Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies

(previous semesters)

Truth and Objectivity in Ancient and Modern Historiography
FRS 103

Scholars trying to explain the human past are confronted with two major problems: Is there anything such as ‘historical truth’? To what degree can objectivity be achieved in the study of history? A comparison of the writings of the ancient Greek and Roman historians and the work of modern historians can be very illuminating in dealing with these questions. In this seminar we will analyze the historical methods, philosophy of history, and narrative strategies of ancient historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Livy and Tacitus. We will also read the work of historians from different historiographic schools of the 20th century (historicism, positivism, post-modernism) who have written on the problem of truth and objectivity in history. The readings will include publications by G.R. Elton, E.H. Carr, H. White and R.J. Evans.
Marc Gygax  Seminar: 1:30-4:20 pm  M

Ancients and Moderns: Classics in the 20th Century
FRS 157

“One must be absolutely Modern!” was French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s injunction to break with all traditions and affirm “the new.” It famously captures the spirit that has inspired writers and artists all over the world since the beginning of the 20th century. How can we explain, then, the fact that the moderns so often returned to topics, myths, and icons of antiquity? Why does James Joyce rewrite the Odyssey? Why does Futurist Filippo Tomasso Marinetti compare the Victory of Samothrace with a speeding car? Why does T. S. Eliot rewrite Euripides’ Alcestis?  To what extent did radical novelty in the 20th century depend on the deepest traditions of Western culture? How we interpret the objects and ideas of the moderns in light of the ancient myths, icons, and paradigms is the key to the seminar, which will be structured as a series of dialogues between the ancients and the moderns. We will, for example, read Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex side-by-side with Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine and Pasolini’s film Edipo Re. We will follow the way the ancient image of the Labyrinth and the myth of the Minotaur are transformed in the paintings of Picasso and De Chirico and in the narratives of Borges.
Efthymia Rentzou  Seminar: 1:30-4:20  pm W

Elementary Modern Greek
HLS 101/MOG 101

This course is the first part of the modern Greek language sequence regularly offered every year.  It aims to set the foundations for acquiring a command of spoken and written modern Greek.  The pace is intensive: readings and grammar from textbook, with accompanying daily exercises, and regular language laboratory attendance.  Auditors welcome with instructor's permission.
Zoe Passati-Bouloutas  Classes: 11:00 -11:50 am MTWTh

 Intermediate Modern Greek
HLS 105/MOG 105

This course is the third part of the modern Greek language sequence offered every year.  It will introduce students to themes in the Hellenic tradition through readings in modern Greek literature (Cavafy, Seferis, Ritsos).  We will read newspaper articles, listen to Greek songs, and study documentary films.  The emphasis will be on improving students' oral and written skills.  Classes will be held entirely in Greek.  Auditors welcome with instructor's permission.
Zoe Passati-Bouloutas  Classes: 12:30 -1:20 pm MTWTh

Byzantine Art and Architecture
ART 206/HLS 206

Art and Architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, from ca. 600 to ca. 1500. The course will focus on the art of the Byzantine empire and its capital, Constantinople, but will also consider its broader sphere of cultural influence (Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Sicily, Venice, Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania). The course will examine the major factors which shaped the artistic legacy of Eastern Christendom during the Middle Ages.
Slobodan Ćurčić  Lecture: 9:00 - 9:50 am  MW

Studies in the Classical Tradition:  Between East and West:
Europe and Greece, 18th-21st Centuries
CLA 335/HLS 335

An examination of the links between constructions of Europe and the place of national cultures in the modern period, and the peculiar relationship to Greece that became part of the argument.  To see what the consequences of such an understanding of Europe are, we also look at the example of modern Greece, on the edge of Europe.  Historical case studies, scholarly debates, and literary texts are the material on how the tension between East and West plays out when located on that border.
Constanze Güthenke  Seminar: 3:00-4:20 pm TTh

Transformation of the Ancient World: Byzantium 500-1200
HIS 355/HLS 355

The name 'Byzantium' is a convenient convention, coined by French scholars during the seventeenth century to describe the medieval Roman empire in the east after the fifth and sixth centuries A.D.   Centred at Constantinople - ancient Byzantium and modern Istanbul – the east Roman empire survived with varying fortunes until finally destroyed by the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century.  The ‘Byzantines’ actually called themselves Romans, and the hallmarks of their culture were that it was Christian, that the language of the state and the dominant elite was Greek, and that its political ideology was founded on its identity with the Christian Roman empire of Constantine the Great.    Why did the eastern Roman empire survive the barbarian invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries?  How was the state ruled and by whom?  How did it deal with the powerful Islamic states to the East?   How and why did the Byzantines arouse the hostility and suspicion of the medieval West and the papacy? These are just some of the key issues we will address in the process of our survey.  The course introduces the history and culture of Byzantium, with some material on the medieval European world to the West and the Islamic states to the East.    While we will look at aspects of Byzantine art and visual culture as well as literature and language, the course will focus on the development of Byzantine society and economy, on how the state worked, and how Byzantium related to its neighbours in both West and East.
John Haldon  Lecture: 11:00 - 11:50 am TTh

Medieval Art: The Other “Romanesque”
ART 430/HLS 430

This course will focus on issues linked to the term Romanesque, introduced in the 19th c, including the term's meaning and its misleading implications, its chronological limits, and the map of "Romanesque Europe". We concentrate on the impact of Ancient Roman on Medieval art, in areas where Roman heritage was preserved, and in those never held by Romans. We examine the role of "Romanesque" style in multicultural regions (Balkans, Spain, Italy), and the relationships with the Byzantine and the Islamic worlds. Students will familiarize with methodological developments in medieval and Byzantine art historical research.
Slobodan Ćurčić, Nino Zchomelidse  Seminar: 7:30-10:20 pm Th

The Ottoman Balkans, 1300-1800
NES 437/ HIS 337/HLS 337

This course surveys the history of the world’s most enduring Islamic state, the Ottoman Empire.  With its beginnings in the fourteenth century, it lasted into the early years of the last century.  At its height, it ruled over much of the Mediterranean as well as Central Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and today’s Turkey.
Heath W. Lowry  Class: 1:30-2:50 pm TTh

GRADUATE COURSES

Problems in Ancient History: The Language of the Gods:
Prophecy, Oracles and Divination
CLA 547/PAW 501/HLS 501

This seminar will explore the function, representation, and techniques of divination in the Ancient World from the second millennium BCE until Late Antiquity. Topics will include the language and semiotics of divine communication, the usefulness of divination in both public and private decision-making, and the social role of the seer/diviner/prophet. The method will be interdisciplinary, employing anthropological theory and case studies as well as a broad range of ancient sources (literary texts, inscriptions, papyri, artistic representations, and archaeological remains). The class will travel to Greece during the midterm break.
Michael Flower, AnneMarie Luijendijk  Seminar: 9:00-11:50 am T

Problems in Byzantine History:
Rethinking the Eleventh Century
HIS 542/HLS 542

The eleventh century is now generally seen as a period of economic expansion in the Byzantine and east Mediterranean world, on the one hand, but of military and political collapse on the other, chiefly a result of the defeat at the battle of Manzikert in 1071 at the hands of the Selcuk Turks.  Is this picture justified?  How do contemporary sources view the empire and its politics at this time?   What is the nature of the evidence for both the economic and the social and political history of the empire?   This course will re-examine key sources for the period to see how far the currently-accepted view is justified.
John. Haldon  Seminar: 1:30-4:20 pm W

Courses of Interest

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