CLA 101-8 First-Year Writing Seminar: Endless Exile: Homelessness in the Ancient Mediterranean
The topic of exile—the forced abandonment of the place and world one calls home—captured the imagination of peoples across the ancient Mediterranean. The Greek Odyssey and Roman Aeneid, famous accounts of the predicaments of classical exile, were by no means isolated instances. These renowned poems were in conversation with narratives that circulated widely among neighboring Egyptian, Hebrew, Babylonian, Phoenician, and other ancient communities, in stories which not only produced echoes among themselves, but very likely borrowed from each other. In this seminar, we will read and discuss representative accounts of exile from the ancient Mediterranean world, highlighting their historical and geographical specificity but also reflecting on their treatment of common concerns and themes—such as homelessness and hospitality, longing and belonging, identity and otherness, hosts and guests, refugees and havens, pain and nostalgia, presence and absence, etc. While the seminar will highlight the historical and archaeological coordinates of those narratives, we will also reflect upon their relevance in discussing the very current reality of exilic life in today’s world. As a first-year seminar, this course is meant to hone your abilities in the practice of academic writing. The activities for the seminar address this goal by implementing peer-review processes and exploring different writing techniques and sequences.
The course is a general history survey, starting with Rome’s humble beginnings and ending with the collapse of the Roman Empire. It will trace the story of how Rome as a small city state in central Italy, on the periphery of the older civilizations of the Near East and Greece, established military and political control over Italy; how it built a Mediterranean empire and administered it for centuries; how a long period of decline led to to the partition of its empire into an eastern and western half; and finally how the western half collapsed. In addition to this chronological narrative, the course will treat several key themes and concepts in Roman culture. The Roman military will receive attention, as will gender relations and public spectacles. Roman religion and the role of slavery will also be discussed.
CLA 245 Classics and the Cinema: Ancient Greeks and Romans on the Big Screen
This course examines the phenomenon of adaptations of Greco-Roman narratives to the languages and conditions of modern cinematography. The class begins with an overview of the framework and methods of Reception Studies, and a short account of some technical tools and terminology necessary to appropriately examine the audiovisual aspects of film. Equipped with these analytical instruments, we will discuss selected ancient narratives, both mythological and historical, and then interrogate the mechanisms through which those stories have been adapted to the technological apparatuses, sociocultural expectations, and economic dynamics constitutive of the practice of modern filmmaking. Through an eclectic selection of film adaptations from different periods and parts of the world, we will interrogate the ways world cinema negotiates between the “old” and the “new,” both by deploying visual and narrative techniques to depict ancient motifs, and by using those tales to convey modern historical preoccupations, political ideals, and cultural expectations.
CLA 310 Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean: The Archaeology of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae
The cities buried by Mt Vesuvius hold an undying place in the modern imagination. Tourists marvel at the size of the sites and empathize with the plight of the towns’ inhabitants. However, Campania’s destroyed cities have more to offer than the story of the 79 AD volcanic eruption. Rather than present a static picture of Campania’s towns as “frozen in time,” this course takes a diachronic approach to the rich archaeological material. Campania was not originally Roman territory and was conquered by force of arms. Pompeii, often seen as an archetypal Roman town, was not Roman at all for most of its existence. Still, at the time of the eruption Campania’s cities had been thoroughly Romanized; they are now famous for the evidence they provide for Roman daily life. This course will survey key aspects of the evidence, as well as current archaeological techniques and fieldwork. The course will also discuss the 18th and 19th century uncovering of Campania’s cities, which is a story in its own right.
CLA 314 Topics in Ancient Science and Technology: Ancient Astronomy
This course will explore the history of European and Near Eastern astronomy from the 7th century BCE to the 6th century CE. Students will learn the fundamentals of the geocentric model, ancient methods of observation, and traditions of cosmology. We will study the history of time-reckoning and calendar-making, as well as portrayals of astronomy and celestial phenomena in myth and literature. In addition to reading ancient texts, students will also make their own observations using models of ancient instruments and the methods of ancient astronomers.
CLA 370 Greek and Roman Religion: Sacred Space in the Ancient Mediterranean
Religion permeated every aspect of life in the ancient Mediterranean. Even though it was believed that one could encounter the gods anywhere, some places were more sacred than others, and over time the concept of a sanctuary formed. This course will investigate sacred spaces in the ancient Mediterranean, with a focus on Greece and Rome. We will ask: what made one place more sacred than others? What activities and rituals occurred in a sanctuary? How can we recognize a sanctuary archaeologically, and how were they discussed in ancient literature? By investigating ancient sacred spaces, students will explore the social, political, and economic realities and imaginations of religious spaces as they effected polities, empires, and interconnected cultures.
GREEK 115-2 Accelerated Elementary Ancient and Biblical Greek
This course is the second in a two-term accelerated series designed to teach students to read ancient Greek, making accessible much of the world’s most influential literature, from the biblical New Testament to Homeric poetry and Platonic philosophy. In this course we will complete our study of the fundamentals of Greek grammar, making students ready to transition into second-year courses in the New Testament, classical Greek oratory, and Homeric epic. We will also read longer passages of unaltered Greek, including passages from the New Testament and a song of Sappho. Thereafter students will be able to progress to a wide range of genres from the classical and post-classical periods, including ancient Greek history, poetry, philosophy, drama, and more.
GREEK 201-3 Introduction to Greek Literature: The Iliad
This course is the third and final element of the second-year Greek series. In this course we will read significant sections of Homer’s Iliad in the original language. Students will develop an ability to read the Homeric dialect and gain an understanding of the conventions of ancient epic poetry. As we explore the earliest European literary work we will also survey several important scholarly issues regarding the nature and history of the poem, including the nature of its composition and its place in ancient Greek society.
GREEK 301 Readings in Greek Literature: Lucian's True History
We will read a contender for the very first science fiction novel, the True History of Lucian of Samosata. Since the novel is a fantastical parody of travel writing, we will also read several examples of the travelogue genre in translation. We will discuss Lucian's social and literary context, as well as questions of identity, culture, and humor in the ancient world. Students will receive an accessible introduction to Second Sophistic Greek prose.
Latin 101-3 is the third quarter of the year-long elementary Latin sequence designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of classical Latin. Alongside the grammatical material in this class, students will work on expanding their Latin vocabulary and developing the basic skills for reading Latin texts that are necessary to continue successfully in the second year. Throughout the quarter, class meetings will be devoted to grammar review and completing Chapters 34-40 of Wheelock's Latin. Students will also read extensive selections from the Letters of Pliny the Younger. Students will be expected to develop reading, translation, and literary analysis skills in prepared passages from the original Latin text.
LATIN 201-3-1 Introduction to Latin Literature: Catullus
The third quarter of second-year Latin combines literary analysis with mastery of grammar and syntax at the intermediate level. This is mainly a workshop course on Catullus, with discussion focusing on questions to and from students enrolled in the class. Though translation will be a component in evaluation, it will be a relatively small criterion of success. The main topics of discussion will be how meaning and emphasis are communicated in the poetry of Catullus. Students will learn how to a) read the selected Latin texts with increasing accuracy and independence by strengthening vocabulary recall, syntactical knowledge, and reading comprehension strategies, b) place Catullus' poetry in its historical, literary, and cultural contexts with the help of commentaries, and c) evaluate different interpretations of the selected Latin poems and their composition.
A grade of C- or better in this course satisfies the Weinberg language proficiency requirement.
LATIN 201-3-2 Introduction to Latin Literature: Catullus
The third quarter of second-year Latin combines literary analysis with mastery of grammar and syntax at the intermediate level. This is mainly a workshop course on Catullus, with discussion focusing on questions to and from students enrolled in the class. Though translation will be a component in evaluation, it will be a relatively small criterion of success. The main topics of discussion will be how meaning and emphasis are communicated in the poetry of Catullus. Students will learn how to a) read the selected Latin texts with increasing accuracy and independence by strengthening vocabulary recall, syntactical knowledge, and reading comprehension strategies, b) place Catullus' poetry in its historical, literary, and cultural contexts with the help of commentaries, and c) evaluate different interpretations of the selected Latin poems and their composition.
A grade of C- or better in this course satisfies the Weinberg language proficiency requirement.
LATIN 310 Readings in Latin Literature: Writing Wrongs: Ovid's Heroides
In this course, students will read selections of Ovid’s Heroides. While Ovid is perhaps best known for his grand epic of forms changed into new bodies and his didactic poems on love, he is less known for his experiments in the epistolary genre, including a set of letters written from the perspective of mythological women abandoned by their heroic lovers. In these letters, the persona of the poet steps back and lets the familiar women of Greco-Roman mythology—Penelope, Dido, Medea, Ariadne, among others—“write” their own stories from their own perspectives. Each letter creates a distinct voice for its heroine, shaped by her relationship with the absent lover and the larger mythological context, offering a range of tones from rage to longing to defiance.
Students will analyze how Ovid, working at the intersection of epic, elegy, and epistolography, crafts these deeply emotional and personal narratives. How does he have each heroine think about her role in the lives of powerful men? How do they choose to handle their mistreatment? How do the letters challenge or reinforce the ideal of the Roman matrona, and what does this reveal about Roman cultural expectations in light of Augustus’ contemporary moral legislation? Should these letters be read as proto-feminist texts giving women a chance to speak back to both their oppressors and a literary tradition that has often marginalized them? By engaging with the Heroides, students will explore how Ovid’s innovative use of genre and voice invites reflection on broader themes of gender, power, and cultural identity in the ancient world.
