Below is a full listing of courses in Classical civilization offered regularly by the Department, as well as courses offered by other departments that are related to Classical civilization. Note that, although many of these courses are offered frequently, not all are taught every year.
053 [006M] First Year Seminar: Famous Courtroom Trials of Antiquity (3). This First Year Seminar will look at speeches delivered in some of the most famous trials of antiquity. Students will examine the facts of the case, the laws relevant to it, legal procedure used in the ancient world, and, most importantly, how the speaker presents his case, including types of argument, structure of speeches, and stylistic considerations.
054 [006M] First Year Seminar: Crime and Violence in the Ancient World (3). Crime and violence are all too familiar aspects of modern Western societies. Movies like "Gladiator" or "The Passion of the Christ" suggest that Greek and Roman civilization were nothing but gory. This First Year Seminar will challenge this view and approach this topic from various perspectives. By reading sources in translation students will investigate what forms of violence were common.
055 [006M] First Year Seminar: Three Greek and Roman Epics (3). This First Year Seminar will involve a close reading of Homer's ILIAD and ODYSSEY and Vergil's AENEID, and as a transition from Homer to Vergil, students will also read the tragedies of Sophocles from fifth-century Athens.
056 [006M] First Year Seminar: Women and Men in Euripides (3). What can be learned from Greek tragedy about human nature? This First Year Seminar will serve, first of all, as an introduction to Euripidean drama in its cultural and historical setting in fifth-century Athens.
058 [006M] First Year Seminar: What's So Funny? Women and Comedy from Athens to Hollywood (3). This First Year Seminar will consider what Greeks and Romans found funny, as well as how that humor translated (or not) into modern America. Students will write and present publicly a short comic play that represents the themes they identify and study in this seminar.
059 [006M] First Year Seminar: Plutarch and the Roots of Modern Biography (3). This First Year Seminar is an investigation into the telling of lives: the methods, purposes, and characteristics of biographies both ancient and modern.
060 [006M] First Year Seminar: Love, War, Death, and Family Life in Classical Myth (3). This First Year Seminar studies parent-child relations, gender dynamics, and conflict in mythic families. Students will study these mythic families, looking especially at parent-child relations, gender dynamics, and conflict; the seminar will ask what aspects of ancient culture are revealed by these legends and stories.
064 [006K] First Year Seminar: Cinema and the Ancient World (3). In this First Year Seminar, students will investigate what films set in classical Roman antiquity say about contemporary culture, and will also attempt to understand their impact on the shaping of our sense of history.
065 [006K] First Year Seminar: The City of Rome (3). This First Year Seminar is an introduction to the history and art of the city of Rome from antiquity through the present. Students will survey the entire period, but will look in particular at four specific periods in the city's life: the early second century AD (the height of the Roman Empire); the early ninth century AD (the Middle Ages; Charlemagne); the early fifteenth century (the Renaissance; Raphael, Michelangelo, and the new St. Peter's); and the last fifteen years, from about 1990 to the present.
066 [006K] First Year Seminar: Sailing to Byzantium (3). This First Year Seminar will explore selected aspects of Byzantium as hinted at in W.B. Yeats' famous poem, "Sailing to Byzantium" (1927) such as: icons, goldsmithing, monasticism, poetry, mosaics, and people of the imperial court.
071 [006G] First Year Seminar: The Architecture of Empire (3). The goal of the First Year Seminar will be to examine the architecture of ancient empires, beginning with that of Egypt and ending with the Roman Empire. Analysis will be particularly concerned with the use of architecture as an instrument of empire.
072 [006G] First Year Seminar: Greek and Roman Education (3). This First Year Seminar introduces students to forms of education in Greek and Roman antiquity, including education practices from early childhood to higher education.
073 [006G] First Year Seminar: Life in Ancient Pompeii (3). A study of this well-preserved ancient site provides an understanding of life in an Italian town during the early Roman empire. Students will study town planning, architecture, the arts, social organization, politics, entertainment, artisanry, commerce, and family life in this First Year Seminar:
111 [011] Grammar (1). This course provides a systematic review of English grammar and style for students of Latin and Greek.
121 [020] The Greeks (3 each). Introduction to the history, literature, religion, philosophy, science, art, and architecture of Greece from Homer to Alexander the Great. Emphasis on primary sources.
122 [021] The Romans (3 each). A survey of Roman civilization from the beginning to the late empire, dealing with history, literature, archaeology, philosophy and religion, technology, the economy, and social and political institutions.
125 [026] Word Formation and Etymology (3). Systematic study of the formation of words from Greek or Latin to build vocabulary and recognition. For medical terminology see CLAS 126.
126 [025] Medical Word Formation and Etymology (3). Systematic study of the formation of medical terms from Greek and Latin roots, to build vocabulary and recognition. For general etymology see CLAS 125.
131 [077] Myth, Story, and Belief in Greek Literature (3 each). An introduction to myth, heroic lore, and religion through the study of major works of Greek literature. Core readings: Homer, Hesiod, and selections from tragic drama.
133H [029] Epic and Tragedy (3). First-year honors students only. Study of classical epic and tragedy. Special emphasis on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and on the rethinking of Homeric epic in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
231 [031] The Theater in the Greek and Roman World (3). The physical setting and techniques of classical theater: tragedy, comedy, and other public spectacles in Greece and Rome.
240 [051] Women in Greek Art and Literature (WMST 240/WMST 240H)) (3 each). Course examines law, religion, medicine, social practices, and ideologies in the lives of women in ancient Greece, from Homer to Hellenistic Egypt, using literature, art, and epigraphy.
241 [053] Women in Ancient Rome (WMST 241/WMST 241H) (3 each). Course examines the life of women in ancient Rome, from the first beginnings of the organized community in Rome through the early Empire, a period of about 900 years. Also explores aspects of the lives of women in provinces governed by Rome.
242 [042] Sex and Gender in Antiquity (WMST 242) (3). Exploration of gender constructs, what it meant to be a woman or a man, in antiquity, as revealed in literary, historical, and archaeological sources. Readings from Homer, Euripides, Plato, Ovid, Virgil, Juvenal, Petronius, and other ancient authors.
245 [045] Women of Byzantium (WMST 245) (3). A study of women's roles and influence in the Late Antique and Byzantine world, through analysis of contemporary Byzantine texts by and about women, historical testimonies, and works of art.
253 [033] The Age of Pericles (3 each). An introduction to classical civilization through study of its most important period in Greece. Attention to history, philosophy, and art. Lecture and discussion.
254 [034] Alexander and the Age of Hellenism (3). An introduction to classical civilization through study of the period in which it spreads beyond mainland Greece to influence and partially merge with the cultures of the Near East, Egypt, and Rome. Attention to history, literature, philosophy, and art. Lectures and discussion.
257 [035] The Age of Augustus (3 each). An introduction to classical civilization through study of the literature, history, and art of one of the most crucial periods in Roman history. Lectures and discussion.
258 [036] The Age of the Early Roman Empire (3). An introduction to the civilization of the Roman Empire through study of the literature, history, and archaeology of its most colorful period.
259 [037] Pagans and Christians in the Age of Constantine (3). Introduction to the literature and culture of the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Special attention to the fundamental cultural and social changes resulting from the Christianization of the Empire.
263 [043] Athletics in the Greek and Roman World (3). Study of athletics as a unifying force in ancient society, emphasizing the Olympic games and other religious festivals. Consideration of athletic professionalism, propaganda, and social trends using literary and archaeological sources.
265 [044] Technology and Culture in the Roman Empire (3). A survey of the state of technology in Rome during the first three centuries A.D. Consideration of the interrelationships of technology and government, art, economics, and the quality of life.
269 [069] Representations of Cleopatra (CMPL 269, WMST 269) (3). Study of the life of Cleopatra and how her story has been reinvented in postclassical societies, often as a mirror image of their own preoccupations, in literature, art, movies, and opera.
361 [061] Homer and the Heroic Age of Greece (3). The Iliad, the Odyssey. Hesiod, heroic, and oral poetry. The archaeology of Homeric Greece, the study and influence of the Homeric poems in modern times.
362 [062] The Tragic Dimension in Classical Literature (3). The nature of the tragic and the function of tragic drama. The development and sources of Greek tragedy. Aristotle's Poetics.
363 [063] Latin and Greek Lyric Poetry in Translation (3). Introduction to the lyric and elegiac poetry of antiquity in English translation, including Hesiod, Sappho, Catullus, Ovid, and Horace.
364 [064] The Classical Background of English Poetry (CMPL 364) (3). Study of classical writers' influence on selected genres of English poetry.
391 [090] Junior Seminar (3). Prerequisite, junior standing. All departmental majors will jointly explore the history, archaeology, art and literature of one or more geographical regions of the Mediterranean. Several oral and written reports; seminar format.
396 [091] Topics in Classical Studies (3). Students may suggest to the chair of the department topics for individual or group study. Advance arrangements required.
409 [109] Historical Literature Greek and Roman (3). The study in English translation of selections from Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Tacitus, and others, with consideration of their literary qualities and their readability as historians.
415 [115] Roman Law (3). Introduction to Roman Law, public and private. On the basis of Roman texts in translation (or the original if desired), consideration of (a) the principles of Roman constitutional law and (b) the legal logic and social importance of Roman Civil Law.
418 [118] Byzantine Civilization (3). Introduction to Intellectual and social history of the Byzantine Empire from Justinian to 1453, noting the interaction of classical and Christian culture and Byzantium's influence on neighboring peoples and on the Renaissance.
540 [140] Problems in the History of Classical Ideas (3 each). Prerequisite, permission of the department.
547 [147] Approaches to Women in Antiquity (3). Prerequisite, instructor approval. Graduate students and senior classics majors. Intensive interdisciplinary introduction to women in antiquity, using literary, historical, and visual materials.
691H [097] Honors Course (3 each). Honors course for departmental majors in classical archaeology, classical civilization, Greek, and Latin.
812 [231] Diaspora Judaism in the Roman World (3).