Spring 2027
This course presents an overview of the highlights of Roman civilization with particular emphasis on major literary works & how they reflect Roman culture.
This course provides an introduction to the archaeology of the Roman world from the eighth century BCE to the sixth century CE. We will cover sites like Pompeii, monuments like the Colosseum, innovations like Roman roads and glass, and artifact classes like coins and ceramics. In our study of these topics, we will practice skills used by archaeologists to identify and interpret ancient Roman material culture.
In this seminar we will read and discuss the Iliad (in the translation by Richmond Lattimore), focusing on the central books, and the following ten topics: Story and Poetry; Gods and Humans; War and Warriors; Glory and Violence; Pity and Pathos. You will do an oral presentation on a relevant passage, and write a 3-page (900 words) paper. This seminar will be accessible to students of all backgrounds, and needs no previous training. There are no prerequisites.
An introduction to the themes, characters and images of Greek and Roman myth--we will create the universe, gods, and humans, and then focus on particular heroes as opportunities to consider the scope and interpretations of the mythology. We will consider how these ancient cultures conceived of deity, what it meant to be human, and how they dealt with the mysterious and the inexplicable. Primary evidence (literary references, physical remains and iconography) will be used to identify and interpret the myths, study their origins, and analyze their importance for our understanding of ancient belief systems.
An introduction to ancient Greek philosophy through study of Plato, Aristotle, and the most important of the schools of thought that succeeded them (Epicureans, Stoics, and Sceptics). These ancient philosophers set the agenda for many of the questions still thought fundamental to philosophic inquiry, but approached them in a spirit different from that typical of modern philosophy. They thought of philosophy as a way of life; indeed, the best way. Readings will include Plato, "Republic" (entire); Aristotle, "Physics" and "Ethics" (selections); Lucretius, "The Way Things Are" (entire); and selections from Stoic and Sceptic philosophers.
Learn about the ancient world’s 99%.
The history of ideas about the soul’s postmortem fate in the ancient Mediterranean world.
An examination of ideas about magic in the Greek and Roman worlds 750 BCE - 400 CE
In this course we will investigate the conceptions of divinity put forward by the principal philosophers and philosophic schools of thought in ancient Greece.
Introduction to the history of medical theory and practice in the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond.
This course is the second part of a two-semester sequence that will enable you to start reading unabridged texts in ancient Greek, the language of Homer, Sappho, Sophocles, and Plato. While the focus of the class will be on mastering this nuanced and evocative language, it will also introduce you to key themes and elements of ancient Greek literature and culture.
This course offers an introduction to Ancient Greek comedy.
Latin 2 is the second half of a two-semester language sequence preparing students to read Classical Latin. The course focuses on the dialect of Latin used by authors such as Caesar, Cicero, Vergil, and Ovid.
Fourth-semester Latin: an introduction to Vergil's Aeneid (prior Latin study is a prerequisite).
In this class we will read extensive selections from all four books of Vergil’s strangely compelling poem about farming. Influenced by both Hesiod and Lucretius, the poem is deeply emotional at times and often probes the connections between humans and the natural world, while also reflecting on philosophy, mythology, and contemporary history. The focus will be on reading the Latin text, but we will also read and discuss modern scholarship. There will be a short writing assignment early on, and a longer paper near the end of the semester, plus regular quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam.
Reading of Cicero's Verrines in Latin. The course fulfills the L&S Breadth requirement in Arts & Literature.
Study of tools for advanced research in ancient Greek and Latin textual evidence.
Part Two of a two-part graduate survey of Latin literature.
The seminar, open to graduate students from all disciplines, will consider the virtues and risks of “tarrying with the negative” (Hegel) as a principle of theoretical, political, and ethical critique.
This seminar is an advanced introduction to Greek epigraphy for graduate students. Inscriptions preserve documentary evidence that is essential for the political, economic, social, and religious history of the Greek world, but using them well requires a bit of training. This seminar will provide an introduction to the scholarly tools and conventions of Greek epigraphy; readings in the major types of Greek inscriptions; and a research project centered around one or more Greek inscriptions.
This interdisciplinary graduate seminar will explore various histories of re-reading and re-writing the archaic Greek lyrics attributed to Sappho, composed as songs accompanied by the lyre on the island of Lesbos in the sixth century BC. Although (and because) the Sapphic corpus survives only in fragments, it has inspired a long tradition of translations and imitations by poets writing “after” Sappho.
Advanced instruction in the writing of Greek prose.
