CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

LATIN

Elementary Latin I-II

V27.0003-0004  Both terms must be completed to receive credit toward any departmental major or minor. Given every year.4 points per term.

Introduction to the essentials of Latin vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. Five hours of instruction weekly, with both oral and written drills and an emphasis on the ability to read Latin rather than merely translate it. The second semester (V27.0004) introduces the student to selected readings from standard Latin authors.

Intensive Elementary Latin

V27.0002  Open to students with no previous training in Latin and to others through assignment by placement test. Given every other year. Spring term only. 6 points.

Completes the equivalent of a year’s elementary level in one semester.

Intermediate Latin I: Reading Prose

V27.0005  Prerequisites: V27.0003-0004 or V27.0002 or equivalent. Given every year. 4 points.

Teaches second-year students to read Latin prose through comprehensive grammar review; emphasis on the proper techniques for reading (correct phrase division, the identification of clauses, and reading in order); and practice reading at sight. At least one complete oration by Cicero is read; other authors may include Cornelius Nepos, Caesar, Livy, Pliny, or Petronius, at the instructor’s discretion.

Intermediate Latin II: Virgil

V27.0006  Prerequisite: V27.0005 or equivalent. Given every year. 4 points.

Writings of the greatest Roman poet, focusing on the most generally read portions of his most celebrated poem, the Aeneid. The meter of the poem is studied, and the student learns to read Latin metrically to reflect the necessary sound for full appreciation of the writing.Readings in political and literary history illustrate the setting in the Augustan Age in which the Aeneid was written and enjoyed, the relationship of the poem to the other classical epics, and its influence on the poetry of later times.

ANCIENT GREEK

Elementary Ancient Greek I-II

V27.0007-0008  Both terms must be completed to receive credit toward any departmental major or minor. Given every year. 4 points per term.

Introduction to the complex but highly beautiful language of ancientGreece—the language of Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, and Plato. Students learn the essentials of ancient Greek vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. Five hours of instruction weekly, with both oral and written drills and an emphasis on the ability to read Greek rather than merely translate it.

Intermediate Ancient Greek I: Plato

V27.0009  Prerequisites: V27.0007-0008 or equivalent. Given every year. 4 points.

Reading of Plato’s Apology and Crito and selections from the Republic. The purpose of the course is to develop facility in reading Attic prose. Supplements readings in Greek with lectures on Socrates and the Platonic dialogues.

Intermediate Ancient Greek II: Homer

V27.0010  Prerequisite: V27.0009 or equivalent. Given every year. 4 points.

Extensive readings in the Iliad or Odyssey. Proficiency in scansion is expected as well as a good command of Homeric vocabulary. Relevant topics ranging from the Homeric question to problems of oral tradition through the archaeological evidence of Bronze AgeGreece andTroy are discussed in class or developed by the student through oral or written reports.

ADVANCED LATIN AND ADVANCED ANCIENT GREEK

Advanced Latin: Epic

V27.0871  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every 3 years. 4 points.

Extensive readings in Virgil’s Aeneid and the other epics ofRome, including Lucan’s Bellum Civile and Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura. Consideration will be given to the growth and development of Roman epic, its Greek antecedents, and its relationship to the Romans’ construction of their past. Study of the development of the Latin hexameter is also included.

Advanced Latin:Cicero

V27.0872  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Offering extensive readings from the prose works ofCicero, this course provides readings in Latin of a selection fromCicero’s speeches, letters, oratorical works, and philosophical works.Cicero’s place in the development of Latin literature is also considered, as is the social and political world of the late Republic that he inhabited.

Advanced Latin: Lyric and Elegy

V27.0873  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

This course provides extensive readings from the works ofRome’s greatest lyric and elegiac poets, including Catullus, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid. The various lyric meters adapted by the Romans are considered, as is the development of the Latin Love Elegy.

Advanced Latin: Comedy

V27.0874  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

A selection of plays from those of Plautus and Terence. The development of Roman comedy, its relationship to Greek New Comedy, and its social and cultural place in Roman life is also discussed. Some facility in Plautine and Terentian meter will also be expected.

Advanced Latin: Satire

V27.0875  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

With extensive readings from Horace’s, Juvenal’s, and Persius’s satires, this class traces the development of the satiric mode from its earliest beginnings inRome to its flowering under the Empire. The relationship of satire to the social world ofRome, including its treatment of money, women, political figures, and social climbers, is also examined.

Advanced Latin: Latin Historians

V27.0876  Prerequisite: V27.0006 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Readings from the three masters of Roman historiography, Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus. The course also considers the rise and development of history inRome, its relationship to myth, and its narrative structure and manner.

Advanced Individual Study in Latin

V27.0891, 0892, 0893, 0894  Prerequisite: permission of the department. Given every year. 2 or 4 points per term.

Advanced Greek: Archaic Poetry

V27.0971  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Extensive readings from the lyric, elegiac, and iambic poets ofGreece. The course studies the use of the various lyric forms, the different meters employed by the archaic poets, and the social functions of archaic poetry.

Advanced Greek: Greek Historians

V27.0972  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Readings from the two fifth-century masters of Greek historiography, Herodotus and Thucydides. The course examines the themes, narrative structure, and methodology of both writers, as well as giving some consideration to the rise of history-writing inGreece, and its relationship to myth and epic.

Advanced Greek: Drama

V27.0973  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Readings of several plays from among those of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Spoken and choral meter are studied, and the role of performance, dramaturgy, and the place of theatre in Athenian society are also examined.

Advanced Greek: Orators

V27.0974  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Readings of several speeches from the major Attic orators (Lysias, Aeschines, and Demosthenes). The course also examines the role of law in Athenian society, procedure in the Athenian courts, and rhetorical education and training.

Advanced Greek: Philosophy

V27.0975  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

Readings from the dialogues of Plato and the major philosophical works of Aristotle.

Advanced Greek: Hellenistic Poetry

V27.0976  Prerequisite: V27.0010 or equivalent. Given every three years. 4 points.

The course offers a selection of various authors (including Callimachus, Theocritus, and Apollonius) and genres (pastoral, hymn, epigram, drinking song) from the Hellenistic era.

Advanced Individual Study in Ancient Greek

V27.0991, 0992, 0993, 0994  Prerequisite: permission of the department. Given every year. 2 or 4 points per term.

CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION

INTRODUCTORY COURSES

Civilization of Greece and Rome

V27.0303  Given infrequently. 4 points.

Selections from some of the great works of Greco-Roman literature, considered in their historical context, provide a broad and multifaceted understanding of those cultures. The texts include Homer, Iliad and Odyssey; Herodotus, The Histories; Thucydides, Peloponnesian War; Aeschylus, Oresteia; selected plays of Sophocles and Aristophanes; Plato, Republic; Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe; and Virgil, Aeneid.

Classical Mythology

V27.0404  Identical to V90.0404. Given every year. 4 points.

Discusses the myths and legends of Greek and Roman mythology and the gods, demigods, heroes, nymphs, monsters, and everyday mortals who played out their parts in this mythology. Begins with creation, as vividly described by Hesiod in the Theogony, and ends with the great Trojan War and the return of the Greek heroes, especially Odysseus. Roman myth is also treated, with emphasis on Aeneas and the foundation legends ofRome.

Everday Life in Ancient Rome

V27.0212  Given every other year. 4 points.

This course will study daily life as it was lived by Romans in the period of the late Republic and early Empire: how they worked and worshipped, how they dressed, fed, and entertained themselves. We will look at questions of family life and social status, at rich and poor, at slaves and free, at the lives of men, women, and children. We will consider marriage and divorce, crime and punishment, law and property. All of these issues will be examined primarily through the original texts in which Roman authors like Horace, Martial, and Juvenal apparently describe their own lives and those of their contemporaries; we will look at those authors' own aims and the nature of their texts, to see how they can be used for historical evidence.

Etymology

V27.0023  Identical to V61.0076. 4 points.

See description under Linguistics (61).

LITERATURE

Greek Drama: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

V27.0143  Identical to V30.0210. Given periodically. 4 points.

Of the ancient Greeks’ many gifts to Western culture, one of the most celebrated and influential is the art of drama. This course covers, through the best available translations, the masterpieces of the three great Athenian dramatists. Analysis of the place of the plays in the history of tragedy and the continuing influence they have had on serious playwrights, including those of the 20th century.

The Comedies of Greece and Rome

V27.0144  Identical to V30.0211. Given periodically. 4 points.

Study of early comedy, its form, content, and social and historical background. Covers the Old Comedy of fifth-century B.C.Athens through later Attic New Comedy and Roman comedy. Authors include Aristophanes (all 11 plays, one may be staged); Euripides, whose tragedies revolutionized the form of both comedy and tragedy; Menander, whose plays have only recently been discovered; and Plautus and Terence, whose works profoundly influenced the development of comedy inWestern Europe.

Greek and Roman Epic

V27.0146  Given periodically. 4 points.

Detailed study of the epic from its earliest form, as used by Homer, to its use by the Roman authors. Concentrates on the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer and on Virgil’s Aeneid, but may also cover the Argonautica of the Alexandrian poet Apollonius of Rhodes and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as the epics representative of Silver Latin by Lucan, Silius Italicus, and Valerius Flaccus.

The Novel in Antiquity

V27.0203  Identical to V29.0203. Given periodically. 4 points.

Survey of Greek and Roman narrative fiction in antiquity, its origins and development as a literary genre, and its influence on the tradition of the novel in Western literature.Readings includeChariton’s Chaereas and Callirrhoe, Longus’s Daphnis and Chloe, Heliodorus’s Ethiopian Tale, Lucian’s True History, Petronius’s Satyricon, and Apuleius’s Golden Ass. Concludes with the Gesta Romanorum and the influence of this tradition on later prose, such as Elizabethan prose romance.

Ancient Political Theory

V27.0206  Given periodically. 4 points.

Examines the foundation of the ancient polis (city-state), its ancient interpretations, and the emergence of political philosophy with Socrates. Use of ancient sources. Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes illustrates what the ancients regarded as problems inherent in political life that, however “solved,” always persisted. Also includes the Oresteia as the first example of a solution, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tryannus, Aristophanes’ Knights, Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics, andCicero’s Republic and Laws.

Ancient Historiography

V27.0207  Identical to V57.0207. Given periodically. 4 points.

Through a close reading of some of the most important Greek and Roman historians (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Caesar, Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus), this class focuses on how the ancients understood the tasks of the historian. Topics include the invention of history, narrative and causal analysis, the relationship between deeds and speeches, universal versus particular history, and the perception of history as literature.

Faces of Sexuality and Gender in Greece and Rome

V27.0210  Given periodically. 4 points.

This class deals with the constructions of gender and experiences of sexuality in ancientGreece andRome. Working with texts and representations from varied discourses such as medicine, law, literature, visual art, and philosophy, students explore the ways in which the ancient Greeks and Romans perceived their own bodies in such a way as to differentiate gender and understand desire. The class also discusses how eroticism and gender support and subvert political and social ideologies.

GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORY

Everyday Life in Ancient Rome

V27.0212 Given every other year. 4 points.

This course studies daily life as it was lived by Romans in the period of the late Republic and early Empire: how they worked and worshipped, how they dressed, fed, and entertained themselves. We look at questions of family life and social status, at rich and poor, at slaves and free, at the lives of men, women, and children. We consider marriage and divorce, crime and punishment, law and property. All of these issues we examine primarily through original texts in which Roman authors like Horace, Martial, and Juvenal apparently describe their own lives and those of their contemporaries; we look at those authors' own aims and the nature of their texts, to see how they can be used for historical evidence.

History of Ancient Greece

V27.0242  Identical to V57.0200. Given every other year. 4 points.

Until a few decades ago, Greek history began with Homer and dealt narrowly with the Greek world. Thanks to archaeology, the social sciences, and other historical tools, the chronological and geographical horizons have been pushed back. The history of the Greeks now starts in the third millennium B.C. and is connected to the civilization that lay to the east, rooted inEgypt andMesopotamia. Traces Greek history from the Greeks’ earliest appearance to the advent of Alexander.

The Greek World from Alexander to Augustus

V27.0243  Identical to V57.0243. Given every other year. 4 points.

Continuation of the history of ancientGreece from the age of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. until Emperor Augustus consolidated the Roman hold over the easternMediterranean in the first century B.C. These three centuries saw the relationship betweenRome and theNear East become most meaningful. Examines Alexander’s conquests, the states established by his successors (Ptolemies of Egypt and Seleucids of Syria), and the increasing intervention ofRome.

The Age of Pericles

V27.0244  Given periodically. 4 points.

Discusses the most important political and cultural developments in the approximately 30 years in which Pericles determined political and cultural life inAthens (ca. 460-430 B.C.) as well as their roots and their impact. The subjects addressed include the introduction of radical democracy, Athenian imperialism, the rise of historiography, theatrical production, festivals, art, science, the beginnings of moral philosophy and political thought, women’s life, slavery, and Greek law.

History of the Roman Republic

V27.0267  Identical to V57.0205. Given every other year. 4 points.

In the sixth century B.C.,Rome was an obscure village. By the end of the third century B.C.,Rome was master ofItaly, and within another 150 years, it dominated almost all of the Mediterranean world. Then followed a century of civil war involving some of the most famous events and men—Caesar, Pompey, and Cato—in Western history. The course surveys this vital period with a modern research interpretation.

History of the Roman Empire

V27.0278  Identical to V57.0206. Given every other year. 4 points.

In the spring of 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was murdered by a group of senators disgruntled with his monarchic ways. However, Caesar’s adoptive son and heir, Octavian, was quickly on the scene and in little more than a decade managed to establish himself asRome’s first emperor. About three centuries later, Constantine the Great would rise to imperial power and with him came a new state religion—Christianity. This course examines the social and political history of the Roman empire from the time of Augustus to that ofConstantine and also closely observes the parallel growth of Christianity.

History of Ancient Law

V27.0292  Given periodically. 4 points.

Examines the development of law and legal systems and the relationships of these to the societies that created them, starting with some ancient Near Eastern systems and working down to the Roman period. The main focus is on the fully developed system of Roman law.

ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

The Birth of Greek Art: Bronze Age to Geometric

V27.0311  Identical to V43.0101. 4 points.

See description under Fine Arts (43).

Archaic and Classical Art: Greek and Etruscan

V27.0312  Identical to V43.0102. 4 points.

See description under Fine Arts (43).

Hellenistic and Roman Art

V27.0313  Identical to V43.0103. 4 points.

See description under Fine Arts (43).

Greek Architecture

V27.0353  Identical to V43.0104. Given every other year. 4 points.

A chronological survey of the Greek architectural tradition from its Iron Age origins, marked by the construction of the first all-stone temples, to its radical transformation in the late Hellenistic period, most distinctively embodied in the baroque palace architecture reflected in contemporary theatre stage-buildings. Lectures (and accompanying images) and readings present the major monuments and building types, as well as related subjects such as city planning and urbanism, building methods, and traditions of architectural patronage.

Roman Architecture

V27.0354  Identical to V43.0105. Given every other year. 4 points.

A chronological survey of Roman architecture from its early development against the background of the Greek and Etruscan traditions to the dramatic melding of the divergent trends of late antiquity in the great Justinianic churches of Constantinople andRavenna. The lectures (and accompanying images) and readings present the major monuments and building types, as well as related subjects such Roman engineering, and the interaction between Rome and its provinces.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Ancient Religion: From Paganism to Christianity

V27.0409  Identical to V90.0409. Given periodically. 4 points.

The period from the beginnings of Greek religion until the spread of Christianity spans over 2,000 years and many approaches to religious and moral issues. Traces developments such as Olympian gods of Homer and Hesiod; hero worship; public and private religion; views of death, the soul, and afterlife; Dionysus; Epicureanism; and Stoicism. Deals with changes in Greek religion during the Roman republic and early empire and the success of Christians in converting pagans in spite of official persecution.

Greek Thinkers

V27.0700  Identical to V83.0122. Given periodically. 4 points.

The origins of nonmythical speculation among the Greeks and the main patterns of philosophical thought, from Thales and other early speculators about the physical nature of the world through Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureans, and Neoplatonists.

SPECIAL COURSES

Special Topics in Classical Studies I, II

V27.0293, 0294  Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Usually conducted in English. Given periodically. 2 or 4 points.

Seminar topics vary from semester to semester, although the focus is always on a limited aspect of life, history, literature, art, or archaeology of Greco-Roman antiquity. Topics from past semesters include the Trojan war, archaeology and pottery, Alexander the Great, the Etruscans, and crime and violence in the ancient world. Future topics may include Plato and Aristotle, ancient medicine, the age of Pericles, the Age of Augustus, and Latin love poetry.

Internship

V27.0980, 0981  Prerequisite: permission of the department. Open only to juniors and seniors. Given every year. 2 or 4 points per term.

Internships afford students the opportunity to work outside the University in areas related to the field of classics. Institutions such as theBrooklynMuseum and the American Numismatic Society offer such opportunities. Requirements for completion of the internship include periodic progress reports and a paper describing the entire project.

Independent Study

V27.0997, 0998  Prerequisite: permission of the department. 2 or 4 points per term.

GRADUATE COURSES OPEN TO UNDERGRADUATES

Courses in classics offered in the Graduate School of Arts and Science are open to all undergraduates who have reached the required advanced level of Greek or Latin language instruction.