Fall 2009 Course Descriptions
INTRO GREEK CIV
Classics 10A Section 1
GRIFFITH, M
Study of the major developments, achievements, and contradictions in Greek culture from the Bronze Age to the 4th century BCE. Key works of literature, history, and philosophy (read in English translation) will be examined in their political and social context, and in relation both to other ancient Mediterranean cultures and to subsequent developments in Western civilization.
ELEM GREEK ARCH
Classics 17A Section 1
GREENEWALT, C H
The physical remains of the Greek world from the Bronze Age to 323 BCE will be studied, with emphasis on its artistic triumphs, as a means of understanding the culture of ancient Greece.
FRESHMAN SEMINAR
Classics 24 Section 2
BULLOCH, A W
The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester.
FRESHMAN SEMINAR
Classics 24 Section 1
GRIFFITH, M
Ancient Greek Food and Religion
HOMER AND VERGIL
Classics 34 Section 1
SYED, Y
Greek and Roman epics including the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid.
FRESH/SOPH SEMINAR
Classics 39I Section 1
PEÑA, J T
The Origins of Rome
This seminar examines the origins of Rome, the quintessential city in the western experience. It considers both the literary and archaeological evidence for the earliest periods of the city’s occupation, the challenges involved in using and combining these two quite different types of evidence, and the ways in which ideology has influenced what people have believed about the early history of the city in both ancient and modern times. Particular attention will be given to recent archaeological discoveries and the ways in which these are transforming our understanding of early Rome.
ANCIENT RELIGION
Classics 121 Section 1 (4 units)
BULLOCH, A W
A study of the religious practices, beliefs and mentality of the Ancient Greeks in their full socio-cultural context in the period covering c. 1500 BC to c. 400 AD., with particular emphasis on public and private cult, ritual and festival and their function in ancient Greece. The course will be based on the rich evidence provided by both primary texts (literary and documentary), and material remains (sanctuaries, monuments, and works of art including sculpture, mosaics, painting and vase-painting), and will explore the relationship between Greek myth and religion, and the way in which Greek religion addressed contemporary notions of cosmogony, history, community, identity, science and creativity, sexuality, spirituality, and the complex roles and relationships of male and female in Greek society. No previous knowledge or experience of the ancient Greek world will be expected or required and we welcome students of all levels and from all backgrounds.
TOPICS
Classics 130 Section 1
FURIYA, S
Ancient philosophical theories and literary representations of the emotions (esp. desire, anger, and grief), with special attention to therapeutic cures for the passions. Readings from Greek and Roman epic, lyric, tragedy, pastoral, elegy, satire, philosophy, magical papyri, and inscriptions. Some discussion of modern theories and therapeutic cures for the emotions, as well as cures from non-western cultures.
TOPIC GREEK PHILOS
Classics 163 Section 1
LONG, A A
Greek Philosophical Topics: Soul, Mind, and Self in Greek Philosophy
The Greek philosophers developed elaborate and influential models for understanding and analyzing human identity. Key terms that they used were psyche (soul) and nous (mind); and by means of these terms they also identified "the self", typically treating this as something essentially different from the body. In this course we shall study a large range of these ideas, starting with Socrates and Plato, and then proceeding to Aristotle, Epicurus, Stoicism, and Neoplatonism. Topics I will emphasize include reason, emotion, personal identity, immortality, self-knowledge, and the foundations of happiness and unhappiness.
SURVEY GREEK LIT
Classics 201A Section 1
KURKE, L V
Survey of Greek Literature, Part I
This course will serve as a rapid introduction to the main texts and problematics of archaic Greek poetry (Homer, Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, ambic, elegy, lyric), as well as a briefer foray into classical Greek tragedy and history.
Course Requirements: 1000 lines Greek reading per week; weekly quizzes; final exam.
APPROACHES CL LIT
Classics 203 Section 1
OLIENSIS, E S
Introduction to basic methods of literary analysis and interpretation, and study of particular critical approaches of significance for the understanding of Classical literature. Close reading of selected passages of Greek and Latin will be emphasized. The critical approaches that are to be studied may vary from year to year.
MYTH AND LITERATURE
Classics 226 Section 1
BULLOCH, A W
This seminar will focus on select themes, topics, texts, authors, sites, cults, practices and festivals that may be considered typical of ancient reek myth and religion, with a view to developing familiarity with the main primary sources (textual and material) and their nature, essential modern scholarly resources, and, to some extent, various modern approaches to the subject. Authors will include Homer, Euripides, Apollodorus, Pausanias; sites will include Athens, Olympia, Arcadia, Sparta, Delphi.
Short reports will be presented each week; final papers will be due at the end of the semester from everyone taking the seminar on a P basis.
Please contact Anthony Bulloch for more information. Everyone is encouraged to suggest particular themes, authors, sites, festivals etc. for inclusion.
Note: special accommodation will be made for those who have no Greek.
ANC SOCIETY AND LAW
Classics 228 Section 1
PAPAZARKADAS, N
In this seminar we will be reading the Athenaion Politeia, a work that ancient and mediaeval sources attributed to Aristotle. Back in 1891 the publication by Kenyon of the only papyrus (P.Lond. 131) preserving most of the text of the Athenian Constitution (one of the 158 or so politeiai allegedly written by Aristotle) caused a sensation. More than a century later, the very attribution of the work to Aristotle is in doubt, and most scholars prefer to identify the author as a disciple of the Aristotelian School. Be that as it may, the work revolutionized the study of the political, constitutional and even economic history of ancient Athens. In this seminar we will conduct a close reading of the Athenaion Politeia (in the original), along with other sources, i.e. Solonian poetry, Old Comedy, orations of the fourth century, Attic decrees and laws, and of course the Athenian Constitution of the so-called Old Oligarch. We will also revisit some old problems such as [Aristotle]’s reliance on Herodotus and the Atthitographers (especially Kleidemos and Androtion) for the reconstruction of the early history of Athens, the connection between the first (historical) and second (constitutional) parts of the work, and of course the question of the authorship. P. J. Rhodes’ masterly A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia will be our indispensable companion throughout the semester.
ROMAN HIST/LIT/CULT
Classics 239 Section 1
BETTINI, M
An anthropology of translation in Roman culture. As we know, the Romans used to translate much from Greek literature - but how did they actually conceive the act of translation? A close examination of some crucial Latin texts - from Plautus’ Poenulus to Cicero’s De optimo genere oratorum - will disclose some of the “native categories” through which the Romans thought their vertere and their interpretari.
ADV LATIN COMP
Classics 260 Section 1
SAILOR, D
In a series of weekly compositions participants will aim to produce correct, understandable, and palatable Latin prose. In addition to these compositions, we'll make a superficial chronological survey of Latin prose styles, give special attention to Cicero's Latin, and do a fair bit of sight reading in class. Prior absorption of Bradley's Arnold Latin Prose Composition is assumed.
SEMINAR CLASS ARCH
Classics 270 Section 1
PEÑA, J T
Advanced study of ancient Greek art objects and sites.
FIELD STUDY ARCH
Classics 297 Section 1
THE STAFF
Supervised study in archaeology.
TEACHING METHODS
Classics 300 Section 1
MCCARTHY, K
This course is intended to meet two important needs: 1) to give you support and advice for the class you are teaching this semester and 2) to give you information and perspectives on teaching that will help you design and execute any classes you teach in the future (both as a GSI and as faculty member). We will spend some time resolving immediate practical issues, some time practicing our teaching skills in demonstrations and other hands-on activities, and some time on readings and discussions intended to be both informative and thought-provoking. This class will also prepare you to teach both ancient languages and discussion/writing courses where the texts are taught in translation.
ELEMENTARY GREEK
Greek 1 Section 1
PAPAZARKADAS, N
Beginners' course.
ELEMENTARY GREEK
Greek 1 Section 2
PREMINGER, R
Beginners' course.
INTERMED GREEK COMP
Greek 40 Section 1
STREET, J M
Development of skills in writing Attic prose and sight reading; grammar review.
ATTIC PROSE
Greek 100 Section 1
SAILOR, D
We'll read some Xenophon and some Plato and strengthen our grasp of ancient Greek vocabulary and grammar. Various quizzes, exams, and other invigorating exercises will go on throughout the semester.
DRAMA
Greek 102 Section 1
GRIFFITH, M
Reading of one Greek tragedy, and of further selections from the dramatists and/or prose literature of fifth century Athens.
HELLENISTIC POETS
Greek 117 Section 1
FURIYA, S
An introduction to Hellenistic poetry in its cultural and intellectual context(s), with special attention to the Hellenistic poetics of generic experimentation and innovation. We'll be reading Callimachus' hymns to Athena and Demeter; several bucolic and non-bucolic idylls of Theocritus including a mime, an epyllion (micro-epic), and an epithalamium (wedding song); and passages from Apollonius' Argonautica.
ELEMENTARY LATIN
Latin 1 Section 2
EVANS, J
Beginners course
ELEMENTARY LATIN
Latin 1 Section 1
HANNUSH, V A
Beginners course
ELEMENTARY LATIN
Latin 1 Section 3
KRASNE, D A
Beginners course
ELEMENTARY LATIN
Latin 1 Section 4
ADAMS, C C
Beginners' course.
ELEMENTARY LATIN
Latin 2 Section 2
SHU, D H
Beginners course.
INTENS ELEM LATIN
Latin 10 Section 1
PISARELLO, A C
Beginner's Course
REPUBLICAN PROSE
Latin 100 Section 1
BEZNER, F
In this class we will read selections from Cesar and Cicero. Main emphasis is on the practice of translation; there will also be some review of grammar.
VERGIL
Latin 101 Section 1
OLIENSIS, E S
Selected readings from Vergil.
ROMAN DRAMA
Latin 115 Section 1
BETTINI, M
A close reading of Plautus’ Truculentus. This comedy is probably the ‘darkest one’ among the Roman Palliatae. Its characters are offered by insatiable courtesans, crude and rough slaves (the truculentus that gives its name to the piece), profligate young and less young males.
Suggested edition of the text: T. Macci Plauti Comoediae, recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit W. M. Lindsay, Oxonii E Typographeo Clarendoniano
Suggested translation: Plautus, the darker comedies : Bacchides, Casina, and Truculentus, transl. from the Latin, with introduction and notes, by J. Tatum, Johns Hopkins University Press.