cicero, Caesar, or other prose. L. Behnke. Winter.
103. Introduction to Classical Latin III: Cicero. PQ: Latin 102. After finishing the text, the course involves reading up to 500 lines of Ovid's Metamorphoses during which reading the students consolidate the grammar and vocabulary taught in Latin 101 and 102. Students are also prepared for poetic figures and scansion. L. Behnke. Spring.

111-112. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I, II.
This course sequence covers the introductory Latin grammar in fifteen weeks. Like Latin 101-102-103, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (Latin 204-205-206).
111. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I. PQ: Knowledge of Latin not required. This course covers the first half of the introductory Latin textbook (Wheelock).  Classes are devoted to the presentation of grammar, discussion of problems in learning Latin, and written exercises. S. Bartsch. Autumn.
112. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin II. PQ: Latin 111. This course begins with the completion of the basic text begun in Latin 111 and concludes with readings in Latin from Cicero, Caesar, or other prose. B. Krostenko. Winter.

121. Transitional Latin. PQ: Placement test. This quarter-long course prepares students who have already taken pre-collegiate Latin to enter university courses at the second-year level (Latin 205 or 206). It provides an intense review of Latin grammar (uses of the subjunctive, specialized usages of participles and infinitives and advanced constructions such as the supine and the future imperative) and pairs grammatical review with in-depth reading of original texts. Students will translate, analyze and parse texts and will also write essays analyzing them as literature. The theme for fall 2000 is "Romanitas"; the readings will include Cicero's "Pro Archia", Horace's Roman Odes and a significant selection of Vergil's "Aeneid" Book VI. Enrollment is limited. Participants will be selected by placement test and interview. L. Behnke. Autumn.

204.  Ovid’s Metamorphoses. PQ: Latin 103 or 112. Selected tales from Ovid's epic narrative of transformations serve as a basis for learning to read and enjoy Latin hexameter verse.  The course also surveys some of Ovid's innovations in poetic and narrative technique and his influence on later art and literature. P. White.  Autumn.

205.  Prose: 'The End of the Republic.'  PQ: Latin 103 or equivalent. This class will cover selections from Cicero's oratory and letters and Caesar's history that concern the last days of the Roman Republic.  Grammar review and prose composition will be included.  B. Krostenko.  Winter.

206.  Horace & Catullus. PQ: Latin 103 or equivalent.  A reading of selected poems of Catullus and Horace, with special emphasis on style and form, poetic self-fashioning, and the representation of gender. Staff.  Spring.

216. Augustine’s Confessions.  (=Latin 316) PQ: Latin 206 or equivalent.  Substantial selections from books 1 through 9 of the Confessions are read in Latin (and all thirteen books in English), with particular attention to Augustine's style and thought.  Further readings in English provide background about the historical and religious situation of the late fourth century A.D. P. White. Spring.

231.  Ovid. (=Latin 331) PQ: Latin 206 or equivalent.  A close reading of selections from Ars Amatoria and Heroides. E. Asmis.  Autumn.

232. Tacitus Annals. (=Latin 332)  PQ: Latin 206 or equivalent. Primary readings are drawn from the Tiberian books, in which Tacitus describes the consolidation of the imperial regime after the death of Augustus.  Parallel accounts and secondary readings are used to help bring out the methods of selecting and ordering data and the stylistic effects that typify a Tacitean narrative.  P. White.  Autumn.

233.  Roman Comedy.  (=Latin 333)  PQ: Latin 206 or equivalent. The primary readings consist of two short plays of Plautus, the Casina and the Stichus; secondary readings explain the social context and the theatrical conventions of Roman comedy. Class discussion explores Plautus' weaknesses and strengths in the areas of staging, plotting, and language. W. R. Johnson.  Spring.

264.  Medieval Literature. (=Latin 364)  The course traces developments and continuities in Latin literature from the late-fourth century to the tenth.  We examine new Christian literary idioms, such as hymnody, hagiography, and the theological essay, as well as reinterpretations of classical forms of poetry, epistle, biography, and historical writing.  We consider the peculiarities of medieval Latin.  Attention will be paid to how and where literature was cultivated.  M. I. Allen, Autumn.

286.  Letters:  Cicero & Seneca.  (=Latin 386, Phil 318, Law XXX, DivSc XXX) PQ: ability to read the material in Latin at a sufficiently high level.   An Oscar Wilde character observes that her diary is "simply a very young girl's record of her own thoughts and impressions, and consequently meant for publication."  This remark states the paradox of Roman epistles, especially those of the two great statesmen-philosophers, Cicero and Seneca.  Although these letters certainly appear to state the thoughts and feelings of the correspondents, the fact that they are intended for publication should make us look for self-conscious constructing of paradigms of character and action, of friendship and political engagement.   Cicero and Seneca appear to go about this task of self-narration in very different ways.  By now we have realized that Seneca's letters to Lucilius are philosophical documents whose autobiographical content is suspect, but we still tend to think that Cicero's letters are "real letters."  The course will explore the difficulties of saying what a "real letter" is, and what roles letters of various types play in philosophical and political reflection.  M. Nussbaum.  Winter.

297. Reading Course. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

344. Latin Prose Composition. PQ: Consent of instructor. This is a practical introduction to the styles of classical Latin prose. After a brief and systematic review of Latin syntax, the course combines regular exercises in composition with readings from a variety of prose stylists. The course is intended to increase the students' awareness both of the classical artists' skill and their own command of Latin idiom and sentence structure. B. Krostenko.  Autumn.

top