Classics
250/History 213: Athenian Democracy
Block 4, 2001
Prof.
Owen Cramer
Armstrong
130 747 E. Uintah
x6443 634-3392
Office
hours: Monday through Friday 2-4
This
is the third iteration of a course dealing both with democracy (ancient and
modern, an ideal or an object of critique) and with the Athenians who, according
to some accounts, invented it. We'll
be guided by general reference stuff from the Oxford Classical Dictionary
(in Tutt reference) and Perseus and
the Stoa resources, as well as the following
particular things:
·
The
Penguin Atlas of Ancient Greece for historical overview
·
a
textbook about our subject, David Stockton's Classical Athenian Democracy (Oxford 1990)
We'll
look at Aristotle's (384-322 BCE) scholastic examination--his student's
·
Constitution of the
Athenians
(Penguin translation by P. J. Rhodes; searchable Greek and English texts
available at Perseus; English by
the first translator, F. G. Kenyon, at the Internet Classics
Archive—where there
have been problems)
We'll
go back of Aristotle to some 5th-century historians' accounts of the
background and operation of the democracy: at least briefly referring to the
·
Histories (investigations) of
Herodotus (c. 485-430) --Rawlinson translation available on the Web at Marquette U.;
and to
·
Thucydides
(c. 460-400), Peloponnesian War (Crawley
1874 translation at ICA)
We'll
look at some Athenian drama, written for festivals started by the
pre-democratic tyrant Peisistratus and continued under the democracy:
·
Aeschylus
Oresteia (Tony Harrison translation)
Tutt videos 617, 618, 619
·
Sophocles
Antigone (modern Greek production w/
Irini Pappas) video 1451
·
Sophocles/Lee
Breuer The Gospel at Colonus
(Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama) video 714
·
Aristophanes,
Acharnians, Lysistrata, Clouds, translated by Jeffrey Henderson (Focus
Publishers); performance videos: Birds
(2336), Ecclesiazusae (w/ Plautus,
1955), Lysistrata (Modern Greek,
2024)
We
may look at Plutarch's "Lives" of Athenians like Solon (Dryden
translation at the ICA) and
at courtroom speeches by Andocides and others at Perseus.
And
we'll try to follow the democracy in America, via news reporting of the ongoing
international war news, the national administration and legislature and civic
activities in Colorado Springs.
Schedule:
|
day |
class sessions |
reading (for next day) |
meetings to attend |
First
week November 26-30: general ideas, how Athens got that way
|
M
26 |
Introductions
and introductory discussion of democracy as we know it |
Stockton,
Intro. and chapters 1-2 ("Facts and Figures"; "Solon to
Ephialtes" Start
informal writing for the class: e-mail |
El
Paso County Commissioners meet, 27 E. Vermijo, 9:00; Colo. Springs City
Council informal meeting, 30 S. Nevada, 1:00 (East-West Transportation
study)(http://www.ci.colospgs.co.us) |
|
Tu
27 |
Greek
common notions: land, men, women, children, slaves, wealth . . . |
·
"Aristotle", Constitution sections 1-22 ·
Herodotus
1.29-34 and 59-64; and 5.55-78 and 6.123-131(At the ICA, if available,scroll
1/3 of the way through book 1 at ICA, to start;
or go to http://classics.mit.edu/Search/index.html
and search for Solon and then Pisistratus and Clisthenes, specifying author
Herodotus, if the search engine is working); Plutarch, "Solon" ·
Thucydides book 1 sect. 1-23 |
City
Council meets 9:00 am, 30 S. Nevada (Airport open space) |
|
W
28 |
Athens:
constitutional changes changes I-V, --Solon, Peisistratos, Cleisthenes: society, economy, performance, isonomia and the Demos |
·
Constitution 23-41 ·
Plutarch "Cimon" and "Pericles" at the ICA; ·
Thucydides book 1 sect. 66-97; book 2 sect. 34-46 and 59-65; book 6
sect. 8-28 |
|
|
Th
29 |
Periclean
democracy imperialism, Navy, "school of Hellas" |
·
Stockton chapter 3 ·
Constitution of Athens section 42-69 |
|
|
F
30 |
How
the democracy (Periclean or later) worked in detail |
·
Stockton chapters 4-6 ·
Thucydides book 8 |
|
Second
Week December 3-7: Democracy surviving; how it worked in the 4th
century
|
M
3 |
politicians,
revolutions, critics and champions; maybe we'll look at some plays |
A
glance at Plato's Republic? (save that thought and read Aristophanes’
Acharnians Continue
e-writing this week--begin organized research on what interests you |
Sowore
Omoyele, Nigerian democracy activist, McHugh Commons 7:30pm (Amnesty
International) |
|
T
4 |
Ideological
issues in Periclean/post-Periclean Athens (“Acharnians”); design your
research |
Rest
of Aristophanes; Plato, Republic,
esp. book 1 and the stuff about the Cave at
the start of book 6 and Democracy
from book 8. |
Kevin
Danaher (Global Exchange), “People’s/Elite Globalization” (O’Connor Lecture),
Packard 7:30pm |
|
W
5 |
constitutions
in theory and practice—women and Socrates as reformers/opponents |
|
Pizza
& Politics lunch (Pol. Sci. Dept.) Slocum Commons 12 noon Emi
Koyama (EQUAL keynote) Slocum Commons, 7 pm School
Board Meeting (District 11) 6:30 pm, 1115 N. El Paso (agenda) |
|
Th
6 |
|
|
Colo.
Springs City Planning Commission meets, 30 S. Nevada, 8:30 am |
|
F
7 |
Design
your research individually or in groups; discussion leaders needed for the Demokratia essays and other topics. |
|
Colo
College Board of Trustees meets Thursday through Saturday. |
Third
Week December 10-14 Your research
|
M
10 |
|
|
|
|
T
11 |
|
|
Colo.
Springs City Council meets 9:00 am, 107 N. Nevada |
|
W
12 |
|
|
|
|
Th
13 |
|
|
|
|
F
14 |
|
|
|
Last
Week December 17-19
|
M
17 |
final
discussion I |
|
|
|
T
19 |
final
discussion II |
|
|
|
W
19 |
Final
exam on the reading; submit research papers |
|
|
Writing:
·
Circulate
brief statements of response to reading and viewing material of the course,
information you find, research results, on the network--either we'll open a
class folder in the Outlook/Exchange system or you can simply generate a
mailing list/distribution file of students and faculty and send to us in format
of your choice. Do this almost every
day.
·
Include
in this informal writing reports of at least two public meetings (or court
sessions) you attend.
·
Identify
a topic for deeper research, which you will prepare for final submission at the
end of the block but on which you will report periodically before that. We will probably have a final examination on
the last Wednesday.
Other responsibilities:
Pick
a topic which you can present to the class and lead a discussion on, as soon as
possible, certainly by the third week of the block: it may relate to your
research project. As part of your preparation for this presentation/discussion,
you should tell the class what reading to review or to prepare new, and you
should suggest some discussion questions.