CLASS 2603

Initiation to Greek Culture

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

Limited to 18 students. Intended especially for first-year students. Students must apply in writing to chair, Department of Classics, 120 Goldwin Smith Hall. No prior knowledge necessary (all texts are in translation). What is necessary is a willingness to participate actively in two seminar meetings each week and occasional supplementary workshops with specially invited guests. This course covers a wide range of Greek literary and philosophical works as well as modern critical and philosophical writings. The focus throughout is on the status of language, the many forms of discourse that appear in the literature, and the attempts the Greeks themselves made to grapple with the challenges inherent in language as the medium of poetry and philosophy. The course inquires into the intellectual development of a culture infused with traditional, mythological accounts of the cosmos. It asks how poetic forms such as tragedy engage with philosophical discourse while creating intense emotional effects on audiences both during antiquity and beyond.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 18 freshmen.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (LA-AS)

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