Contacts | Programs of Study | Program Requirements | Language and Literature Variant | Language Intensive Variant | Greek and Roman Cultures Variant | Grading | Honors | Minor Program in Classical Studies | Courses
Department Website: http://classics.uchicago.edu
Programs of Study
The BA degree in Classical Studies allows students to explore Greek and Roman antiquity in a variety of ways and provides excellent preparation for careers that require strong skills in interpretation and writing, such as teaching, scholarly research, law, and publishing, and in the humanities in general. Students may choose from the following three variants based on their preparation, interests, and goals:
- The Language and Literature Variant combines the study of Greek and Latin texts with coverage of diverse areas, including art and archaeology, history, philosophy, religion, and science.
- The Language Intensive Variant focuses on languages with the aim of reading a larger selection of texts in the original languages; it is designed especially for those who wish to pursue graduate studies in classics.
- The Greek and Roman Cultures Variant emphasizes courses in art and archaeology, history, material culture, and texts in translation.
Students in other fields of study may also complete a minor in Classical Studies. Information follows the description of the major.
Program Requirements
Language and Literature Variant
Students who take the Language and Literature Variant may focus exclusively on Greek or exclusively on Latin, or they may study both languages with an emphasis on one or the other. The program assumes that, in addition to the requirements for the major, students have completed, or have credit for, a year of language study in either Greek or Latin.
No course that is used to meet one of the following requirements may be used simultaneously to meet a requirement under any other category.
1. Six courses in Greek or Latin in the major that must include the 20100-20200-20300 Intermediate sequence or higher in at least one language. The first-year language sequence cannot be counted towards the major requirements unless a student takes both Latin and Greek courses. The requirement can be satisfied by, for example:
| LATN 20100-20200-20300 | Intermediate Latin I-II-III | 300 |
| One of the following: | 300 | |
| Roman Elegy and Roman Novel and Vergil | ||
| Introduction to Attic Greek I-II-III | ||
2. Six courses in Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, science, religion, material culture, or classical literature in translation, with courses divided between at least two fields, and with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. Any course that carries a Classical Civilization (CLCV) listing or a Classics (CLAS) listing between 30100 and 39000 meets this requirement. Other eligible courses are offered in disciplines such as Art History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Philosophy, and Political Science. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.
3. A research skills paper of from ten to twelve pages, to be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year. The paper will normally substitute for a final paper in a Greek (above 20300), Latin (above 20300), Classical Civilization (CLCV), or Classics (CLAS) course, and is designed to prepare students for the BA paper. Students will be expected to develop a reasoned argument on a particular topic, based not only on primary materials (ancient literary tests; material culture; etc.) but also on research of relevant secondary bibliography. Students should declare at the start of the quarter if they wish to write the research skills paper in a given course, and should work closely throughout the quarter with the instructor, who must be a member of the Classics faculty.
4. CLCV 29800 BA Paper Seminar, a one-quarter course spread over two quarters in the fourth year, as described below.
Summary of Requirements: Language and Literature Variant
| 6 courses in Greek or Latin (must include 20100-20200-20300) * | 600 | |
| 6 courses in Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, science, religion, material culture, or classical literature in translation | 600 | |
| CLCV 29800 | BA Paper Seminar | 100 |
| Total Units | 1300 | |
| * | Credit will not be granted by examination. |
Language Intensive Variant
The Language Intensive Variant is designed for students who expect to continue Classical Studies at the graduate level. It aims to provide the level of linguistic proficiency in both Greek and Latin that is commonly expected of applicants to rigorous graduate programs.
No course that is used to meet one of the following requirements may be used simultaneously to meet a requirement under any other category.
- Six courses in one classical language (Greek or Latin) at the 20000 level or above and six courses in the other (three of which may be at the introductory level).
- Four courses in Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, religion, science, material culture, or classical literature in translation, with courses divided between at least two fields, and with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. Any course that carries a Classical Civilization (CLCV) listing or a Classics (CLAS) listing between 30100 and 39000 meets this requirement. Other eligible courses are offered in disciplines such as Art History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Philosophy, and Political Science. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.
- A research skills paper of from ten to twelve pages, to be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year. The paper will normally substitute for a final paper in a Greek (above 20300), Latin (above 20300), Classical Civilization (CLCV), or Classics (CLAS) course, and is designed to prepare students for the BA paper. Students will be expected to develop a reasoned argument on a particular topic, based not only on primary materials (ancient literary tests; material culture; etc.) but also on research of relevant secondary bibliography. Students should declare at the start of the quarter if they wish to write the research skills paper in a given course, and should work closely throughout the quarter with the instructor, who must be a member of the Classics faculty.
- CLCV 29800 BA Paper Seminar, a one-quarter course spread over two quarters in the fourth year, as described below.
Summary of Requirements: Language Intensive Variant
| 6 courses in Greek * | 600 | |
| 6 courses in Latin * | 600 | |
| 4 courses in Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, religion, science, material culture, or classical literature in translation | 400 | |
| CLCV 29800 | BA Paper Seminar | 100 |
| Total Units | 1700 | |
| * | Six courses in one classical language (Greek or Latin) at the 20000 level or above, and six courses in the other (three of which may be at the introductory level). Credit will not be granted by examination. |
Greek and Roman Cultures Variant
This variant is designed for students who are interested in ancient Greece and Rome but wish to focus more on history (political, intellectual, religious, social) and material culture than on language and literature. Because the program allows many courses taught in other departments to count toward the major, it is especially suited to students who declare their major late or who wish to complete two majors. The program assumes that, in addition to requirements for the major, students have met the general education requirement in civilization studies by taking CLCV 20700-20800 Ancient Mediterranean World I-II, the Athens Program, or the Rome Program. Students who have met the general education requirement in civilization studies with a different sequence should complete one of these three sequences, which may then count among the nine courses in classical civilization required for the major.
No course that is used to meet one of the following requirements may be used simultaneously to meet a requirement under any other category.
- Three courses in Greek or Latin beyond the level of placement. Students who have not received credit by placement tests or Advanced Placement examinations may register for first-year Greek or Latin courses.
- Nine courses in art, history, philosophy, religion, science, material culture, or classical literature in translation, with courses divided between at least four fields, and with approval of the director of undergraduate studies. Any course that carries a Classical Civilization (CLCV) listing or a Classics (CLAS) listing between 30100 and 39000 meets this requirement. Other eligible courses are offered in disciplines such as Art History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Philosophy, and Political Science. These courses should be chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.
- A research skills paper of from ten to twelve pages, to be submitted to the director of undergraduate studies by the end of Spring Quarter of the third year. The paper will normally substitute for a final paper in a Greek (above 20300), Latin (above 20300), Classical Civilization (CLCV), or Classics (CLAS) course, and is designed to prepare students for the BA paper. Students will be expected to develop a reasoned argument on a particular topic, based not only on primary materials (ancient literary tests; material culture; etc.) but also on research of relevant secondary bibliography. Students should declare at the start of the quarter if they wish to write the research skills paper in a given course, and should work closely throughout the quarter with the instructor, who must be a member of the Classics faculty.
- CLCV 29800 BA Paper Seminar, a one-quarter course spread over two quarters in the fourth year, as described below.
Summary of Requirements: Greek and Roman Cultures Variant
| 3 courses in Greek or Latin * | 300 | |
| 9 courses in Greek or Roman art, history, philosophy, religion, science, material culture, or classical literature in translation | 900 | |
| CLCV 29800 | BA Paper Seminar | 100 |
| Total Units | 1300 | |
| * | Credit will not be granted by examination. |
BA Paper Seminar and BA Paper
Candidates for the BA degree in all variants of the Classical Studies major are required to write a substantial BA paper. The purpose of the BA paper is to enable students to improve their research and writing skills and to give them an opportunity to focus their knowledge of the field upon an issue of their own choosing.
In their third year, by Monday of eighth week of Spring Quarter, students must submit to the director of undergraduate studies a short statement proposing an area of research that must be approved by a member of the Classics faculty who agrees to be the director of the BA paper. At the same time, students should meet with the preceptor of the BA Paper Seminar to plan a program of research.
Students may register for the CLCV 29800 BA Paper Seminar in either Autumn or Winter Quarter of their fourth year, but they are expected to participate in seminar meetings throughout both quarters. The focus of the seminar is to discuss research problems and compose preliminary drafts of their BA papers. Participants in the regular seminar meetings are expected to exchange criticism and ideas with each other and with the preceptor, as well as to take account of comments from their faculty readers. The grade for the BA Paper Seminar is identical to the grade for the BA paper and, therefore, is not reported until the paper has been submitted in Spring Quarter. The grade for the BA paper depends on participation in the seminar as well as on the quality of the paper. At the end of Autumn Quarter, a provisional grade will be assigned by the preceptor and communicated to the student via the director of undergraduate studies. Once the BA paper has been submitted, the final grade will be determined jointly by the preceptor and faculty director.
The deadline for submitting the BA paper in final form is Friday of third week of Spring Quarter. This deadline represents the formal submission, which is final; students should expect to submit and defend substantial drafts much earlier. Hard copies are to be submitted to the faculty director, seminar preceptor, and director of undergraduate studies. Students who fail to meet the deadline may not be able to graduate in that quarter and will not be eligible for honors consideration.
Students who undertake a double major may meet the requirement for a BA paper in Classical Studies by making it part of a single BA paper that is designed to meet the requirements of both majors. This combined paper must have a substantial focus on texts or issues of the classical period, and must have a Classics faculty member as a reader. CLCV 29800 BA Paper Seminar (the two-quarter BA Paper Seminar) is required of all students majoring in Classical Studies, whether as a double major or as a single major. The use of a single essay to meet the requirement for a BA paper in two majors requires approval from directors of undergraduate studies in both majors. A consent form, to be signed by the directors of undergraduate studies, is available from the College advisers. It must be completed and returned to the College adviser by the end of Autumn Quarter of the student's year of graduation.
Grading
The following first-year sequences in Greek and Latin and the courses in Greek and Latin composition are open for P/F grading for students not using these courses to meet language requirements for the major. All courses taken to meet requirements in the major must be taken for quality grades.
| GREK 10100-10200-10300 | Introduction to Attic Greek I-II-III | 300 |
| GREK 11100-11200-11300 | Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I-II-III | 300 |
| LATN 10100-10200-10300 | Introduction to Classical Latin I-II-III | 300 |
| LATN 11100-11200-11300 | Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I-II-III | 300 |
Honors
To be recommended for honors, a student (1) must maintain an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the major and (2) must also demonstrate superior ability in the BA paper to interpret Greek or Latin source material and to develop a coherent argument. The BA paper must be judged worthy of honors by the faculty director, the preceptor, and an additional faculty reader. Before the end of fifth week of Winter Quarter, the preceptor will make an initial recommendation for honors to the director of undergraduate studies, who will then consult with the faculty director. If the recommendation is approved, the student will select a second faculty reader in consultation with the faculty director.
Prizes
The Arthur Adkins Summer Research Fellowship (up to $5,000) is targeted to third-year undergraduates who are bound for graduate school, and it provides means and opportunity for the writing of a superior research paper on any aspect of the ancient world from the Bronze Age through Late Antiquity. It may be used for travel to classical sites and collections or to other research centers, and/or for living expenses during a summer devoted to research between the third and fourth year. Applicants must submit (in the first week of Spring Quarter) a transcript, statement (two to three pages) outlining their project and its relationship to existing knowledge in the field, plan of research together with a provisional budget for the summer, and letter from a faculty supervisor.
The Classics Prize is a cash award of $300 made annually to the student who graduates with the best record of achievement in the Classical Studies major.
The David Grene Summer Fellowship (up to $5,000) is targeted to undergraduates whose intellectual interests in the classical world have led them to an area of knowledge that they are unable to pursue during the regular academic year, and it allows them an opportunity to explore that interest through independent study during the summer before graduation. The independent study may involve training in a new discipline (e.g., paleography, numismatics), first-hand experience of ancient sites and artifacts, or ancillary language study. It may be carried out under the auspices of an organized program (e.g., American School of Classical Studies at Athens, American Academy in Rome), or it may be tailored entirely according to the student's own plan. Applicants must submit (in the first week of Spring Quarter) a transcript, project statement, provisional budget, and faculty letter of recommendation.
The John G. Hawthorne Travel Prize (up to $4,000) is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student of classical languages, literature, or civilization for travel to Greece or Italy or for study of classical materials in other countries. The award may be used to pursue a project of the student's own design or to participate in appropriate programs conducted in Greece or Italy. Applicants must submit (in the first week of Spring Quarter) a transcript, project statement, provisional budget, and faculty letter of recommendation.
The Nancy P. Helmbold Travel Award (up to $3,500) is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student of Greek and/or Latin for travel to Greece or Italy. Applicants must submit (in the first week of Spring Quarter) a transcript, project statement, proposed budget, and faculty letter of recommendation.
The Paul Shorey Foreign Travel Grant ($300) is awarded annually to a student of Greek or Latin who has been accepted to participate in the Athens Program or the Rome Program of the College, and it is to be used to defray costs incurred in the program. The terms of the grant stipulate that it is to be awarded to a "needy and deserving" student. Students who have been accepted into one of the programs and who wish to be considered for the Shorey grant are invited to submit statements explaining their need in the first week of Spring Quarter.
The Pausanias Summer Research Fellowship (up to $5,000) is awarded annually to an undergraduate student who is majoring or minoring in Classical Studies and is conducting research abroad in a site of interest for classical studies. The award may be used to pursue a project of the student's own design or to participate in an appropriate institutional program abroad. Applicants must submit (in the first week of Spring Quarter) a transcript, project statement, provisional budget, and faculty letter of recommendation.
Minor Program in Classical Studies
The minor in Classical Studies requires a total of seven courses in Greek, Latin, or classical civilization. Students may choose one of two variants: a language variant that includes three courses at the 20000 level or higher in one language or a classical civilization variant.
Students must meet with the director of undergraduate studies before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the minor. Students choose courses in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies. The director's approval for the minor program should be submitted to a student's College adviser by the deadline above on a form obtained from the adviser.
Courses in the minor (1) may not be double counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors and (2) may not be counted toward general education requirements. Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades, and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.
The following groups of courses would comprise a minor in the areas indicated. Other programs may be designed in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies. Minor program requirements are subject to revision.
Greek (or Latin) Sample Variant*
| GREK 10100-10200-10300 | Introduction to Attic Greek I-II-III | 300 |
| GREK 20100-20200-20300 | Intermediate Greek I-II-III | 300 |
| CLCV 21200 | History and Theory of Drama I ** | 100 |
| Total Units | 700 | |
| * | The language requirement for the minor program must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers. |
| ** | or, for example, CLCV 21400 Marg Populations Of Rom Empire |
Greek (or Latin) Sample Variant*
| One of the following sequences: | 300 | |
| Intermediate Greek I-II-III | ||
| Intermediate Latin I-II-III | ||
| CLCV 20700-20800-20900 | Ancient Mediterranean World I-II-III | 300 |
| CLCV 21400 | Marg Populations Of Rom Empire ** | 100 |
| Total Units | 700 | |
| * | The language requirement for the minor program must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers. |
| ** | or, for example, CLCV 21200 History and Theory of Drama I |
Classical Civilization Sample Variant*
| CLCV 20700-20800-20900 | Ancient Mediterranean World I-II-III ** | 300 |
| CLCV 22000 | Greek Tragedy/Its Influences | 100 |
| CLCV 22100 | Epictetus/Marcus Aurelius | 100 |
| CLCV 24200 | Invention of Love Poem | 100 |
| CLCV 23100 | Ancient Philosophy | 100 |
| Total Units | 700 | |
| * | The language requirement for the minor program must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers. |
| ** | or, for example, GREK 10100-10200-10300 Introduction to Attic Greek I-II-III or LATN 10100-10200-10300 Introduction to Classical Latin I-II-III |
Credit will not be granted by examination to meet the language requirement for the minor program.
Classics - Classical Civilization Courses
CLCV 14113. Introduction to Roman Art and Archaeology. 100 Units.
This course offers a survey of the art and archaeology of the Roman world from the founding of Rome in the eighth century BC to the Christianization of the Empire in the fourth century AD. Students will witness the transformation of Rome from a humble village of huts surrounded by marshland in central Italy into the centripetal force of a powerful Empire that spanned mind-bogglingly distant reaches of space and time.Throughout the course, we will consider how the built environments and artifacts produced by an incredible diversity of peoples and places can make visible larger trends of historical, political, and cultural change. What, we will begin and end by asking, is Roman about Roman art?
Instructor(s): P. Crowley Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 14105
CLCV 20200. North Africa, Late Antiquity to Islam. 100 Units.
Examination of topics in continuity and change from the third through ninth centuries CE, including changes in Roman, Vandalic, Byzantine, and early Islamic Africa. Topics include the waning of paganism and the respective spread and waning of Christianity, the dynamics of the seventh-century Muslim conquest and Byzantine collapse. Transformation of late antique North Africa into a component of Islamic civilization. Topography and issues of the autochthonous populations will receive some analysis. Most of the required reading will be on reserve, for there is no standard textbook. Readings in translated primary sources as well as the latest modern scholarship. Final examination and ten-page course paper.
Instructor(s): W. Kaegi Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 25701,CLAS 30200,CMES 30634,CRES 25701,HIST 35701,NEHC 20634,NEHC 30634
CLCV 20700-20800-20900. Ancient Mediterranean World I-II-III.
Available as a three-quarter sequence (Autumn-Winter-Spring) or as a two-quarter sequence (Autumn-Winter or Winter-Spring). This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. This sequence surveys the social, economic, and political history of Greece to the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), the Roman Republic (509 to 27 BC), and late antiquity (27 BC to the fifth century AD).
CLCV 20700. Ancient Mediterranean World I. 100 Units.
This course surveys the social, economic, and political history of Greece from prehistory 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.
Instructor(s): J. Hall, Staff Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 16700
CLCV 20800. Ancient Mediterranean World II. 100 Units.
This quarter surveys the social, economic, and political history of Rome, from its prehistoric beginnings in the twelfth century BCE to the end of the Severan dynasty in 235 CE. 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.
Instructor(s): C. Hawkins, Staff Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 16800
CLCV 20900. Ancient Mediterranean World III. 100 Units.
This quarter surveys the five centuries between the establishment of imperial autocracy in 27 BC and the fall of the Western empire in the fifth century AD.
Instructor(s): W. Kaegi Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 16900
CLCV 21200. History and Theory of Drama I. 100 Units.
The course is a survey of major trends and theatrical accomplishments in drama from the ancient Greeks through the Renaissance: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, classical Sanskrit theater, medieval religious drama, Japanese Noh drama, Kyd, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Molière, along with some consideration of dramatic theory by Aristotle, Sir Philip Sidney, Corneille, and others. Students have the option of writing essays or putting on short scenes in cooperation with other members of the course. The goal of these scenes 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. End-of-week workshops, in which individual scenes are read aloud dramatically and discussed, are optional but highly recommended. (D)
Instructor(s): D. Bevington Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Preference given to students with third- or fourth-year standing.
Note(s): May be taken in sequence with ENGL 13900/31100 or individually. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 13800,CLAS 31200,CMLT 20500,CMLT 30500,ENGL 31000,TAPS 28400
CLCV 21415. Gender and Sexuality in Roman Art. 100 Units.
In the remote, but omnipresent past of classical antiquity, what kinds of experiences and practices fell under the umbrella of terms and concepts that we moderns call “gender” and “sexuality”? This course explores the fundamentally visual aspect of this question by drawing attention first and foremost to works of Roman art, but also to topics such as the erotics of vision, the senses of shame and modesty, and bodily comportment. While the robust corpus of ancient and modern literature on these topics will constitute an important part of our discussions, we will likewise consider the ways in which ancient art provides forms of evidence that are analogous, but never coextensive, with that of ancient texts. Finally, taking a cue from Tom Stoppard’s play The Invention of Love (1997), in which A. E. Housman declares that the “barbarity” of homosexuality is that it’s “half Greek and half Latin,” we will attend to the ways in which the dynamics of gender and sexuality took shape in a historical continuum in which the lines between what was “Greek” and what was “Roman” became increasingly blurred.
Instructor(s): P. Crowley Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 21415,ARTH 31415,CLAS 31415
CLCV 21700. Archæology for Ancient Historians. 100 Units.
This course is intended to act not as an introduction to Classical archæology 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 Græco-Roman world.
Instructor(s): J. Hall Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 20901,HIST 39800,CLAS 31700,ANCM 31700
CLCV 21807. Greek Art and Archaeology. 100 Units.
This course will survey the art and archaeology of ancient Greece from ca. 1000 BCE–ca. 200 BCE. Participants will see the Greeks emerge from poverty and anarchy to form a distinctive political and social system based on city-states—and they will see that system grow unstable and collapse. They will see the emergence of distinctive forms of sculpture, architecture, pottery, and urban design—many of which are still in use today. Along with these facts, they will acquire a conceptual toolkit for looking at works of art and for thinking about the relation of art to social life. The big question is: How can we make sense of the past by means of artifacts?
Instructor(s): R. Neer Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 14107
CLCV 21812. Greek Art and Archaeology I: From the Bronze Age to the Persian Wars. 100 Units.
This course will survey the art and archaeology of the ancient Greek world from the Bronze Age to the Persian Wars (480 BC). We will study early civilizations of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, and their dramatic collapse in the twelfth century BC. We will then see the emergence of a new political and social system based on city-states, featuring distinctive forms of sculpture, architecture, pottery, and urban design. Along the way, students will acquire a conceptual toolkit for looking at works of art and for thinking about the relation of art to social life. The big question is: How can we make sense of the past by means of artifacts?
Instructor(s): R. Neer Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. For nonmajors, any ARTH 14000 through 16999 course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course is the first of a two-course sequence; registration in the second course is not required for participation in the first.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 14307
CLCV 22114. The Poems of Ovid. 100 Units.
Publius Ovidius Naso was the most prolific of the major Latin poets and by far the most influential classical author from the Middle Ages to early modernity. This course includes reading and discussion of all his surviving poetry: the Heroides, verse letters of mythological heroines to their lovers; the Amores, a collection of love elegies; the Art of Love, an erotodidactic manual on sex and love for women as well as men; the Cures for Love; the Metamorphoses, his masterpiece, an episodic and encylopedic epic of mythology and history; the Fasti, a poetic calendar of Roman rituals and festivals; the Tristia and Letters from the Black Sea, exile poems written after Ovid's banishment to Tomis; the Ibis, a poem of invective revenge; and short poems on women's cosmetics and fishing. Discussion, while geared toward the interests of participants, will range over topics including: wit, affect, and embodiment; narrative and character; form and genre; tradition and innovation; classicism and excess; intimacy and cruelty; interspecies metamorphosis and the inner lives of gods, humans, animals, and plants; and poetic ambition, power, and self-fashioning. All readings will be in English translation, but separate meetings can be arranged for those wishing to read Ovid in Latin.
Instructor(s): D. Wray Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): No knowledge of Latin required.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 21416
CLCV 22314. The Ancient Romans and Their “Religion” 100 Units.
Roman religion is very rarely accorded a place of prominence in the history of religions of Late Antiquity or the modern academic study of religion. Too often when Roman religion is acknowledged it is as part of a more general picture of Greco-Roman paganism’s decline in the wake of Christianity’s rise to power. The purpose of this course then is to consider how we might understand Roman religion as a discrete yet dynamic set of discourses, practices, communities, and institutions in the contexts of both the late antique religious world and the modern academic study of religion. To this end, this course will introduce students not only to the basic elements of Roman religious life, but also to the dominant scholarly models used to engage the ancient sources. Finally, at a more theoretical level, this course also will challenge students to think critically about how religion as a modern analytic category may or may not be useful in understanding ancient cultures.
Instructor(s): D. Durdin Terms Offered: Winter 2015
Note(s): No knowledge of ancient languages required.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 22311
CLCV 22514. Markets and Moral Economies. 100 Units.
This course examines the ways in which economic behavior in the Roman Empire was informed by, and itself came to inform, social and religious mores and practices. We will explore the interrelationship between culture and economy from the accession of Augustus to late antiquity and the conversion of the empire to Christianity. Particular attention will be given to Roman attitudes towards labor, the ethical issues surrounding buying and selling, and alternative allocative mechanisms to the market. Of constant concern will be the tension between the perspectives and prejudices of elites, which stand behind so much surviving literary evidence, and the realities of everyday commerce and economic life as they can be glimpsed in the archaeological and epigraphic record.
Instructor(s): L. Gardnier Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 32514
CLCV 22700. History of Philosophy I: Ancient Philosophy. 100 Units.
An examination of ancient Greek philosophical texts that are foundational for Western philosophy, especially the work of Plato and Aristotle. Topics will include: the nature and possibility of knowledge and its role in human life; the nature of the soul; virtue; happiness and the human good.
Instructor(s): A. Callard Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Completion of the general education requirement in humanities
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 25000
CLCV 23514. Augustan Culture. 100 Units.
Augustus’ accession to power after decades of civil war was a moment of tremendous cultural and political change. His own writings and the historians’ writings about him will be contextualized with readings from the great literary figures of the time, Livy, Vergil, Horace, Propertius, and Ovid, and supplemented with an overview of the art and architecture of the period.
Instructor(s): M. Lowrie Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 33514
CLCV 23915. Plato's Republic. 100 Units.
Plato's Republic is often considered the greatest work of moral and political theory ever written. Plato's themes include justice, courage, moderation, the best political order, civic education, and the proper role of philosophy in politics. The impact of the Republic on later Roman, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and secular Western thought is unquestionably immense. But the Republic is endlessly rich. Readers to this day continue to discover within it new questions and alarming implications. Did Plato really consider the rule of philosopher 'kings' and 'queens' to be possible? Did he encourage forms of propaganda and eugenics in his ideal order? Was he a critical friend of democracy or its fiercest enemy? In the spirit of these questions, we approach the Republic with fresh eyes, analyzing its logic and drama with care, book-by-book, attentive also to the characters of Socrates and his young Athenian interlocutors. (A)
Instructor(s): J. Vandiver Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): PLSC 23915,CLAS 33915,FNDL 23915,PLSC 33915
CLCV 24113. The Archaeology of Death in Ancient Rome. 100 Units.
This course serves as a general introduction to the commemoration of death in Roman funerary monuments, giving particular attention to the social bonds they were meant to express and reinforce through visual modes of address. Memorials dedicated by a socially diverse group of patrons including both elites and non-elites, metropolitan Romans and far-flung provincials, will be studied in relation to an equally diverse body of material evidence including tomb architecture and cemetery planning, inscriptions, sarcophagi and cinerary urns, and portraiture. The course will also take advantage of sites in Chicago such as Rosehill or Graceland Cemetery as important points of comparison with the ancient material.
Instructor(s): P. Crowley Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 24105
CLCV 24115. Roman Art I: Republican and Early Imperial Art and Architecture. 100 Units.
This course offers an introductory survey of the art and architecture of the Roman world from the legendary founding of Rome in the eighth century BC up through the beginning of the second century AD, when the Empire reached its point of greatest expansion. Students will witness the transformation of Rome from a humble village of huts surrounded by marshland in central Italy into the centripetal force of a powerful Empire that spanned mind-bogglingly distant reaches of space and time. Throughout the course, we will consider how the built environments and artifacts produced by an incredible diversity of peoples and places can make visible larger trends of historical, political, and cultural change. What, we will begin and end by asking, is Roman about Roman art?
Instructor(s): P. Crowley Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 14115
CLCV 24215. Roman Art II: Late Antique and Early Christian Art and Architecture. 100 Units.
This course offers an introductory survey of the art and architecture of the Roman world starting from the beginning of the second century AD, when the Empire reached its point of greatest expansion. It then proceeds through a period of relative peace and prosperity before witnessing the effects of a political, social, and economic “crisis” of the third century AD, the adoption of Christianity as the state religion, and the tremendous consequences of moving the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Throughout the course, we will consider how the built environments and artifacts produced by an incredible diversity of peoples and places can make visible larger trends of historical, political, and cultural change. What, we will begin and end by asking, is Roman about Roman art?
Instructor(s): P. Crowley Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 14215
CLCV 24306. Byzantine Empire, 330-610. 100 Units.
A lecture course, with limited discussion, of the formation of early Byzantine government, society, and culture. Although a survey of event and changes, including external relations, many of the latest scholarly controversies will also receive scrutiny. There will be some discussion of relevant archaeology and topography. No prerequisite. Readings will include some primary sources in translation and examples of modern scholarly interpretations. Final examination and a short paper.
Instructor(s): W. Kaegi Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 21701,HIST 31701,CLAS 34306
CLCV 24307. Byzantine Empire, 610-1025. 100 Units.
A lecture course, with limited discussion, of the principle developments with respect to government, society, and culture in the Middle Byzantine Period. Although a survey of event and changes, including external relations, many of the latest scholarly controversies will also receive scrutiny. No prerequisite. Readings will include some primary sources in translation and examples of modern scholarly interpretations. Final examination and a short paper. Graduate students may register for grade of R (audit) or P (Pass) instead of a letter grade, except for History graduate students taking this as a required course.
Instructor(s): W. Kaegi Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 21702,HIST 31702,CLAS 34307
CLCV 24506. Alexander the Great. 100 Units.
This course provides both a survey of the career of Alexander the Great and an introduction to the historiographical traditions (ancient and modern) that shape our understanding of his legacy. We will focus primarily on two clusters of problems. First, we will examine what Alexander’s career can tell us about the dynamics of ancient empires. Second, we will grapple with the interpretative challenges generated by our evidence, which consists largely of literary accounts produced by authors who wrote long after Alexander’s own lifetime and who relied on earlier texts that no longer survive. All sources will be read in translation.
Instructor(s): C. Hawkins Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 20802,HIST 30802,CLAS 34506
CLCV 24508. Economy and Society in Ancient Greece and Rome. 100 Units.
In this course we will explore not only the nature of ancient Greek and Roman economies, but also the way in which social and political structures constrained or facilitated the efforts of individuals to devise successful strategies within those economies. We will consider trade, manufacture, and agriculture, and we will devote considerable attention to issues of methodology: What questions should we ask about ancient economic life, and with what evidence can we answer them?
Instructor(s): C. Hawkins Terms Offered: Spring
CLCV 24914. Ancient Greek Magic. 100 Units.
Instructor(s): C. Faraone Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 34914
CLCV 25510. Homer's Odyssey. 100 Units.
This course is a close reading of the Odyssey. Discussion topics include identity, maturation, hospitality and friendship, gender, travel, and fantasies about other cultures. Texts in English.
Instructor(s): W. Olmsted Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Required of new Fundamentals majors; open to others with consent of instructor.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 21901
CLCV 25700-25800-25900. Ancient Empires I-II-III.
This sequence introduces three great empires of the ancient world. Each course in the sequence focuses on one empire, with attention to the similarities and differences among the empires being considered. By exploring the rich legacy of documents and monuments that these empires produced, students are introduced to ways of understanding imperialism and its cultural and societal effects—both on the imperial elites and on those they conquered.
CLCV 25700. Ancient Empires I. 100 Units.
The sequence introduces three great empires of the ancient world. Each course in the sequence focuses on one empire, with attention to the similarities and differences among the empires being considered. By exploring the rich legacy of documents and monuments that these empires produced, students are introduced to ways of understanding imperialism and its cultural and societal effects—both on the imperial elites and on those they conquered. The first course of this three-course sequence focuses on the Hittite Empire.
Instructor(s): H. Haroutunian Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30011,HIST 15602,NEHC 20011
CLCV 25800. Ancient Empires II: The Ottoman Empire. 100 Units.
The sequence introduces three great empires of the ancient world. Each course in the sequence focuses on one empire, with attention to the similarities and differences among the empires being considered. By exploring the rich legacy of documents and monuments that these empires produced, students are introduced to ways of understanding imperialism and its cultural and societal effects—both on the imperial elites and on those they conquered. The first course of this three-course sequence focuses on the Ottoman Empire.
Instructor(s): H. Karateke Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30012,HIST 15603,NEHC 20012
CLCV 25900. Ancient Empires III: The Egyptian Empire of the New Kingdom. 100 Units.
For most of the duration of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC), the ancient Egyptians were able to establish a vast empire and becoming one of the key powers within the Near East. This course will investigate in detail the development of Egyptian foreign policies and military expansion which affected parts of the Near East and Nubia. We will examine and discuss topics such as ideology, imperial identity, political struggle and motivation for conquest and control of wider regions surrounding the Egyptian state as well as the relationship with other powers and their perspective on Egyptian rulers as for example described in the Amarna letters.
Instructor(s): N. Moeller Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30013,HIST 15604,NEHC 20013
CLCV 26514. Travel and Pilgrimage in the Roman Empire. 100 Units.
This course will take a trip around the Roman Empire, exploring the different motivations and contexts for travel in Antiquity. Through surviving literary texts we will survey varieties of travel, including military campaigns, scientific exploration, conquest, commerce and piracy, economic displacement, pilgrimage, and even tourism. Stops in different provinces of the Empire will provide geographical information as well as details about the practicalities of travel: vessels, caravans and other means, cost of travel, infrastructure at the traveler’s disposal, maritime and land routes, safe-conducts, guidebooks and language aids for the traveler. Along the way, the course will also provide an introduction to the diversity and uniformity of the Roman Empire.
Instructor(s): S. Torallas Tovar Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 36514,NEHC 26514,NEHC 36514
CLCV 26914. Death in the Classical World: Texts and Monuments. 100 Units.
This course will focus on the evolution of beliefs and rituals related to death in the Mediterranean cultures of the Greek world and the Roman Empire, including the Egyptians among others. The course will draw on literary and documentary sources as well as archaeology and remnants of material culture. The topics that will be covered include not only the practicalities of death (funerary rituals, legal aspects of death like wills and inheritance), but also beliefs and myths of the afterlife, magical rituals such as necromancy, the impact of Christianization on Roman understandings of death, and later Christian developments like the cult of the saints.
Instructor(s): S. Torallas Tovar Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 36914,NEHC 26914,NEHC 36914
CLCV 27514. Iphigenia: Text, Dramaturgy, and Performance. 100 Units.
What is the relation between script and performance, between academia and theater production, and between the Classics and the present? The course is an investigation of these questions, using Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis and Court Theatre’s concomitant production of it as a case study. It has three foci: First, we will look at the complex history of transmission and reception of Euripides’ text, from antiquity through modern to postmodern adaptations (including Racine, Gluck, Svich, and Teevan). Second, we will explore the development of the role of dramaturg from when it was first coined by Lessing in 1767 to present-day literary managers. Third, we will follow closely the Court production, observing rehearsals and engaging in conversation with Charles Newell (director) and Nicholas Rudall (translator). Through all this we will ask ourselves, what is the role of the scholar of Classics for contemporary culture and society? Why and how are the Classics still relevant for us?
Instructor(s): A. Akavia Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): TAPS 28472
CLCV 27714. Comparative Syntax of Greek and Latin. 100 Units.
On the occasion of the publication of two new grammars, the Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek and volume 1 of the Oxford Latin Syntax, this course will compare Greek and Latin syntax and semantics and, more generally, serve as an introduction to the linguistic study of these two corpus languages.
Instructor(s): H. Dik Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): At least two years each of Greek and Latin
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 37714
CLCV 28300. Ephron Seminar: Getting to Happiness: Philosophy as a Way of Life from Antiquity to the Present. 100 Units.
What did it mean to be a student of philosophy in Hellenistic and Roman antiquity? From Epicurus to Marcus Aurelius, ancient philosophers recommended a variety of philosophical practices in their pursuit of happiness. We will read primary and secondary texts about a range of topics in which ancient philosophers offered practical counsel to their students and readers: managing desires, controlling anger, finding the right friends, navigating the challenges of relationships, and coping with grief and the fear of death. For each topic, we will read ancient authors affiliated with different philosophical schools—Epicureanism, Stoicism, Skepticism, and Middle Platonism—and discuss their often divergent recommendations. In addition, we will survey how the ancient tradition of practical philosophy was revived from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present, and ask what we can learn from this tradition today.
Instructor(s): B. VanWassenhove Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): The goal of this annual seminar of changing context is to promote innovative course design. Examples of past topics are gender, death, violence, and law in the ancient world.
CLCV 29113. Myth Course. 100 Units.
This course examines the social, political, cultural, and religious functions of ancient myth, as well as the various theoretical interpretations of myth that have been proposed in a variety of fields in order to investigate what myth can tell us about the ancient Greeks and Romans as well as those who regard themselves as the inheritors of classical culture.
Instructor(s): Staff Terms Offered: Spring
CLCV 29700. Reading Course. 100 Units.
Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent of faculty sponsor and director of undergraduate studies
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.
CLCV 29800. BA Paper Seminar. 100 Units.
This seminar is designed to teach students the research and writing skills necessary for writing their BA paper. Lectures cover classical bibliography, research tools, and electronic databases. Students discuss research problems and compose preliminary drafts of their BA papers. They are expected to exchange criticism and ideas in regular seminar meetings with the preceptor and with other students who are writing papers, as well as to take account of comments from their faculty readers. The grade for the BA Paper Seminar is identical to the grade for the BA paper and, therefore, is not reported until the BA paper has been submitted in Spring Quarter. The grade for the BA paper depends on participation in the seminar as well as on the quality of the paper. Students may register for this seminar in either Autumn or Winter Quarter, but they are expected to participate in meetings throughout both quarters.
Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing
Classics - Greek Courses
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 intermediate sequence (GREK 20100-20200-20300).
GREK 10100. Introduction to Attic Greek I. 100 Units.
This course introduces 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.
Instructor(s): Staff. Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Knowledge of Greek not required.
GREK 10200. Introduction to Attic Greek II. 100 Units.
Study of the introductory textbook continues through this quarter, covering further verbal morphology (participle, subjunctive, optative) and syntax of complex clauses. Students apply and improve their understanding of Greek through reading brief passages from classical prose authors, including Plato and Xenophon.
Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): GREK 10100
GREK 10300. Introduction to Attic Greek III: Prose. 100 Units.
Concurrently with finishing the final chapters of the textbook in the beginning of the quarter, students read a continuous prose text (Lysias 1). This is followed by extensive review of the year's grammar and vocabulary and further reading (Plato's Crito). The aim is familiarity with Greek idiom and sentence structure.
Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): GREK 10200
GREK 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 intermediate sequence (GREK 20100-20200-20300).
GREK 11100. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek I. 100 Units.
This course introduces 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.
Instructor(s): H. Dik Terms Offered: Autumn
GREK 11200. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek II. 100 Units.
The remaining chapters of the introductory textbook are covered. Students then apply and improve their knowledge of Greek as they read selections from Xenophon.
Instructor(s): H. Dik Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): GREK 11100
GREK 11300. Accelerated Introduction to Attic Greek III. 100 Units.
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.
Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): GREK 11200
GREK 20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Greek I-II-III.
This sequence is aimed at students who have completed one of the introductory sequences and at entering students with extensive previous training, as evidenced by a placement exam. As a whole, it provides students with an overview of important genres and with the linguistic skills to read independently, and/or to proceed to advanced courses in the language.
GREK 20100. Intermediate Greek I: Plato. 100 Units.
We read Plato's text with a view to understanding both the grammatical constructions and the artistry of the language. We also give attention to the dramatic qualities of the dialogue. Grammatical exercises reinforce the learning of syntax.
Instructor(s): C. Faraone Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): GREK 10300, 11300 or equivalent
GREK 20200. Intermediate Greek II: Sophocles. 100 Units.
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.
Instructor(s): H. Dik Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20100 or equivalent
GREK 20300. Intermediate Greek III: Homer. 100 Units.
This course is a close reading of two books of Homer, one from the Iliad and one from the Odyssey, with an emphasis on language, meter, and literary tropes.
Instructor(s): S. Nooter Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20200 or equivalent
GREK 21100. Elegiac Poetry. 100 Units.
This course is a study of poems composed over several centuries in elegiac and iambic meters. Readings will include works by Archilochus, Callinus, Semonides, Hipponax, and Callimachus.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31100
GREK 21200. Philosophy: Plato's Phaedrus. 100 Units.
The Phaedrus is one of the most fascinating and compelling of Plato's Dialogues. Beginning with a playful treatment of the theme of erotic passion, it continues with a consideration of the nature of inspiration, love, and knowledge. The centerpiece is one the the most famous of the Platonic myths, the moving description of the charioteer and its allegory of the vision, fall, and incarnation of the soul.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31200,BIBL 31200
GREK 21300. Tragedy. 100 Units.
This course is an introduction to Aeschylean drama, seen through the special problems posed by one play, Prometheus Bound. Lectures and discussions are concerned with the play, the development and early form of Attic drama, and philosophical material. Modern Aeschylean scholars are also read and discussed.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31300
GREK 21700. Lyric and Epinician Poetry. 100 Units.
This course will examine the lyric and epinician genres of archaic and classical Greece, focusing on song performed both by choruses and by individuals, and on themes ranging from mortality to joy, morality to sex, and politics to drinking. The imagery and performance of these poems will be explored, as well as the mechanics of meter, structure, and dialect. Readings will include Alcman, Sappho, Anacreon, Alcaeus, Simonides, Bacchylides, Pindar, and Timotheus.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2015-16
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31700
GREK 21800. Greek Epic. 100 Units.
This course is a reading of Book 3 of the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes. We consider character, story world, and the presence of the poet as we endeavor to understand what has become of epic poetry in the hands of its Hellenistic inheritors.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2015-16
Prerequisite(s): Two years or more of Greek.
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31800
GREK 21900. Greek Oratory. 100 Units.
"With Isocrates, Greek artistic prose reached its technical perfection," says L. R. Palmer in The Greek Language. Yet Isocrates has not found nearly so prominent a place in the university curriculum as have Demosthenes and Lysias. This course will attempt to give the great orator his due. We will start with his speech on Helen, comparing it with Gorgias' famous Encomium. We will also read the ad Demonicum, which became something of a handbook in later Hellenistic and Roman-period schools, and the Panegyricus. We will consider carefully Isocratean language and diction, and why it has merited such sustained praise among connoisseurs of Greek prose style, ancient and modern. We will also emphasize the centrality of Isocrates' contribution to Greek paideia.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2015-16
Prerequisite(s): Two years or more of Greek.
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 31900
GREK 22314. Hellenistic/Imperial Literature. 100 Units.
This class features selections from the poetry and/or prose of the Hellenistic and Imperial periods. This year we will read selections from Hellenistic poetry, with a particular focus on the Hymns of Callimachus.
Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 32314
GREK 22400. Greek Comedy: Aristophanes. 100 Units.
We will read in Greek Aristophanes' Frogs, a play widely admired as an early instance of clever literary criticism and creative metatheatricality that brings its audience into the underworld and suggests several fantasies of salvation, a play whose production marks the end of the great century of Greek drama. Reading will include translation as well as secondary readings.
Instructor(s): Sarah Nooter Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20600 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 32400,HIST 20403,HIST 30403
GREK 22500. Greek Historians: Herodotus. 100 Units.
Book I is read in Greek; the rest of the Histories are read in translation. With readings from secondary literature, historical and literary approaches to the Histories are discussed, and the status of the Histories as a historical and literary text.
Instructor(s): David Martinez Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): GREK 20600 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): GREK 32500
GREK 26100. Introduction to Papyrology. 100 Units.
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.
Instructor(s): D. Martinez Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): At least three years of Greek or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 44300,GREK 36100
GREK 27100. Origen of Alexandria. 100 Units.
It is difficult to conceive of doing justice to the vast scope of Origen's work in one quarter, but we will do our best to sample generous selections from the Greek text of his exegetical, homiletic, and doctrinal writing, including a substantive selection from his Treatise on Prayer and perhaps the section of the Dialogue with Heracleides preserved among the Tura papyri. We will of course focus on Origen as the greatest exponent of the allegorical method of biblical interpretation and its Platonic underpinnings. We will also consider carefully the style of his Greek and his position as a Christian apologist.
Instructor(s): D. Martinez Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): At least three years of Greek or consent of instructor
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 49800,GREK 37100
GREK 29700. Reading Course. 100 Units.
Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter
Prerequisite(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.
Classics - Latin Courses
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 intermediate sequence (LATN 20100-20200-20300).
LATN 10100. Introduction to Classical Latin I. 100 Units.
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.
Instructor(s): E. Asmis Terms Offered: Autumn
LATN 10200. Introduction to Classical Latin II. 100 Units.
This course continues through the basic text begun in LATN 10100.
Instructor(s): M. Allen Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): LATN 10100
LATN 10300. Introduction to Classical Latin III. 100 Units.
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.
Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LATN 10200
LATN 11100-11200-11300. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I-II-III.
This sequence covers the introductory Latin grammar in fifteen weeks and is appropriate as both an accelerated introduction and a systematic grammar review for students who have previously studied Latin. Like LATN 10100-10200-10300, this sequence prepares students to move into the intermediate sequence (LATN 20100-20200-20300).
LATN 11100. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin I. 100 Units.
This course covers the first half of the introductory Latin textbook. Classes are devoted to the presentation of grammar, discussion of problems in learning Latin, and written exercises.
Instructor(s): M. Allen Terms Offered: Autumn
LATN 11200. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin II. 100 Units.
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.
Instructor(s): P. White Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): LATN 11100
LATN 11300. Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin III. 100 Units.
Students apply the grammatical skills taught in LATN 11100-11200 by reading a continuous prose text, such as a complete speech of Cicero. Our aim is familiarity with Latin idiom and sentence structure.
Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LATN 11200
LATN 20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Latin I-II-III.
This sequence is aimed at students who have completed one of the introductory sequences and at entering students with extensive previous training, as evidenced by a placement exam. As a whole, it provides students with an overview of important genres and with the linguistic skills to read independently, and/or to proceed to advanced courses in the language.
LATN 20100. Intermediate Latin I: Cicero. 100 Units.
Readings concentrate on Cicero's Catalinarian Orations, the famous group of speeches he delivered in 63 BC against L. Sergius Catilina, who was plotting to overthrow the Roman government. Some discussion of the history and culture of the period; study of problems of grammar as necessary.
Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): LATN 10300 or 11300, or equivalent
LATN 20200. Intermediate Latin II: Aeneid. 100 Units.
This course is a reading of selections from the first six books of the Aeneid, with emphasis on Vergil’s language, versification, and literary art. Students are also required to read the whole of the epic in an English translation.
Instructor(s): M. Payne Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20100 or equivalent
LATN 20300. Intermediate Latin III: Seneca. 100 Units.
Readings consist of Seneca’s tragedy Thyestes and selections from his prose letters and essays. Secondary readings on Rome in the Age of Nero, Hellenistic philosophy, and other related topics may also be assigned.
Instructor(s): M. Lowrie Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20200 or equivalent
LATN 21100. Roman Elegy. 100 Units.
This course examines the development of the Latin elegy from Catullus to Ovid. Our major themes are the use of motifs and topics and their relationship to the problem of poetic persona.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016-17
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 21101,CMLT 31101,LATN 31100
LATN 21200. Roman Novel. 100 Units.
We shall read from various Latin texts that participate in the tradition of the Ancient novel.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016-17
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 31200
LATN 21300. Vergil. 100 Units.
Vergil, Aeneid. Since many students have greater familiarity with the first half of the Aeneid, we will focus on the second half. Books 8, 10, and 12 will be read in entirety in Latin, with substantial selections from books 7, 9, and 11; we will also read the whole poem in translation. Topics of interest include: foundation and refoundation, the epic genre, the relation of myth to history, contemporary politics, and the social function of literature.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2016-17
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 25201,LATN 31300
LATN 21700. Epic. 100 Units.
We will read two books of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Latin and the entire poem in translation. Discussion topics will include prosody, diction, narrative technique, epic tradition, and comparative mythology.
Terms Offered: will be offered 2015-16.
Prerequisite(s): LATN 203 or quivalent
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 31700
LATN 21800. Roman Historian. 100 Units.
Primary readings are drawn from books 1 and 2 of the Histories, in which Tacitus describes a series of coups and revolts that made 69 AD the “Year of the Four Emperors.” 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.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2015-16.
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 31800
LATN 21900. Roman Comedy. 100 Units.
This course is a reading of a comic play by Plautus or Terence with discussion of original performance context and issues of genre, Roman comedy's relation to Hellenistic New Comedy, and related questions.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2015-16.
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 31900
LATN 22100. Lucretius. 100 Units.
We will read selections of Lucretius' magisterial account of a universe composed of atoms. The focus of our inquiry will be: how did Lucretius convert a seemingly dry philosophical doctrine about the physical composition of the universe into a gripping message of personal salvation? The selections will include Lucretius' vision of an infinite universe, of heaven, and of the hell that humans have created for themselves on earth.
Instructor(s): E. Asmis Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 32100,FNDL 24212
LATN 22200. Roman Satire. 100 Units.
The object of this course is to study the emergence of satire as a Roman literary genre with a recognized subject matter and style. Readings include Horace Satires 1.1, 4, 6, and 10 and 2.1, 5 and 7; Persius 1 and 5; and Juvenal 1 and 3.
Instructor(s): S. Bartsch-Zimmer Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 32200
LATN 22300. Roman Oratory. 100 Units.
Two of Cicero's speeches for the defense in the criminal courts of Rome receive a close reading in Latin and in English. The speeches are in turn considered in relation to Cicero's rhetorical theory as set out in the De Oratore and in relation to the role of the criminal courts in Late Republican Rome.
Instructor(s): P. White Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 32300
LATN 22400. Post-Vergilian Epic. 100 Units.
Lucan. The goal of this course is threefold: 1. To read through some 2,000 lines of the Bellum Civile in Latin; 2. To read all of the epic in English; 3. To explore the critical responses to this play in the 20th century.
Terms Offered: Will be offered 2014-15
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20300 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 32400
LATN 25000. Augustine's Confessions. 100 Units.
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 AD.
Instructor(s): P. White Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): LATN 20600 or equivalent
Equivalent Course(s): LATN 35000,FNDL 24310
LATN 26513. Tacitus: History and Politics in Republican Monarchy. 100 Units.
We will read the Life of Agricola and selections from the historical works, engaging with the politics of virtue and historical memory and the changing dynamics of literary productions in the early Principate.
Instructor(s): C. Ando Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 26513,LATN 36513
LATN 28614. Cicero on Friendship and Aging. 100 Units.
Two of Cicero’s most enduring works are De Amicitia (On Friendship) and De Senectute (On Old Age). We will read the entirety of both works in Latin and study their relationship to Cicero’s thought and life. Other readings in translation will include related works of Cicero and quite a few of his letters to Atticus and other friends. The first hour of each course meeting will be devoted to translation, the rest to discussion, in order to give opportunities for auditors who are reading in translation. The requirements include a midterm, a final exam, and a paper. Anyone from anywhere in the University may register if you meet the prerequisite.
Instructor(s): M. Nussbaum Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): This is a Latin course that presupposes five quarters of Latin or the equivalent preparation. Others interested in taking it may register for an Independent Study and have different requirements, more writing and no Latin, but they will take a final exam (different).
Equivalent Course(s): PHIL 34208,FNDL 24208,PHIL 24208,LAWS 52403,CLAS 38614,RETH 38614
LATN 29700. Reading Course. 100 Units.
Terms Offered: Autumn, Winter, Spring
Prerequisite(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.