First-Year Courses in Classical Civilization (Division 344)

Fall Term, 1999 (September 8 - December 22, 1999)

The Department of Classical Studies believes that the literature, monuments, and social institutions of the ancient world, together with the reflections of the Greek and Roman thinkers about their own cultures, are of unique value in themselves, well worth our contemplation and understanding; and that as we attempt to learn about and appreciate classical civilization, we necessarily learn as well a variety of contemporary methodologies and disciplines.

The department offers three groups of courses for distribution, those in Classical Civilization (introductory courses that require no knowledge of Greek or Latin), courses in Classical Archaeology, and upper-level language courses in Greek and Latin authors or genres. While only a few courses are repeated in yearly or biennial rotation, most courses are offered less regularly. This system guarantees that the instructor approaches the subject each time with fresh impetus. We believe in a healthy change and variation in our course offerings.

Classical Civilization offerings include the general surveys of Greek and Roman civilizations (CC 101 and 102), which provide (through readings, lectures, and discussions) a broad understanding of the literatures, thought, and social development of ancient Greece and Rome, and thus provide the student with knowledge of and appreciation for our cultural origins, as well as an acquaintance with modern methods for understanding an ancient culture. These courses are taught each year. CC 101 is offered in the Fall and CC 102 is offered in the Winter. Other courses provide understanding of particular aspects of the ancient world, approached from a variety of disciplines and studies – literary, philosophical, historical, sociological, and so on. Some students (particularly those who have already developed special interests in such disciplines) may wish to explore one of these topics without having had a broader introduction.

Classical Archaeology offerings include the broad surveys of the archaeology and monuments of Greece (Cl.Arch 221 – offered in the Fall) and Rome (Cl.Arch 222 – offered in the Winter) and a general introduction to archaeological field methods (Cl.Arch 323). Other courses use the material remains of specific cultures both to introduce students to the diversity of the ancient world and to demonstrate how, through a variety of multi-disciplinary approaches, the archaeological record can be used to reconstruct the life-ways of past societies.

Courses in this division do not require a knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are intended for students who wish to acquire knowledge of ancient literature, life, and thought, and of the debt modern civilization owes the Greeks and Romans.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Sara Forsdyke (forsdyke@umich.edu)

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: http://www.umich.edu/~classics/cc/101/

Greek literature presents us with fascinating stories and memorable characters, from Homer’s Achilles to Sophocles’ Oedipus, from the women of Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata to Plato’s Socrates. In this course, we will read many of these great works and learn about the social, political and cultural context in which they were produced. Major themes include the concept of heroism and relations between individual and community, divine and mortal, man and woman. These themes will be discussed as they relate to the literature and society of Ancient Greece, but also as they relate to our lives today. Although we will focus on literature, we will also pay some attention to material culture (cities, temples, statues, vases).

There will be approximately 90 pages of reading per week, two short papers, a midterm and a final examination. All reading is in English. Students who enroll in this course may choose to take the companion course, Classical Civilization 102 (offered in the Winter Term), which traces the literary and cultural development of Roman civilization. Students who complete this sequence are encouraged to consider a concentration in Classical Studies (go to http://www.umich.edu/~classics/classicshome/UG_info.html).

Section 001 – Theaters of Identity: Ancient Greece.

Instructor(s): James Porter (jport@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: https://coursetools.ummu.umich.edu/1999/fall/lsa/classciv/120/001.nsf

We are indebted to the ancient Greeks not only for so many aspects of our culture but for the way we tend to see ourselves as identifiable "selves." This course will explore some of the manifold arts of identity in antiquity and their relevance to us today through a variety of ancient and contemporary sources. The course will be interdisciplinary in nature, and will provide an introduction, from an ancient perspective, to the way we look at the work (literature, sculpture, architectural forms, political and moral values) and at ourselves. And it will explore some of the ways in which these two ways of looking are often invisibly connected. The format of the course will be that of a seminar, with discussion centering on set texts, objects, and problems and further focussed by short (4 pp.) biweekly position papers by participants and pre-circulated (possibly by being posted on an interactive website). A final paper of about 10 pp. or a joint in-class presentation will allow students to synthesize their findings from over the course of the term. Materials and readings will include John Berger, Ways of Seeing; M. Beard and J. Henderson, Classics: A Very Short Introduction; A.F. Stewart, Art, Desire and the Body in Ancient Greece; as well as a hymns to table-talk, from sculpted bodies to discussions of bodies and souls in philosophy.

Section 002 – Myths in Images: Expression and Communication in the Visual Cultures of Graeco-Roman Antiquity.

Instructor(s): Nassos Papalexandrou

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

Myths in ancient Greece and Rome formed the principle means for articulating the fundamental concepts of the physical and moral universe of the cultures that sought expression in them. Greeks and Romans loved to "think" of their myths in images covering a wide variety of media, ranging from unassuming drinking vessels to grandiose religious buildings; from personal ornaments to funeral caskets. Despite the fact that we live in an increasingly visual culture, the usages of this imagery may often seem puzzling or even paradoxical to us today. Why did the Greeks and Romans need images? What is the function of images in pre-literate cultures? How were myths in images supposed to be read? This seminar will explore these issues and, in order to do so, we will confront ourselves with a multiplicity of visual media and the situations that dictaged "thinking in visual form." Our goal will be to understand the nature of myth as a universal category of thought alongside the power of images in the past and present.

Section 003 – Remembrance of Things Past? Social Memory in Greece and Rome.

Instructor(s): Susan Alcock (salcock@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

How do societies remember? And what do they forget? This seminar will examine how societies create their own memories (and histories), as well as exploring the power of the past in the present. We will begin the course by discussing contemporary issues in 'memory studies' (the alternative 'counter-memories' created by race and gender; the significance of war or Holocaust memorials). Experiments in testing 'social memories' among peers and family are planned. Most of the seminar, however, will be taken up with the world of ancient Greece and Rome; the evidence of textual, art historical and archaeological sources will all be explored. Specific topics will include the ancient 'arts of memory' (techniques by which people worked to remember such things as oratorical displays), the commemoration of the dead and of heroes, and the setting up of public monuments to admired men or women (and, conversely, acts such as damnatio memoriae, in which statues were decapitated and memories erased!).

Section 004 – Barbarians: The Greek and Roman Perceptions of their Foreign Neighbors.

Instructor(s): Patrick McFadden (mcfaddep@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

The Greeks and the Romans saw the world as consisting of themselves on the one hand and of hordes of barbarians on the other. This course will examine how the Greeks and later the Romans viewed race and ethnicity, how they portrayed barbarians in their literature and art, and how they mingled with and sometimes incorporated barbarians into their societies. The approach will be interdisciplinary, and students will be asked to evaluate the evidence of language, literature, epigraphy, art, and architecture. The course will cover over 800 years of Greek and Roman history and include such diverse groups as the Persians described by Herodotus and the Goths influential in the time of Ammianus Marcellinus. There will be significant time devoted to the portrayal of influential figures, like the Egyptian queen Cleopatra in Augustan Rome.

Section 005 – Pagans and Christians in the Roman World.

Instructor(s): John Shean (jfshean@umich.edu)

First-Year Seminar,

Credits: (3).

Course Homepage: http://www.umich.edu/~jfshean/

This seminar examines the growth of Christianity within the Roman empire during the first five centuries CE. We will concentrate on the relations between the Christian, Pagan and Jewish communities during this period, and, in particular, the attitude of the Roman government towards the new Christian sect. Were relations among the various religious communities hostile or was there toleration of different religious beliefs? How severe and persistent was the persecution of Christians by Roman civil authorities? Did Roman policy vary in different parts of the empire? We will also discuss the impact of the conversion of Constantine to Christianity and the change this brought in the position of the Christian church within the Roman state. Did the Christian community use their newly privileged status to suppress Pagan practices? How 'Christian' were the Christians? What influence did Pagan culture have on Christianity? What difference did Christianity make on Roman society?

Section 001, 002 – Meets Oct. 26-Dec. 9 (Drop/Add deadline=November 8).

Instructor(s): Ruth Scodel (rscodel@umich.edu)

Mini/Short course

Credits: (1).

Course Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rscodel/ovid.html

Ovid has been among the most influential writers in the European literary tradition, and he is one of the most enjoyable authors in the canon. This mini-seminar will examine both the original contexts of his works and what he has meant for later readers, with emphasis on the love poetry and the “Metamorphoses.” Themes will include his treatment of women and sexuality, his narrative technique and wit, his relationships with Augustus and with Roman power, his presentation of self, and whatever aspects the group finds most interesting. We will look at both recent adaptations, including Ted Hughes’ “Tales from Ovid” and the collection “After Ovid,” and Elizabethan translations, including Golding’s “Metamorphoses” (which Shakespeare used) and Christopher Marlowe’s “Amores.” We will also look (briefly) at paintings based on Ovidian themes from the Renaissance to the present. There will be two short papers and oral reports.