Classical Studies (CLAS)
This course provides a wide-ranging look at essential features of Greek and of Roman culture and society. Considerable emphasis will be given to the classical views of the human condition.
An examination of the nature and function of myth in Classical Antiquity. The course shows how the narrative and symbolic structure of myths orders individual and communal experience. The myths that have influenced Western civilization receive special emphasis.
A survey of Ancient Greek Art and Archaeology, with stress on form and function plus stylistic trends and aesthetic values. The course will illuminate the cultural, social, and political life in Ancient Greece. (Also listed as ARTH*2150).
This course examines the transmission of Graeco-Roman culture in circumstances radically different from those in which it originated. It highlights the aspects of classical culture most influential in forming the Western tradition.
This course augments CLAS*2350 for students of Latin through the reading and study in Latin of certain primary sources, in particular Cicero, Quintilian, Augustine.
Greek history in the 5th century; the development of Athenian democracy; the Peloponnesian War and the decline of Athenian dominance. Special attention is paid to the literature and thought of the period.
An examination of the collapse of the Roman Republic and the development of the Imperial government under Augustus. The paradox of the external power and inner instability of Rome.
The rise and fall of the Hellenistic states from the death of Alexander the Great until the Roman conquest, with political emphasis on the development of the monarchies and cultural emphasis on the Hellenization of the East.
The nature and significance of the epic hero. Epic as code and as critique of tradition. Oral poetry, and critical problems raised by it. The central texts are The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Virgil's Aeneid; other poems are also studied.
The nature of tragedy, and the existential and moral questions raised by the plays of Aischylos, Sophokles, and Euripides. Comedy, fantasy, and society in Aristophanes.
This course augments CLAS*3000 for students of Greek through the reading and study in Greek of selected primary sources, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch.
This course augments CLAS*3010 for students of Latin through the reading and study in Latin of selected primary sources, notably Sallust, Cicero, Caesar, and Suetonius.
This course augments the understanding of later Greek prose and poetry through the reading and study in Greek of selected Greek sources pertaining to the Hellenistic World, primarily Polybius and Plutarch, Callimachus and Theocritus.
This course augments CLAS*3030 for students of Greek through the reading in Greek of selected books from the Iliad and/or Odyssey. The course will include close study of the epic dialect and features of its formulaic language.
This course augments the understanding of Greek literature through the reading and study of works of Greek verse by authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes in the original language.
An examination of the varieties of religious experience and of religious activity in Greece and Rome, before the establishment of Christianity. Particular attention is paid both to the relations of religion to state and to the relations of the individual to gods.
This course augments CLAS*3100 for students of Latin through the reading and study of Latin primary sources.
Introduction to Roman art and urbanism from the Early Republic to the end of the imperial period. The course will survey the developments of Roman art with an emphasis on architecture, sculpture and painting. It will illuminate the development of the urban space in the context of cultural, social and political life. (Also listed as ARTH*3150).
This course is designed for students of Greek or Latin who are seeking an enriched learning opportunity, through directed reading and/or research in the original language (Greek or Latin). Consult the Classical Studies faculty advisor for information about this opportunity.
This course provides an opportunity for independent study based on an experiential project in Classical Studies. The project (approximately 70 hours) must be approved by a faculty member in the School of Languages and Literatures. It will include research about experiential learning, a reflective piece of writing and a public oral presentation about the project.
The historical and formal roots of fiction in the classical prose romances. Special attention is paid to the influence of myth, religion, historiography and ethical biography. Among texts studied are Daphnis and Chloe, Satyricon, and Aithiopika.
This course augments the understanding of post-Augustan Latin literature through the reading and study of later Latin authors in the original language.
This course is intended to complement courses in specified studies in classics. It engages the student in research and in critical writing, and permits the examination, in depth, of a topic of importance to the discipline and of interest to the student.
A seminar course complementing courses of specific study in classics. It seeks to define the nature of the discipline, its values and its procedures. Attention will be paid to recent methodological and ideological trends in the discipline.