Undergraduate Courses 2000-2001
Undergraduate Courses 2001-2002
Undergraduate Courses 2002-2003
Undergraduate Courses 2003-2004

Undergraduate Courses 2004-2005

• Classical Civilization
• Greek
• Latin

Classical Civilization (clcv)

20700. Ancient Mediterranean World I. (=ANST 20700, HIST 16700) This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This course surveys the social, economic, and political history of Greece from prehistory down to the Hellenistic period. 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.

20800. Ancient Mediterranean World II. (=ANST 20800, HIST 16800) This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This course surveys the social, economic, and political history of Rome, from its prehistoric beginnings in the twelfth century B.C.E. to the political crisis following the death of Nero in 69 C.E. Throughout, the focus is upon the dynamism and adaptability of Roman society, as it moved from a monarchy to a republic to an empire, and the implications of these political changes for structures of competition and cooperation within the community. R. Saller. Winter.

20900. Ancient Mediterranean World III. (=ANST 20900, HIST 16900) This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This course involves discussion concerning principal features of cultural, religious, social, and economic experiences of the Mediterranean World between the third and sixth centuries A.D. Geographical scope includes the western as well as eastern Mediterranean. The instructor considers Near Eastern and Germanic perspectives as well as Graeco-Roman ones. The course involves review of modern scholarly controversies as well as investigation of a range of primary sources in translation. C. Grey. Spring.

21000.  Disasters in the Ancient Mediterrean.  (=HIST 2/30600, ANST 21000, CLAS 31000, ANCM 30900) Natural disasters occupy a powerful place in our imagination. Stories of floods, plagues, earthquakes and storms excite and horrify us, and communities mobilize their resources quickly in response to these events. In the ancient Mediterranean world, natural disasters could take on potent meaning, indicating the anger or disfavor of the gods, acting as warnings against certain courses of action, or confirmations of individuals’ fears or suspicions about the world in which they lived. In this course, we explore the evidence for some disasters in the ancient Mediterranean world, the ways in which contemporaries reacted to those disasters and interpreted their causes. In the process, we will gain an appreciation of both the social structures of communities in the period and the thought-world in which they operated. No prior knowledge of Ancient History is required, and texts will be discussed in translation. C. Grey.  Spring.

21200. History and Theory of Drama I. (=ANST 21200, CLAS 31200, CMLT 20500/30500, ENGL 13800/31000, ISHU 24200/34200) May be taken in sequence with ENGL 13900/31100 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 goal is not to develop acting skill but, rather, the goals is 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 other members of the class. End-of-week workshops, in which individual scenes are read aloud dramatically and discussed, are optional but highly recommended. D. Bevington, D. N. Rudall. Autumn.

21300.  Contextualizing Ancient Historians. (HIST 2/30401, CLAS 31300, ANSt 26200) Writing history is not simply a matter of assembling dates and facts. Those dates must be linked together, the facts interpreted and shaped into a narrative. Each historian creates a unique narrative, reflecting his or her political and social circumstances. In this course, we examine the historical narratives of both ancient and contemporary historians of Greece and Rome. Historians covered will include, but are not limited to Polybius and Walbank, Velleius Paterculus and Millar, Zosimus and Pirenne. In each case, we will ask a series of questions. What is the historian's aim in writing? In what context was the historian writing? How have these factors affected the presentation of material? Why is the historian important in the historiographical tradition of the ancient or modern world? No prior knowledge of Ancient History is required, and texts will be discussed in translation.  C. Grey.  Winter.

21500.  Medieval Book.  (=CLAS 31500). The course will survey the cultural setting of books and book-learning from end of Antiquity to the Age of Print.  We shall consider the new and varied historical impulses that shaped medieval techniques of writing, reading, and ordering of knowledge, and also the details of physical construction, textual presentation, and decoration, which often survived the transition from script to print culture. To illustrate our discussions, we shall make use of holdings in Regenstein Special Collections and also take a special trip to the Newberry Library.  M. Allen.  Spring.

21700.  Archaeology for Ancient Historians. (=CLAS 31700, HIST 20901. 39800, ANST 21700, ANCM 31700) This course is intended to act not as an introduction to Classical Archaeology but as a methods course illuminating the potential contribution of material cultural evidence to ancient historians while at the same time alerting them to the possible misapplications. Theoretical reflections on the relationship between history and archaeology will be interspersed with specific case-studies from the Graeco-Roman world. J. Hall.  Winter.

21900. Augustan Culture: Rhetoric and Authority (= CLAS 319). This course will look at the ascendancy of Caesar Augustus, the period that formed the bridge from republic to empire in Rome. The changes that took place at this time have inspired the label “the Roman revolution,” yet Augustus depicted his authority as rooted in Roman tradition. In this context of political and social change and renewal we shall focus in particular on the literature produced at this time (by Vergil, Horace, Ovid, for example). Among other questions, we shall consider the relations between poetic authority and political power. To what extent should we view Augustus as the “author” of representations of Augustan Rome? No knowledge of Latin needed. A. Syson. Winter.

23400. Technologies of Memory in the Ancient World.  (=CLCV 22400)  In this course we will examine memory and various "technologies of memory" (e.g. oral poetry, writing, rhetorical mnemonics) in Ancient Greece and Rome. Topics include the nature of memory in both ancient myth and culture, the development of literacy and the invention of the Greek alphabet, the use of writing and the nature of reading, and the compositional techniques of Homeric poets and ancient rhetoricians. We will read both ancient sources (e.g. Plato, Hesiod) and modern secondary literature related to this topic. In addition, one component of the course will compare these ancient types to the modern "technology of memory" represented by the computer revolution and electronic text.  A. Romano.  Autumn.

24100.  Classical Heroines and Beyond (=CLAS 34100, MUSI 22400). This course focuses on two women of Greek mythology, Medea and Phaedra, and how the erotic and tragic narratives of their lives were rendered by artists working in the different social, political and cultural contexts of Nero's Rome (1st century) and early modern (17th-18th century) Europe.  Gender and genre are central issues of the course.  Primary texts to be read (in translation) include Seneca's Medea and Phaedra, Euripides' Medea and Hippolytus, Corneille's Médée, Racine's Phèdre, and a Roman tragedy on Nero's first wife Octavia by an ancient imitator of Seneca. Operas to be studied, partly in audio recording and partly through viewing, include Charpentier's Médée, Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Traetta's Ippolito ed Aricia and Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea.  No knowledge of Latin or music required. D. Wray. Spring

24200. Greek Drama in Translation. (=CLAS 34200) We examine the cultural, historical, religious, and performance contexts of Classical Greek drama. We read selections from the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, probably including The Oresteia, The Oedipus Plays, Medea, The Trojan Women, The Iphigenia Plays, and Lysistrata. D. N. Rudall. Winter.

24300.  Law and Life in Ancient Rome.  (=CLAS 34300, ANST 26100) The Roman legal system has long fascinated philosophers, historians and political thinkers. Fictitious legal discussions, juristic judgments and imperial edicts have all been scrutinized for the light they shed upon Roman legal thinking. Equally, these texts are a rich and intriguing source of information for historians interested in Roman society. They illuminate social customs, economic and social divisions within society, and attitudes towards those customs and divisions. They reveal ongoing and periodic threats to the smooth functioning of society, and measures taken to address those threats. In this course, we explore the wide variety of legal documents from the ancient world, and examine the value of these documents for our reconstruction of the dynamic reality that was Roman society. No prior knowledge of Ancient History or Law is required, and texts will be discussed in translation. C. Grey.  Winter. 

24600. Philo Of Alexandria (=BIBL 44500 / NTEC 44500) In this course we will read the Greek text of Philo’s de opificio mundi, with other brief excerpts here and there in the Philonic corpus. Our aim will be to use this treatise to elucidate the thought and character of one of the most prolific theological writers of the first century. We will seek to understand Philo as a Greek author and the nature and origins of his style, Philo as a proponent of middle Platonism, and Philo as a Jew in the context of Alexandrian Judaism. We will also examine his use of the allegorical method as an exegetical tool, and its implications for pagan, Jewish and early Christian approaches to sacred texts. D. Martinez. Autumn.

25300.  Hellenistic Philosophy. (=CLAS 35300) We will study major developments in Greek and Roman philosophy after Aristotle. Our main focus of attention will be Epicurean and Stoic philosophy. We will study both the doctrines and the way they were put in practice in Greek and Roman society. Among the works we will read (in English translation) are: Epicurus' Letters, Lucretius' On the nature of things, Cicero's On the goals of Life, selections from Seneca's Essays and Letters, and selected lectures by Epictetus.  E. Asmis.  Autumn.

25600. Sophocles, Philoctetes. (=PHIL 2/31551, LAW 96302, RETH 49901) Sophocles' Philoctetes shows a good man suffering excruciating pain because of events that were not his fault. It refers often to the emotion of pity, and it connects that emotion closely with the idea of justice, as Neoptolemus, moved by the sight of pain, comes to understand the wrongfulness of his earlier actions. A close reading of the play in Greek will be combined with a more general investigation of pity, the central tragic emotion. Through readings in English from authors including Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, and Nietzsche, we will study the role of pity in philosophical attacks on tragedy, and we will ask how, and whether, these attacks may be answered. Translation will occur during a set portion of the class, and auditors without Greek who wish to join in the discussions in English may therefore skip those parts. Their participation is strongly encouraged. M. Nussbaum. Winter.

28300. Ephron Seminar. Visions of the Underworld and the Afterlife in the Ancient World What happens to people when they die? Where do they go? These questions have inspired poets and philosophers to argue and narrate tales about the afterlife. This seminar will examine various ancient Greek poetic renderings of the afterworld in Homer and the Greek tragic poets. Examining accounts of actual burial practices in Ancient Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean world, we shall then ask after the poetic difference in Greece. At the end of the term we shall look briefly at two later poetic renderings of a descent to the Underworld, Aeneas’ in Vergil’s Aeneid, and Dante’s in his Inferno. D. Reinhard,
Spring.

28400. South Slavic Oral Poetry. (=SOSL 26700/36700, ANTH 2xxxx/3xxxx, CMLT 2xxxx/3xxxx)  Description: Lectures and discussions focus on the heroic songs of Vuk Karadzic's collections. Goethe's, J. Grimm's, Scott's, Merimee's, and Pushkin's responses are given in outline. Reading and analysis include songs on medieval grandeur and cruelty, on the Battle of Kosovo as moral triumph in disaster, on the heroic vassalage of Marko Kraljevic, on outlaws and border raiders, and on the struggle for independence in the nineteenth century. The reliability of wandering epic memory, as well as the singer's involvement in history and his ability to transcend its social realities, are discussed. Modern theories of improvisation and formulaic composition are set against the background of the material recorded from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. B. Rakic, Winter.

29700. Reading Course. PQ: Consent of faculty sponsor and director of undergraduate studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Greek (grek)

10100-10200-10300. Introduction to Attic Greek I, II, III. This sequence covers the introductory Greek 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 GREK 11100-11200-11300, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (GREK 20100-20200-20300).

10100. Introduction to Attic Greek I. 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. H. Dik.  Autumn.

10200. Introduction to Attic Greek II: Prose. PQ: GREK 10100. 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. A. Ramano. Winter.

10300. Introduction to Attic Greek III: Prose. PQ: GREK 10200. Students apply the grammatical skills taught in GREK 10100-10200 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.

11100-11200-11300. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I, II, III. This sequence covers the introductory Greek grammar in fifteen weeks. Like GREK 10100-10200-10300, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (GREK 20100-20200-20300).

11100. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I. This course introduces students to the rudiments 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. M. Payne. Autumn.

11200. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek II. PQ: GREK 11100. The remaining chapters of the introductory textbook are covered. Students then apply and improve their knowledge of Greek as they read selections from Xenophon. H. Dik. Winter.

11300. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek III. PQ: GREK 11200. Students apply the grammatical skills taught in GREK 11100-11200 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. Spring.

20100. Intermediate Greek I: Phaedo. PQ: GREK 10300 or equivalent. A careful reading of the Apology with a view to reviewing grammatical constructions and appreciating the subtleties of Greek prose style. We will also give attention to the rhetorical structures and philosophic ideas of this important work. A. Ramano. Autumn.

20200. Intermediate Greek II: Sophocles. PQ: GREK 10300 or equivalent. This course includes analysis and translation of the Greek text, discussion of Sophoclean language and dramatic technique, and relevant trends in fifth-century Athenian intellectual history. C. Faraone. Winter.

20300. Intermediate Greek III: Homer. PQ: GREK 10300 or equivalent. An introduction to the Homeric dialect and to the convention of oral epic through a study of the Iliad. D. Martinez.  Spring.

21100.  Elegiac Poetry. (=GREK 31100) PQ: Greek 203000 or equivalent. Poems composed over a number of centuries in the elegiac meter are studied, beginning with some of the works of Archilochus and Callinus, and continuing through Solon and Simonides, to Callimachus and other Hellenistic poets.. M. Payne.  Autumn.

21200. Plato.  (=GREK 31200).  PQ: Greek 20300 or equivalent.  Plato’s styles range from conversational to lyrical, to rhetorical, to …; the list is endless.  He is a master of characterization and parody and brings a deep appreciation of poetry to his prose.  Or so we think.  How can we actually identify Plato’s “style” or “styles?”  This question has been uch debated and, between purple passages we consider the literature o style and authenticity in the Platonic corpus. J. Redfield.  Winter.

21300.  Aeschylus. (=GREK 31300) PQ:  Greek 20300 or equivalent.  This is an introduction to Aeschylean drama in general seen through the special problems posed by the play.  Lectures and discussions are concerned with the authenticity of Prometheus Bound, its dating, and the chronology of Aeschylus’s extant works; the reconstruction of the hypothetical Promethia and the development and early form of Attic drama; and philosophical material (in the original languages) and modern Aeschylea scholars are also read and discussed. D. Allen.  Spring.

23200. The Economy of the Ancient Greek World.
This course is intended to provide an overview of the economy of the ancient Greek world. First, we shall consider some methodological issues. Is it legitimate to study the economy of an ancient society? A review of the main theoretical issues, from Max Weber to new institutionalism, will constitute the introduction to the course. Then we will concentrate on some basic issues: money and markets (from the invention of coinage down to the Hellenistic period); growth and its limits; technological innovation and its limits. The final session will propose a general reflection on the decay of the economy of the ancient world. Documents (in original language and in translation) will help students to make direct contact with the issues involved. A. Bresson. Spring, 2005.

26100.  Intro to Papyrology.  (=GREK 36100, NETC XXXXX, DSCH XXXXX). This course will concentrate on the methods and perspectives of the discipline of papyrology, including the "hands on" experience of working with actual texts in Chicago's collections of documents in Regenstein and Oriental Institute and the Ptolemaic collection at the University of Texas at Austin. No previous knowledge of the field is assumed; we will begin from ground up. Among the topics we will cover are: the major branches of papyrology (including documentary, literary, magical, and Christian texts), including analysis of the form and structure of different kinds of papyrus documents; the linguistic phenomenon of koine Greek; and the contribution of papyrology to other areas of the study of antiquity such as literature, social history, linguistics, and religion. D. Martinez.  Spring.

29700. Reading Course. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter.

34400. 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. Autumn 2006.

Latin (latn)

10100-10200-10300. Introduction to Classical Latin I, II, III. This 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 LATN 11100-11200-11300, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (LATN 20100-20200-20300).

10100. Introduction to Classical Latin I. This course introduces students to the rudiments 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.

10200. Introduction to Classical Latin II. PQ: LATN 10100. This course begins with the completion of the basic text begun in LATN 10100 and concludes with readings from Cicero, Caesar, or other prose. Texts in Latin. L. Behnke. Winter.

10300. Introduction to Classical Latin III: Cicero. PQ: LATN 10200. After finishing the text, the course involves reading in Latin prose and poetry, during which reading the students consolidate the grammar and vocabulary taught in LATN 10100 and 10200. L. Behnke.  Spring.

11100-11200-11300. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I, II, III. This sequence covers the introductory Latin grammar in fifteen weeks and is appropriate both as an accelerated introduction and also as a systematic grammar review for students who have previously studied Latin. Like LATN 10100-10200-10300, this sequence prepares students to move into the second-year sequence (LATN 20100-20200-20300).

11100. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I. 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.  M. Allen. Autumn.

11200. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin II. PQ: LATN 11100. This course begins with the completion of the basic text begun in LATN 11100 and concludes with readings from Cicero, Caesar, or other prose texts in Latin. P. White. Winter.

11300.  Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin III.  PQ: LATN 11200.  Students apply the grammatical skills taught in LATN 11100-11200 by reading a continuous prose text such as a complete speech of Cicero.  The aim is familiarity with Latin idiom and sentence structure. Spring.

20100. Intermediate Latin I: Prose and Grammar PQ: LATN 10300 or 11300 or equivalent. The purpose of this course is to provide experience in reading connected passages of unsimplified Latin prose and, at the same time, to consolidate the understanding of Latin grammar acquired during the preceding year. Additional material is also presented on the social and historical background of the texts we read. A. Syson. Autumn.

20200. Intermediate Latin II: Seneca. PQ: LATN 20100 or equivalent. Readings consist of the Phaedra of Seneca and selections from his prose letters and essays. The point of the juxtaposition is to try to understand the feverish violence of Seneca’s tragedies in relation to the philosophical project to which he devoted his life. Secondary readings on Rome in the Age of Nero are also assigned. P. White. Winter.

20300. Intermediate Latin III: Horace. PQ: LATN 20200 or equivalent.. L. Behnke. Spring.

21100/31100. Roman Elegy. PQ: LATN 20300 or equivalent. This course examines the development of the Latin elegy from Catullus to Ovid. The major themes of the course are the use of motifs and topics and their relationship to the problem of poetic persona. N. Rudall Autumn

21200/31200. Roman Novel. PQ: LATN 20300 or equivalent.  A reading of selected sections of a novel by Apuleius, including the story of Cupid and Psyche, and the initiation into the cult of Isis. The novel is studied in the context of the history of the ancient novel. Special attention is given to the unique contributions of Apuleius as magician and philosopher. M. Allen.  Winter.

21300/31300. Virgil. PQ: LATN 20300 or equivalent. We will read Book 2 of the Aeneid, along with the end of Book 1 and the beginning of Book 4. In addition to close examination of Virgil's imagery, metre, and poetic language, we will consider Aeneas as narrator and victim of the fall of Troy, and the role his story telling plays in Dido's subsequent infatuation.   M. Payne. Spring.

23400.  Boethius. (=LATN 33400). PQ: LATN 20300 or equivalent.  The Consolation of Philosophy, which Boethius wrote in prison after a life of study and public service, offers a lense on Roman politics and culture in the period after Rome ceased to be an imperial capital.  The Consolation is also a poignant testament from a man divided between Christianity and philosophy.   About 70 pages of the text are read in Latin, and all of it in English.   Secondary readings provide historical and religious context for the early sixth century A.D. P. White.  Spring.

29700. Reading Course. PQ: Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

34400. 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. D. Wray. Autumn.

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