Prerequisites: This course has no specific prerequisites, but it has been designed primarily for juniors and seniors getting a major or minor in Classical Studies or another field with connections to the ancient world (such as History,  Art History, Women’s Studies, Political Science, or Philosophy). If you have never taken a Classics course, or if you have never read any Greek literature before, you will need to put in extra effort in order to succeed in this class. Also, this course requires careful planning on your part. Some weeks have a lot of assigned reading. You will be expected to begin work on a major writing project by mid-semester and turn in a complete draft well in advance of the due date for the paper. Keep in mind that even though the class meets only once per week, it requires the same work load as any other upper level humanities course.

Core Curriculum Learning Outcomes: In this course students will enhance their critical thinking and communications skills by reading, discussing, researching, and writing about the intellectual trends and political history of fifth-century BCE Athens. Consideration of the texts we will read in class, many of which treat both the individual and collective actions and decisions of Athenians during the Peloponnesian War (an all encompassing war in which Greeks were fighting against Greeks) will promote “the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.” Weekly in-class discussions about the history, politics, literature, and philosophy of fifth-century Athens will encourage “the ability to consider different points of view. 

Students will attain, through lectures, class discussion, and readings from primary and secondary sources, and will demonstrate through two tests and one paper, advanced reading, writing, and communication skills, while at the same time gaining knowledge about ancient Athenian history and culture and its relationship to our own culture.

Required Reading - Primary Sources:

    *Selections from Herodotus:The story of Croesus (Book 1.1-91) and the Persian Wars (Books 6-9, especially 6.102-117, 7.201-233, and 8.40-97 )

    *Aeschylus, Persians

    *Selections from Thucydides (1.1-45, 2.34-54, 3.82-83, 5.84-116; also highly recommended: books 6-7, narrating the Sicilian Expedition)

    *Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannos

    *Aristophanes, Acharnians, Clouds, and Wasps

    *Euripides, Trojan Women

    *Plato, Apology of Socrates and selections from the Phaedo

    *Xenophon, Apology of Socrates

For all primary sources, you may use one of the translations recommended below, choose your own, and./or purchase the one I have ordered to the UH Bookstore.

Required Secondary Reading:

Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan,  Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, and David Tandy. 3rd ed., Oxford, 2011.

Highly Recommended, But Not Required Reading:

The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life, by Bettany Hughes. This highly readable book narrates the history of the exact same period covered by this class, centered around the figure of Socrates, whose life just so happens to have corresponded with the most dramatic time in Athenian history. Hughes draws on a very wide range of primary sources and archaeological evidence in order to paint a vivid portrait of Athens in the fifth century BCE as well as Socrates himself. Although I have not chosen this book as a required text, it would make a wonderful supplement to our readings and discussions.

Recommended Editions (most are available for purchase at UH bookstore):

    *Herodotus, The Histories, trans. by Aubrey De Selincourt (many editions of this translation are available, it is the classic one); The Landmark Herodotus, ed. Robert B. Strassler (this edition contains excellent maps, explanatory essays, and appendices.

    *The Landmark Thucydides, ed. by Robert B. Strassler (this edition contains excellent maps, explanatory essays, and appendices).

    *Aristophanes: Translations by Jeffrey Henderson are available in many editions, including the Loeb Classical Library (with Greek and English on facing pages) and Focus Publishing (very cheap! - www.pullins.com). These translations are the funniest that I have encountered – be wary of archaic or British translations. Humor is culturally specific and hard to translate. Also very funny are those by Douglas Parker, but they are harder to find.

    *Plato and Xenophon: The Trials of Socrates: Six Classic Texts, ed. by C. D. C. Reeve. This edition includes as well a translation of Aristophanes’ Clouds and several of Plato’s dialogues about the trial and death of Socrates. A great deal at less than $10!

    *Aeschylus and Euripides: Try to find a modern edition (within the last 15 years). For Euripides, Oxford University Press has an inexpensive series of translations with good introductions, ed. by J. Morwood.

Course Requirements: 1 fifteen-page paper on the topic of your choice—but the topic must be approved by me (30%); 1 essay-based mid-term (40%) and 1 final exam (30%)

Schedule of Readings and Lectures

1. *NOTE: All reading assignments must be completed in advance of the week to which they are assigned.
   

Week 1 (1/16) Introduction to course and the Writing In the Disciplines Core

Recommended reading in advance of class: Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History chapter 3

Week 2 (1/23) From Tyranny to Democracy; Working with ancient sources

Reading assignment: Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History pp. 154-207; Thucydides VI. 54-59

Week 3 (1/30) The Birth of History and Tragedy (with background on epic and lyric poetry); Types of evidence

Aeschylus, Persians; Selections from Herodotus: The story of Croesus (Book 1.1-91)

Week 4 (2/6) )Themistocles and Persian Wars; Historical analysis of Greek primary sources

Reading assignment: Selections from Herodotus: the Persian Wars (Books 6-9, especially 6.102-117, 7.201-233, and 8.40-97 ); Ancient Greece pp. 207-231

Week 5 (2/13) Athenian Empire; Secondary Resources for Classical Studies

Reading assignment: Ancient Greece chapter 6; C. W. Blackwell, “Introduction to Athenian Democracy” (via Center for Hellenic Studies, Athenian Law)

Week 6 (2/20) Pericles, Radical Democracy and court system; Literary evidence and analysis

Reading assignment: Aristophanes, Wasps; Lysias, On the Murder of Eratosthenes; V. Bers and A. Lanni, “An Introduction to the Athenian Legal System” (via Center for Hellenic Studies, Athenian Law)

Week 7 (2/27) Athenian Art and Architecture on the cusp of the Peloponnesian Wars; Art historical and archaeological evidence

Reading assignment: Ancient Greece chapter 7

Week 8 (3/6) Midterm; Formulation of paper topics; Citation in Classical Studies

Reading assignment: Ancient Greece chapter 8, pp. 324-349

Week 9 Spring Break

Week 10 (3/20) Peloponnesian Wars; Thesis statements, arguments, and structure

Reading assignment: Aristophanes, Acharnians; Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannos; Selections from Thucydides (1.1-45, 2.34-54)

Week 11 (3/27); Thucydides and the Sicilian Expedition; Use of primary and secondary sources

Reading assignment: Selections from Thucydides (3.82-83, 5.84-116, books 6-7, narrating the Sicilian Expedition)

Week 12 (4/3) Sicilian Expedition II: Comic and Tragic responses to war;

Reading assignment: Euripides, Trojan Women; Aristophanes, Lysistrata

Week 13 (4/10) Defeat by Sparta and its aftermath; Writing Workshop

Reading assignment: Ancient Greece chapter 8, pp. 349-367

* draft of paper due

Week 14 (4/17) Intellectual and literary trends at the end of the fifth century BCE; Analysis and Conclusions

Reading assignment: Aristophanes, Clouds; Plato, Apology of Socrates

Also recommended: Xenophon, Apology of Socrates

Week 15 (4/24) The Death of Socrates; Writing Workshop

Plato, selections from the Phaedo

*Paper due Thursday, May 2 by 9am

* Final Exam Wednesday, May 8 at 2pm