Spring 2010 Classical Studies Courses
Spring 2010 courses are divided into three areas of study: Classics in English, Greek, and Latin. All available courses can also be viewed via BannerWeb. All courses are one unit (unless otherwise indicated).
Classics in English
Classics 208 – Mythology in Greek Drama
This course examines the transformation of stories from Greece's mythical past (the Age of Gods and Heroes, and the Trojan War) into literature by the dramatic poets of Athens. Readings will include numerous plays by the Attic dramatists (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes), as well as Hesiod’s Theogony; selections of lyric and choral poetry (Sappho, Pindar and Bacchylides); the Homeric Hymns; and works by the philosophers Plato (Republic, Ion) and Aristotle (Poetics). Particular attention will be given to historical, theoretical and literary analysis. No prerequisite. Fulfills Literary Studies Field of Study requirement. (1 unit) TR 3:00-4:15 – Nerdahl
Classics 301 – Greek Art & Archaeology
Students will study the art and archaeology of the Greek world, from the Bronze Age through the Classical period. While tracing developments in painting, sculpture, and architecture, we will consider the function of art and buildings in Greek society and their relation to history, politics, and social ideologies. The course will also explore and critique different methods of analyzing and interpreting archaeological remains, and students will engage with Greek art and architecture through their own visual creations. No prerequisite. Fulfills the Visual and Performing Arts Field of Study (FSVP). (1 unit)
MW 1:30-2:45 – Baughan
Classics 304 – The Feminine in Greco-Roman Literature
Students will learn how to employ theories of literary interpretation in the close analysis of literary works from Greek and Roman antiquity. We will pay close attention to issues involving sex and gender, and particularly to the role played by literature in the social construction of sexual gender. Topics for discussion will include: the feminine in the divine and human realms, the feminine and the hero, sexual hierarchies, erotica and pornography, erotic magic. C304 fulfills the Field of Study Requirement in Literary Studies. (1 unit)
TR 1:30-2:45 – Laskaris
Classics 306 – The Classical Tradition
This course examines the influence of ancient Greece and Rome on later times to the present day. Topics of special interest include the character of medieval learning and culture, the survival and recovery of Classical literature, the Enlightenment, and the rediscovery of paganism in the 19th century. Rather than being a history course, this is a course about history and the ideas people have had about their place in it. These ideas are accessed mainly through the reading of literature. No prerequisite. Fulfills the Fields of Study Historical Analysis requirement. (1 unit)
MWF 3:00-3:50 – Simpson
Classics 398 – Special Topics: Ovid and After
This course will focus on Ovid’s epic poem, the Metamorphoses, and its particular reception in the twentieth century by novelists and poets; though we will also look at some earlier important periods in the poem’s transmission, as well as the poem’s impact on western painting. Our emphasis will be close reading of primary texts, with selected secondary criticism. The first half of the course will involve reading the entire Metamorphoses along with significant responses to particular myths by later readers of the poem; the last half will focus on the response to Ovid’s poem and exile by novelists of the last 100 years. No prerequisite. (1 unit)
TR 12:00-1:15 – Newlands
HIST 223 – The Roman and Early Byzantine Empire
This course will outline the evolving imperial strategies and their social effects. It will also attempt to explain the vast shift from Augustus’ laissez-faire conglomeration of peoples and kingdoms to Diocletian’s centralized state, from the great paz romana (Roman peace) to the endless battles with wave after wave of barbarians, from syncretic polytheism to the theocracy of Justinian and his Muslim followers, in short, from antiquity to the “middle age.” (1 unit)
MWF 1:30-2:20 – Stevenson
Classics in Greek
Greek 102 – Elementary Greek
This course continues to introduce students to the language and culture of ancient Greek. We will primarily read Attic prose but will also read brief excerpts from the New Testament. Students will continue to develop basic reading and comprehension skills, a working vocabulary, and to practice Greek prose composition. Prerequisite: Greek 101. Partially fulfills Communication Skills II Foreign Language requirement. (1 unit)
MWF 12:00-12:50 – Simpson
Greek 202 – Intermediate Greek
An introduction to the study of Greek literature with a focus on Euripides and tragedy. This course continues the study of ancient Greek language and culture, plus selected readings. Students will continue to develop basic reading and comprehension skills, a working vocabulary, and to practice Greek prose composition. Prerequisite: Greek 201 or permission of the department. Partially fulfills Communication Skills II Foreign Language requirement. (1 unit)
MWF 12:00-12:50 – Laskaris
Greek 303 – Greek Historiography
Students will study Herodotus whose expansive and pleasing style should provide more comfortable reading in Greek than the compressed and magisterial Thucydides. We will discuss the Ionic dialect, the extent of Herodotus’ orality (both in composition and in delivery), and the unusual and cohesive nature of Greek narrative. Prerequisite: Greek 201 or permission of the department. Partially fulfills Communication Skills II Foreign Language requirement. (1 unit)
MWF 12:00-12:50 – Stevenson
Classics in Latin
Latin 102 – Elementary Latin
We will continue our study of Latin and the world in which Latin was the native tongue. Supplementary readings will survey Roman history and Latin literature. Prerequisite: Latin 101. Partially fulfills the Communication Skills II Foreign Language requirement. (1 unit)
2 sections: MWF 10:30-11:20; 1:30-2:20 – Nerdahl
Latin 202 – Intermediate Latin
This course will introduce students to Latin poetry. It will begin with and focus on the poet Catullus whose intensely personal and passionate style has seduced readers for thousands of years. Close attention will be paid to the full artistry of the poetry -- meter, sound play, and word placement -- while we continue to reinforce the vocabulary and grammar learned in the previous three semesters. Prerequisite: Latin 201. Fulfills the Communication Skills II Foreign Language requirement. (1 unit)
2 sections: MWF 9:00-9:50 – Stevenson, 10:30-11:20 – Baughan
Latin 302 – Ovid
Ovid was accused by the Roman rhetorician Quintilian of being “more lascivious” than his fellow Roman elegists, and in this Latin course, we will find out how he acquired such a reputation. In addition to examining the elegiac tradition in which Ovid writes, we shall look at how his poems are conventional and imitative of his Hellenic predecessors while also being subversive, unique, and oftentimes hilarious. He continually reinvents the conventional topoi surrounding the hapless lover, exemplified by a dismissive mistress and the emblematic, ineffectual serenade known as the paraclausithuron. Are Ovid’s Amores emotional outpourings of a troubled soul? Are they simply rhetorical games written in an effort to appear learned, witty, and subversive? Or are they something else? Selections from other Greek and Roman elegists will provide the context and foundation from which we will enjoy Ovid, and the poems will be supplemented by readings from current works on Ovidian criticism. Prerequisite: Latin 202 or permission of the department. (1 unit)
TR 10:30-11:45 – Nerdahl
