201. Great Books of the Ancient World. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in Gt. Bks. 191 or Classical Civ. 101. (4). (HU).
We are, perhaps more than we suspect, shaped in our habits of thought and action, by our Western heritage. Our roots lie in Greece, Rome, and Israel, and our knowledge of who we are depends in large part on our knowledge of those forces which have helped form us. What meaning does it have for my life, for example, that I know I have to die? With this question we approach Homer's Iliad and the Exodus of the Hebrew Bible. Whether in Thucydides' portrayal of the struggle between Athens and Sparta or in the tragic drama of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, or in Plato's investigation of the meaning of life in the Socratic dialogues, or in Rome's struggle for eternal peace, it is always the dark mystery of human existence which fuels man's desire to know who he is. Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, two or three short papers, midterm, and final exam. (Paslick)
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