Greek and Roman Classics in English
Classics 210/GLITS 311D
Are you interested in great conversations about great books?
In comedy, tragedy, love poetry, epic stories of heroes, and philosophical writings, ancient Greek and Roman writers explored the complex challenges of family and civic life, war, love, and what it means to live a good life.
This thematically organized and discussion-based course develops skills in close reading and analysis to explore major literary works from the ancient Greek and Roman world in lively, modern conversations.
Instructor: Professor Catherine Connors, Department of Classics, Den 262 B.
Course overview
Week 1 Introduction; Aristophanes, Lysistrata, Plautus, The Pot of Gold
Week 2 Lyric poetry: Sappho, Catullus, Horace
Week 3 Aeschylus Agamemnon, Sophocles Oedipus the King
Week 4 Euripides Hippolytus, Aristophanes, Frogs and Seneca Phaedra
Week 5 Homer, Iliad (selections)
Week 6 Virgil, Aeneid (selections)
Week 7 Ovid, Metamorphoses (selections)
Week 8 Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (selections); Elegy
Week 9 Plato, Republic (selections), Cicero Dream of Scipio
Week 10 People's choice and wrap-up
Books will be available at the University Bookstore for purchase.
Plautus, Four Comedies, trans E. Segal. (Oxford)
Aristophanes Lysistrata, Women at the Thesmophoria, Frogs, trans. Diane Arnson Svarlien (Hackett).
Greek Tragedies vol 1 Trans. D. Grene and R. Lattimore. 3rd edition (U Chicago Press).
Seneca, Phaedra trans. F. Ahl. (Cornell)
Homer, Iliad, trans. P. Green. (U of California Press)
Virgil Aeneid, trans. A. Mandelbaum (Penguin)
Ovid Metamorphoses, trans. A. D. Melville (Oxford)
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things trans. W. Englert (Hackett)
Grading
30% In class activities and quizzes
30% Midterm in class
short answer questions and comment on passages from the readings
40% Final Exam:
short answer questions, comment on passages from the readings, prepared essay question