GOVT 3736

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  • Schedule of Classes - January 8, 2020 7:14PM EST
  • Course Catalog - January 8, 2020 7:15PM EST

GOVT 3736
Ancient Political Thought

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

Ancient political debates about democracy, empire, and justice appear in late fifth-century BCE Athenian dramatic, historical, and philosophical literatures composed against the backdrop of the 27-year Peloponnesian War over the control of Greece (which Athens lost). Reading selected tragedies of Euripides, comedies of Aristophanes, and philosophical dialogues of Plato, in combination with the history of Thucydides, this course retraces, explores, and interrogates these texts' complex, provocative, and surprisingly relevant arguments for and against the pursuit of equality (democracy), security (war and imperialism), goodness (aretê from "excellence" to "virtue"), and fairness (justice), and their often unexpected results in practice. All the readings for this course are in English and there are no prerequisites.

When Offered Fall.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (KCM-AS)
Course Subfield (PT)

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Syllabi:

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 3676

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16709 GOVT 3736   LEC 001

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