COURSES IN BRIEF

Normally 10 to 12 seminars are offered during the academic year from among the following courses. (For a list of courses currently being offered, use the "Courses" link in the main navigation bar above.)

500 Greek Prose Composition - Andrew L. Ford, Christian Wildberg
A weekly exercise in translating selected passages of English into Greek, with intensive study of grammar and style. Research paper not required for credit. Offered alternately with 501.

501 Latin Prose Composition - Janet M. Martin
A weekly exercise in translating selected passages of English into Latin, with intensive study of grammar and style. Research paper not required for credit. Offered alternately with 500.

502 Survey of Selected Greek Literature - Andrew L. Ford, Froma I. Zeitlin
The course concentrates on reading selected texts within a particular genre or genres or period. Research paper not required for credit. Offered alternately with 503.

503 Survey of Selected Latin Literature - Denis C. Feeney, Andrew M. Feldherr, Robert A. Kaster
The course concentrates on reading selected texts within a particular genre or genres or period. Research paper not required for credit. Offered alternately with 502.

504 Homer - Andrew L. Ford, Froma I. Zeitlin
Iliad or Odyssey, depending on the instructor's and students' interest. Content and emphasis vary, but normally include study of traditional and contemporary forms of interpretation and close analysis of poetic style. Lectures by the instructor, short reports.

505 Greek Lyric Poetry - Andrew L. Ford, Froma I. Zeitlin
The development of Greek elegiac, iambic, and melic poetry from ca. 650-450; reading and analysis of the works of the various authors, with attention to linguistic, metrical, textual, and historical problems. Lectures and reports.

506 Greek Tragedy - Froma I. Zeitlin
The origin and development of tragedy, the Greek theater, and the history of our texts. The course involves the reading and analysis of selected tragedies, with emphasis on the language, meter, and interpretation of the plays. Lectures and reports.

508 Greek Comedy - Froma I. Zeitlin 
The course centers on two, possibly three, comedies of Aristophanes, and, if time and interest permit, on Menanders Dyskolos. Reports on selected problems of Old Comedy are assigned, such as origins, metrics, parody, politics, and textual problems. Occasional lectures by the instructor.

509 Plato - Christian Wildberg
An introduction to the form and content of Plato's philosophy. Either the Republic and related dialogues (Meno, Euthyphro, Gorgias) or the Symposium and Phaedrus are studied intensively.

510 Aristotle - Christian Wildberg
An introduction to the philosophy of Aristotle, based on the study of selected texts leading to a more intensive concentration on one branch either philosophy of nature or ethics.

511, 512 Greek Historiography - Marc Domingo Gygax
An intensive study of one or more major historical writers--Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, and others.

513 Ancient Literary Criticism - Andrew L. Ford
Study of a selection of critical texts, such as Plato, Republic and Phaedrus; Aristotle, Poetics and Rhetoric; Longinus, On the Sublime; Cicero, De oratore, etc.; Horace, De arte poetica; Quintilian, Institutio oratoria.

514, 515 Problems in Greek Literature - Staff
Special problems are selected for intensive investigation, such as the origin and development of a genre, analysis of form, and history of ideas.

521, 522 Problems in Greek History - Marc Domingo Gygax
Special problems, such as Athenian imperialism, Sparta, political structures, and the political role of cults and festivals are studied in rotation.

525 The Pre-Socratic Philosophers - Christian Wildberg
introduction to the history of philosophy before Socrates, concentrating on the fragments of Parmenides and those after him.

526 Problems in Greek and Roman Philosophy - Christian Wildberg
Special problems are selected for intensive investigation. The subject matter of the course changes to adapt to the particular interests of the students and instructor.

529/HLS 500 Topics in the Hellenic Studies Tradition - Constanze M. Güthenke
An interdisciplinary seminar devoted to the study of some aspects of the Hellenic world, with special emphasis on Byzantine or Modern Greek civilization, including their relation to the Classical tradition.  Topics and instructors change yearly.

530 Roman Comedy - Andrew Feldherr
Studies in the plays of Plautus and Terence. Selected plays of one or both authors are read. Problems and reports cover a variety of approaches to the comedies, such as literary criticism, literary history (including their relation to Greek predecessors), textual criticism, and linguistics.

531 Cicero - Robert A. Kaster
Selections from the orations, letters, rhetorical works, or philosophical works of Cicero are read. The course may be organized around a period in Cicero's life, a literary genre, or Roman private or public life, depending on the interests of the instructor and students.

532 Lucretius and Epicureanism - Robert A. Kaster
De rerum natura is read, analyzed, and discussed, both as an exposition of Epicurean atomism and as a Latin poem.

533 Vergil - Denis C. Feeney, Andrew M. Feldherr
The seminar generally considers either the Aeneid or the Georgics and Eclogues. Discussions and reports center on the interpretation of the poems in themselves and in the light of Augustan literature and politics.

534 Roman Lyric and Elegiac Poetry - Denis C. Feeney, Andrew M. Feldherr
One or more of the following poets are considered in any given year: Catullus, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid.

536 Ovid - Denis C. Feeney
Either Metamorphoses or selected elegiac poetry are studied, focusing on problems of sources, narrative technique, and genre.

537 The Roman Novel - Janet M. Martin
Petronius's Satyricon, Apuleius's Metamorphoses, or both are studied, with some attention to Greek and Roman formative influences and the later romance and novelistic traditions.

538 Latin Poetry of the Empire - Denis C. Feeney
Lucan, Seneca, Statius, and/or other writers are studied intensively.

539, 540 Latin Historiography - Andrew M. Feldherr
One or more major historical writers are studied intensively such as Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus.

541 Survey of Early Medieval Latin Literature - Janet M. Martin
Selected texts that illustrate the development of Latin literature and the Latin language from Late Antiquity to the reassertion of classical norms in the early Carolingian period are read. Prose selections focus on history, biography, and letters. Verse selections trace the evolution of epic, elegiac, and rhythmical poetry. Research paper not required for credit.

542, 543 Problems in Latin Literature - Denis C. Feeney, Andrew M. Feldherr, Robert A. Kaster
Special problems are selected for intensive investigation, such as the origin and development of a genre, analysis of form, and history of ideas.

545, 546 Problems in Roman History - Edward J. Champlin, Harriet T. Flower, Brent D. Shaw
Larger themes, such as Roman imperialism, the decline of the republic, and the rise of the multicultural empire are considered in rotation, with the study of specific problems and ancillary disciplines.

547, 548 Problems in Ancient History - Edward J. Champlin, Marc Domingo Gygax, Harriet T. Flower, Brent D. Shaw
A topic involving both ancient Greece and ancient Rome, such as imperialism or slavery, from a comparative perspective is studied.

552 The Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages - Janet M. Martin
The interactions of medieval classical scholarship and Latin literature, with reference to an outstanding author or literary circle, such as Hildebert of Le Mans, John of Salisbury, or the 10th-century Ottonian court are examined. Some attention is paid to methods of investigating the medieval transmission and reception of classical authors.

561 Historical/Comparative Grammar of Latin - Joshua T. Katz
Introduction to Latin historical/comparative grammar via reading of pre-classical texts, including both literary texts (Cato, Ennius, Saturnian poetry) and non-literary forms (early inscriptions, the Twelve Tables, the Latin grammatical tradition); the position of Latin among the languages of ancient Italy; the development of the literary language.

562 Historical/Comparative Grammar of Greek - Joshua T. Katz
Introduction to Greek historical/comparative grammar, based primarily on early Greek epic material (including Hesiod), with special attention to topics in Homeric linguistics and poetics. (For Greek dialects and Mycenaean, see CLA 564.)

564 Problems in Indo-European Linguistics - Joshua T. Katz
Special topics are selected for investigation, such as Greek dialects (including Mycenaean Greek), italic dialects, or comparative metrics. Or, a particular ancient Indo-European language may be studied, such as Sanskrit, Avestan, or Hittite.

599 Dissertation Writers' Seminar - Christian Wildberg

A practical and theoretical introduction to scholarly writing at the dissertation level and beyond.  Specific topics to be addressed include identifying promising avenues of research in current scholarship, writing, and defending a dissertation proposal, and devising strategies for organizing and presenting research.  The seminar provides a forum for students to get feedback on work in progress, and to discuss issues that arise in the course of writing.  This course is normally taken by all post-generals graduate students each year and is offered every term.