Syllabus | Spring 2015
Required Texts
- Apuleius, The Golden Ass, trans. Lindsay (Indiana University Press)
- Aristophanes, The Clouds, trans. Arrowsmith (University of Michigan Press)
- Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Irwin (Hackett)
- Cicero, Selected Works, trans. M. Grant (Penguin)
- Epictetus, The Handbook, trans. Nicholas P. White (Hackett)
- Freeman, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, 2nd ed. (Oxford)
- Josephus, The Jewish War (Penguin)
- Livy, The Rise of Rome, trans. Luce(Oxford)
- Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, trans. Englert (Focus Philosophical Library)
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha New Revised Standard Version: College Edition (Oxford)
- Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. Melville (Oxford)
- Plato, Republic, trans. Reeve (Hackett)
- Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates, trans. Grube (Hackett)
- Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters, trans. Moses Hadas (Norton)
- Theocritus, Idylls, trans. Verity (Oxford)
- Virgil, The Aeneid,trans. Mandelbaum (Bantam Doubleday Dell)
- Various readings on the Roman World available on e-reserves
Recommended Texts
- Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (Hackett)
- Williams, The Craft of Argument (Univ. of Chicago Press)
All texts may be purchased at the Reed College Bookstore; limited numbers of each are on reserve in Hauser Library. Also on reserve or in the reference section: Oxford Classical Dictionary; Oxford Companion to Classical Literature; Anchor Atlas of World History, Volume I; Richard Lanham, Revising Prose.
E-Reserves
To access texts that are listed as being on e-reserves, find the day's reading assignments and follow the link to the text. You will need your kerberos username and password to be able to access the texts. Learn more about accessing e-reserves on Moodle. Please bring a copy of the day's reading assignment to class.
Conference Assignments
The Registrar makes initial assignments to conferences in this course that continue through the year. Students who subsequently find it necessary to change conferences must petition the Humanities staff (forms for this purpose may be obtained from the Registrar or from Kathy Kennedy, Chem 303). Turn in completed forms to Michael Faletra, Hum 110 Chair. No conference changes will be permitted after the second week of the term.
Papers, Writing Assignments, and Examinations
Three course-wide papers will be assigned, due at the times designated on the schedule of readings and lectures. Individual conference leaders may assign additional writing. A final examination for the spring term will be given in finals week, Wednesday, May 13th, 8:00 am – noon, in Vollum Lecture Hall. Rescheduling of the final exam will be allowed only for medical reasons.
Schedule of Readings and Lectures
Timeline for the texts covered this semester
+ Expand Weeks | - Collapse Weeks
Week 1
Mon. Jan 26
Aristophanes, The Clouds
Lecture: "The Clouds: The Cultural Work of Comedy" / Laura Leibman
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Jan 28
The Trial and Death of Socrates
Lecture: "A Kind of Gadfly" / Pancho Savery
Fri. Jan 30
Plato, Republic, Books 1 - 2
Lecture: "Who is Cephalus?" / Peter Steinberger
Week 2
Mon. Feb 2
Plato, Republic, Books 3 - 5
Lecture: "Socrates and Plato and You" / Michael Faletra
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Feb 4
Plato, Republic, Books 6 - 7
Lecture: "Platonic Metaphysics: Plato's Solution to the Crisis of Logos" / Meg Scharle
Fri. Feb 6
Plato, Republic, Books 8 - 10
Lecture: "Image Worlds" / Kris Cohen
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Week 3
Mon. Feb 9
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books 1 - 2
Lecture: "The Function Argument" / Steven Arkonovich
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Feb 11
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books 2, 3, and 6
Lecture: "The Moral and Intellectual Virtues" / Nathalia King
Fri. Feb 13
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books 3, 6, and 10.6-9
Lecture: "Contemplation and Reed's Honor Principle"/ Margaret Scharle
FIRST PAPER DUE: Saturday, Feb 14, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 4
Mon. Feb 16
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Books 8 and 9
Lecture: "Friendship" / Elizabeth Drumm
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Wed. Feb 18
Art and the Hellenistic City
Study this Video and Image Gallery before lecture and conference.
J.J. Pollitt, "Introduction" from Art in the Hellenistic Age (on e-reserve)
Freeman, pp. 314-332.
Lecture: "Multiculturalism, Hellenism, and the Pergamon Altar" / Nathalia King
Fri. Feb. 20
Theocritus, 1-7, 11, 13, 15, 17
Freeman, pp. 333-354.
Lecture: "Country Matters" / Robert Knapp
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Week 5
Mon. Feb. 23
The Book of Daniel (in The New Oxford Annotated Bible)
Lecture: "The Writing is on the Wall" / Jan Mieszkowski
Wed. Feb 25
The Book of Esther and 1 Maccabees 1-4, 6:1-17, 8:1-32, 9:1-22 (in The New Oxford Annotated Bible)
Lecture: "1 Maccabees and Esther: Jewishness, Gender, and Power" / Marat Grinberg
Fri. Feb 27
Polybius, Histories, Book 6, sections 1-39, 47, 50-58 (on e-reserve)
Freeman, pp. 369-401.
Lecture: "Polybian Thought" / Peter Steinberger
Week 6
Mon. Mar 2
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura), Book 1 (lines 1-637, 921-1117), Book 2 (lines 1-293), and Book 3 (all)
Garnsey & Saller, The Roman Empire, chapter 9 (on e-reserve).
Lecture: "Lucretius, Rome, and the Nature of the Universe" / Walter Englert
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Mar 4
Lucretius, On The Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura). Books 5 - 6
Lecture: "Epicurean Naturalism / Materialist Poetics" / Paul Hovda and Jan Mieszkowski
Fri. Mar 6
Cicero, On Duties III
Freeman, pp. 402-428.
Lecture: "Cicero and Roman Philosophy" / Walter Englert
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
SECOND PAPER DUE: Saturday, Mar 7, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 7
Mon. Mar 9
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Preface and Book 1
Lecture: "The Body Politic" / Nathalia King
Wed. Mar 11
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Book 2.1-25 and Book 5.19 - end
Lecture: No lecture
Fri. Mar 13
Augustus, Res Gestae (on e-reserve)
Suetonius, Life of Augustus (on e-reserve)
Freeman, pp. 429-444, pp. 450-464.
Lecture: "From Octavian to Augustus" / Ellen Millender
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Week 8
Mon. Mar 16
Peter J. Holliday, "Time, History, and Ritual on the Ara Pacis Augustae" (JSTOR)
Study this Image Gallery before lecture and conference.
Browse the Ara Pacis Augustae In-depth Visual Documentation website.
Lecture: "Picturing Peace" / Margot Minardi
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Mar 18
Virgil, Aeneid, Books 1 – 4
Lecture: "Allusion and Epic in Virgil's Aeneid"/ Sarah Wagner-McCoy
Fri. Mar 20
Virgil, Aeneid, Books 5 – 8
Lecture: "Virgil and Ekphrasis" / Elizabeth Drumm
21-29 MARCH: SPRING BREAK
Week 9
Mon. Mar 30
Virgil, Aeneid
Lecture: "Homer Through Roman Eyes" / Laura Leibman
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: More Graffiti
Wed. Apr 1
Virgil, Aeneid, Books 9 – 12; Homer, The Iliad, Book 24
Lecture: "This is the End" / Pancho Savery
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Fri. Apr 3
Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 1 – 3
Lecture: "Ovid's Epic of Transformation" / Walter Englert
Week 10
Mon. Apr 6
Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 4 – 6, 15
Lecture: "Portrait of the Artist as Spider-Woman" / Jessica Seidman
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Apr 8
Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: "On the Tranquility of the Mind," "On Providence, and "Letter 70: On Suicide"
Lecture: "Public Philosophy" / Jan Mieszkowski
Fri. Apr 10
Epictetus, The Handbook; Seneca, "Letter 47: Slaves"
Lecture: "Stoicism, Epictetan Style" / Paul Hovda
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Week 11
Mon. Apr 13
Josephus, The Jewish War, pp. 27-31, 133-148, 307-354, 387-405
Martin Jaffee, Early Judaism, Chapter 1, pp. 19-45 (on e-reserve).
Lecture: "Josephus: Historian, Traitor, Hero?" / Marat Grinberg
Wed. Apr 15
Paul, 1 Corinthians (in The New Oxford Annotated Bible)
Freeman, pp. 564-581.
Lecture: "Sex, Gender, and the Messianic Body" / Laura Leibman
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Video and Poll Results
Fri. Apr 17
Gospel According to Matthew
Lecture: "Tradition and Innovation in the Gospel of Matthew" / Michael Faletra
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Week 12
Mon. Apr 20
The Gospel of John
Lecture: "Jesus Divided: Polemical Wars in the Gospel of John and the Talmud" / Marat Grinberg
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed. Apr 22
Gail L. Hoffman, "Theory and Methodology: Study of Identities using Archaeological Evidence from Dura-Europos," 45-69 (on e-reserve)
Tessa Rajak, "The Dura-Europos synagogue: Images of a Competitive Community," 141-154 (on e-reserve)
Patricia DeLeeuw, "A Peaceful Pluralism: the Durene Mithraeuum, Synagogue, and Christian Building" 189-199 (on e-reserve).
Study this Image Gallery before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "Christians, Pagans, and Jews at Dura-Europos" / William Diebold
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Fri. Apr 24
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Lecture: "The Strange Story" / Jay Dickson
THIRD PAPER DUE: Saturday, April 25, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 13
Mon. Apr 27
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Freeman, pp. 541-563.
Lecture: "Apuleius and Resistance to Empire" / Sonia Sabnis
Wed. Apr 29
Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Lecture: "A Serious Joke: Apuleius Between Religion and Philosophy" / Steve Wasserstrom
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Fri. May 1
Final Panel on Apuleius: Michael Faletra, Sonia Sabnis, Steve Wasserstrom