Classics Courses  2007-2008

101-Greek for Beginners. Introduction to the structure of classical Greek; reading of short texts from Plato to The New Testament to provide practice in literary reading and initiation in major areas of western thought. 2 units - Dobson. (Blocks 7-8)

111-Latin for Beginners.  Introduction to the structure of classical Latin; reading of short texts from Plautus to Milton and Newton to provide practice in literary and rhetorical reading and initiation in major areas of western thought. Attention to the history of the language and its relation to ancient, medieval and modern culture. 1-2 units – FitzGibbon . Blocks 5-6) Carries Critical Perspectives: The West in Time designation.

116-Greek Language and Philosophy. Introduction to ancient Greek language and philosophy in the context of Greek culture. Presocratics, Plato and Aristotle in relation to Homer, drama, emergence of democratic Athens, and etymological and grammatical structures of the language. Investigation of Greek concepts of language extends into modern philosophy, revealing how they both influence and are transformed by Hegel, Nietzsche and Heidegger. With the second block of CL 101, meets the college language requirement. 2 units - Dobson, Riker. Meets the West in Time requirement. (blocks 5-6)

125-Ancient Multicultures. Survey of ancient history as an arena of cultural contact between different ethnic, religious and cultural communities.  Emphasis on the Persian Empire as "other" to Greeks and Jews, on Alexandria as a "melting pot" or "salad bowl," and on the Greco-Roman society of later antiquity as locus of changing identities.  Mixed and dialogical cultural forms such as History, New Comedy, Pastoral, Apocalypse, Romance, Acts, and Gospel.  Reading selected from Herodotus, the Bible, Plautus, Theocritus, Polybius, Vergil, Caesar Augustus, Philo and Petronius. (Also listed as History 209) 1 unit-Cramer  (Block 8)

130-Reinvention of the Greeks: Identity, Empire and Diaspora. (First Year Experience. Fulfills the Critical Perspectives: West in Time requirement; two units of Humanities credit)

Greek contributions to American life are many and various. But what does it mean to be Greek? In more than three thousand years of history, Greeks have been masters, slaves, war-mongers and pacifists. They gave us the word "democracy" but also "tyranny." Culturally and geographically, they started as both Asian and European. Homer's Iliad, Euripides' Medea and the New Testament remind us how much of Greek culture has roots in Western Asia. The new library in Alexandria, Egypt, reminds us that Hellenism was most at home in northeast Africa. Through a millennium of Byzantine, and 400 years of Ottoman, rule, through the founding of modern Hellas in the 19th century and the disasters and renewals of the 20th century, the Greek language has been a continuous (if problematic) presence, and at most of these periods Greeks produced wonderful literature, from folk poems to novels.

We will examine questions of ethnicity and identity in ancient epic, philosophy and drama, and in modern poems and stories: the nationalist Dionysios Solomos; the island story-teller Alexandros Papadiamantis; the Alexandrian C.P. Cavafy, whose sense of estrangement involved sexuality as well as history; the Cretan novelist and poet Nikos Kazantzakis; the Nobel Prize-winning poet George Seferis, who lost his childhood home in Asia Minor in 1922. We will read recent women writers, and trace the theme of exile even to Colorado, where a Cretan who took the name Louis Tikas played a heroic role during the Ludlow Massacre of 1914. And we will examine key perceptions of Greece by non-Greeks from Byron on down.

The course is a good introduction to literary and historical studies, classics and cultural studies. Students will receive a single grade for two blocks. No knowledge of Greek is required. 2 units - FitzGibbon, Cramer.

141,142--Introduction to the Sanskrit language. Geared towards students with little or no experience in Sanskrit. Basic reading and pronunciation skills, emphasizing Sanskrit’s unique euphonic system; beginning declensional forms and grammatical structures. Strong focus on in-class oral recitation from memory. Extended Format course, may be taught as two sequential semester courses or a single year-long course. Also listed as Asian Studies (PA) 121,122. ½ unit per semester-L. S. Summer. Offered 2nd Semester this year.

201, 202-Reading in Greek. Introduction to Greek literature, including Homer and dramatic, philosophical or historical writing. Prerequisite: 101 or consent of instructor. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, semester or year, independent or group courses. - Dobson, Department.  (Extended format; intensive block, block 7) The Fall Semester course will be on Homeric Epic, taught in cooperation with other Sunoikisis colleges. See http://sunoikisis.nitle.org/SUNOIKGreek.html.

210-Greek Philosophy. An examination of the origins of Western philosophy as it arose in Greece. The course begins with the Presocratic philosophers, centers on the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and closes with the important Hellenistic traditions of Stoicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism, Cynicism and Neoplatonism. (Also listed as PH 101, blocks 1 and 7) 1 unit - Furtak, Riker.

211, 212-Reading in Latin. Various ancient and medieval Latin works. Prerequisite: Two years of high school Latin or 111. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, January 1/2 block, semester or year, independent or group courses. - Cramer, Fitzgibbon.  (Block 4 intensive, both semesters extended format offering; fall semester is a Medieval Latin course offered on 8 campuses in cooperation with Sunoikisis (see http://sunoikisis.nitle.org/SUNOIKLatin.html) summer block course)

216 - Foundations of Classical Culture: The Romans. Hellenism in Italy, the conquest of the Mediterranean area, the crisis of the Republic and the Roman Revolution of Augustus. 1 unit - FitzGibbon (block 3)

218-Homer. The Iliad and Odyssey as oral traditional poems, preservers of Bronze Age and archaic lore, locus of the creation of classical Greek culture and predecessors of European epic; together with Hesiodic epic and Homeric hymns. Reading in English with attention to the formal Greek diction and the problems of translation, except that students who know Greek will read parts of the original text. (Also listed for 2004-05 as CO 200--Achilles in the Caribbean. Block 1) 1 unit - Cramer, block 6.  

219-Greek Drama. A study of origins, early texts, performance practices and developing theatrical conventions in various cultures, with special emphasis on ancient Greek and Roman theatre. Discussion of the evolution of theatre from religious rites to dramatic works of art. Authors studied will include such figures as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Seneca. Taught as "Drama Away" in Turkey and Greece, Block 8: extra expense. (Also listed as Drama 201 and Comp. Lit. 200) 1 unit - Lindblade, block 3.

220-Myth and Meaning. An exploration of myth as a source of meaning. Topics include myth and fiction, myth and culture, myth and self-understanding and the vitality of myth. Readings primarily in ancient Greek myths with additional modern mythologies. Examinations of myth by authors such as Joseph Campbell, Roland Barthes, C.S. Lewis and C.G. Jung. No knowledge of Greek required.  1 unit - Dobson.  (Block 3)

221-The Invention of History. Herodotus, sometimes called the "father of lies", and Thucydides, sometimes called the first political scientist, treated as the first historians. Study of the ways of conceiving history and its relation to the peoples and periods explored. No Greek or Latin required. (Also listed as History 302.) 1 unit - Cramer. (Block 7)

222-Topics. Courses varying from year to year, to include offerings in classical and comparative religion and mythology, history, language and literature, anthropology, archaeology and women studies supplementary to those offered in the catalogue. No Greek or Latin required. 1/2 unit (for semester extended format) or 1 unit - Department.  

Block 4: Freedom and Empire--the Drama of Ancient Politics (also Pol. Sci. 234). 1 unit - Grace

250-Athenian Democracy. Development of democratic institutions from Solon to Pericles, their operations the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, the experiences of citizenship, legal equality, freedom, and love of country.  Slavery, sexual inequality and imperialism as notable, perhaps essential features of the system.  Reading from contemporary historians (Herodotus, Thucydides), theorists (Plato, Aristotle, the 'Old Oligarch'), dramatists (Aeschylus, Aristophanes), political orators (Lysias and Demosthenes) and later commentary from Plutarch to the present.  1 unit - Cramer. (Block 1)

301, 302-Advanced Reading in Greek. Further exploration of ancient, medieval or modern Greek literature, done as independent reading. Prerequisite: 201, 202. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, semester or year, independent or group courses - Dobson, Department.

311, 312-Advanced Reading in Latin. Further exploration of ancient or medieval Latin literature. Prerequisite: 211, 212 or consent of instructor. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, semester or year, independent or group courses - Cramer, FitzGibbon.

322-Advanced Topics. Independent study for advanced students with knowledge of Greek or Latin who wish to pursue specific studies in specialized areas. 1 unit - Department.

Block 7: After Troy: Genre and Trauma. The Trojan War in the Greek and Roman imagination: the war's aftermath in post-Homeric writers with special attention to question of genre. Also listed as Comp. Lit. 300 (Practice in Comparison). 1 unit - Hughes (block 7)

401, 402-Directed Reading in Greek. Independent study of various authors. Prerequisite: 301, 302. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, semester or year courses - Dobson, Department.

411, 412-Directed Reading in Latin. Independent study of various authors. Prerequisite: 311, 312. 1/2 or 1 unit each; may be taught as block, semester or year courses - Cramer, FitzGibbon.

431-Thesis. Thesis subjects chosen by student and approved by department. Senior classics, classics-history-politics and classics-English majors. 1 unit - Department.

Other courses are offered in rotation with these.