Classics Courses

Essentials of the grammar and syntax of Ancient Greek, both classical and Koine. Reading of easy passages from classical prose writers and the New Testament. Understanding of the Greek elements in western culture. Fall and spring.

Grammar review and study of more advanced syntactical structures. Selected readings from classical Greek prose and poetry; in recent years students have read one of Plato's dialogues. Fall.

Translation and study of Greek to improve grasp of grammar and syntax and to acquire a sense of style. Required for majors whose primary language is Greek and for those seeking accreditation to teach it. Offered every other year.

Readings in Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon or some combination of the three. A study of their aims, methods and distinctive styles and a consideration of the principles in terms of which they understand historical action. Offered every other year in Irving. Offered in Rome every spring (contingent on sufficient student participation).

Reading of one of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles or Euripides, focusing on drama as a means of investigating human nature and the relationship between man and the city. Offered every other year.

Extensive reading from either the Iliad or the Odyssey. Study of the Homeric world, Homeric language and poetic style. Offered every other year.

Reading of one or more dialogues with an emphasis upon their literary form and philosophical content. Offered every other year.

Begins with an introduction to Koine Greek, focusing on its distinctive grammar, vocabulary and syntax. Longer continuous passages are read from the Septuagint, a Gospel and a letter of Paul. Some exegesis of select texts.

An introduction to the rich tradition of Greek patristic literature that analyzes texts of four or five major writers from the 2nd to the 5th century, usually including Ignatius, Athanasius, one of the Cappadocians, Cyril of Jerusalem and John Chrysostom.

The senior project enables the student to bring together the fruits of his experiences in the various courses to produce an original critical treatment of a major author, work or theme. Students present the results of the project to an audience of faculty and students near the end of the spring semester.

This course provides the individual student with an opportunity to examine any topic, problem or work within the discipline of classics. Content will be determined by consultation with the instructor.

Three-credit courses offered as needed, focusing on particular authors, periods, genres or other topics of interest to teachers and students. For advanced students only.

Latin grammar and syntax with some emphasis on the historical background of the language and the principles of word-formation. Reading of simple texts. Fall and spring.

Designed for students who have studied the equivalent of at least two years of Latin at the secondary school level but need an intensive review in order to study at the intermediate level. Open to students with no prior training in Latin by permission of the program adviser. Fall only.

Selected readings of Roman prose writers, primarily Cicero. Prerequisite: Latin 1302, Latin 1305 or equivalent. A placement exam is required for those who have not completed either of these courses. Fall and spring.

Selected readings from the works of Catullus, Vergil and Ovid. Prerequisite: Latin 2311. Fall and spring.

Translation and study of Caesar and Cicero to improve grasp of grammar and syntax and to acquire a sense of style. Required for majors whose primary language is Latin and for those seeking accreditation to teach Latin in secondary school. Offered every other year.

Reading and study of Lucretius and Cicero to investigate the nature of philosophic writing and to seek understanding of the peculiarly Roman contribution to the Western philosophical tradition. Offered every other year.

Selected poems of Catullus, Vergil (Eclogues) and Horace (Odes). A study of the uses, the power and the diversity of lyric poetry in Latin. Offered every other year.

Reading of two comedies, one of Plautus and one of Terence; additional readings from a tragedy of Seneca. Emphasis on the specific character of the drama of Rome, as compared to Greece, and on the nature and function of comedy. Offered every other year.

Reading in Sallust, Livy and Tacitus. A study of their aims, methods and distinctive styles, and a consideration of the analytical and didactic functions of Roman historiography. Offered every other year.

Reading of the satires of Horace and Juvenal and of the "Cena Trimalchionis" of Petronius. Consideration of the question of satire as a uniquely Roman invention. Offered as needed.

A reading of selections from the Aeneid in Latin and a study of the poem as a whole in translation. Offered as needed.

Readings in Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid (Amores). Investigation of the nature of elegy in Rome and comparison of each elegist's aims. Offered as needed.

Translation of one of Cicero's works and study, primarily in translation, of additional writings of his with emphasis on his understanding of the education of the statesman in oratory and philosophy. Offered as needed.

Selections from the Confessions and the City of God reveal a fascinating human being, a most influential Christian thinker and a great master of Latin prose writing. Offered every other year.

This course explores the rich heritage of medieval Latin literature from the fifth century of Leo the Great to the thirteenth century of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure: prose and poetry, texts of history and philosophy, theology and spiritual writings. Offered as needed.

The senior project enables the student to bring together the fruits of his experiences in the various courses to produce an original critical treatment of a major author, work or theme. Students present the results of the project to an audience of faculty and students near the end of the spring semester.

A course in the special concerns of teaching Latin in secondary school; evaluation of various approaches to teaching Latin; practice in pronunciation and in explaining the structures of the language; ways of relating the cultural background to the language foreground. Required for Latin teaching field if the student has no experience in teaching Latin. Does not fulfill requirements for the majors or concentrations.

Three-credit courses offered as needed, focusing on particular authors, periods, genres or other topics of interest to teachers and students. For advanced students only.

Introduction to the art of speaking persuasively, as taught by the Greeks and Romans. Systematic approach to composing and delivering speeches. Study of model orations, ancient and modern, in English translations. Extensive practice.

The structural and the comparative approach with an emphasis on Indo-European languages. The formal, historical and cultural connotations on man's symbol-creating capacity as manifested in vocabularies and grammar. Conducted in English.

A study, through the reading of a series of texts in English translations, of the nature, the uses and the development of classical mythology as it appears in poetry and philosophy.

This three-credit special topics course on Mediterranean Archaeology is offered every other year and is an especially useful course for Classics students in need of interesting elective credits.

Three-credit courses offered as needed, focusing on particular authors, periods, genres or other topics of interest to teachers and students. For advanced students only.

A history of the art and architecture of Greece and/or Rome. The instructor may choose to emphasize a particular aspect of ancient art.

Studies of the major works of these two genres with a view toward understanding two alternative but concurrently enduring vistas upon the human condition. Readings normally include selections from the major Greek authors through Shakespearean examples of the dramatic genre.

Beginning with the Mycenaean age, the course surveys the political and cultural development of Greece to the Hellenistic era. Topics include the character of the polis, Greece commerce and colonization, the Persian wars, the Athenian empire and its achievements, the Peloponnesian war, fourth-century philosophy, Alexander the Great, and the Hellenistic successor states.

A survey of Roman history beginning with the founding of the city and concluding with the death of Julius Caesar. Topics include the regal period, the struggle of the orders, Roman imperialism, the development of Roman culture, and the crisis of the republican constitution.

Surveys of the history of Rome from the Augustan age to the fall of the empire in the West. Topics include the principate and the development of absolutism, imperial culture, the impact of Christianity, the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine, and the causes of Roman decline.

A detailed study of selected aspects of ancient culture and civilization.
 

Study of the nature and kinds of language, with particular attention to syntactical, semantic, and logical characteristics. Examination of major past and contemporary theories. Offered as needed.

A careful reading of Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. The themes of the course include Thucydides' account of international relations, the justice of imperialism, the connections between foreign and domestic politics, rhetoric, and the grounds of politics in necessity and morality. Alternate years.

An examination of ancient, Christian and modern conceptions of the human soul, morality and the political order. It will focus on the works of Plutarch or Cicero, St. Augustine and Machiavelli. Special attention is paid to the different analyses of the Roman Republic and the empire, and the ways of life found in each. Fall and spring.

The Socratic method in politics studied through a careful reading of the Republic, the seminal book in political philosophy in the Western tradition. An adequate approach to the dialogue form is emphasized in the interpretation. Fall and spring.

A careful reading of the fundamental work on politics. Aristotle is said to have systematized and made more practical the philosophic speculations of Socrates and Plato. Discussion of the extent to which this is true, and why Aristotle' s work remains fundamental to the understanding of political life. Fall and spring.

The ethical basis of political life as it comes into sight through a study of the Nichomachean Ethics. Alternate years.