Fall 2023

Fall 2023

CLST 3   Reason and the Good Life: Socrates to Epictetus  An introduction to philosophical thought in the ancient Mediterranean, especially that of Socrates, Epicurus, and the Stoics. We will concentrate especially on ethical questions; e.g. what kind of life is best for humans to pursue, how thoughtful persons should weigh the potentially competing claims of reason, pleasure, and emotion; and on how intellectual activity was perceived at Athens and at Rome. Graver TMV, W.

CLST 06   Introduction to Classical Archaeology Introduces the basic methods and principles of Classical archaeology. Students will acquire an appreciation of the development of material culture in the Mediterranean world from prehistory to the collapse of the Roman Empire.  INT or ART, W. course flyer  Kramer-Hajos

CLST 21 Greek Archaeology: Early Iron Age and Archaic   This course examines in detail through archaeology the cultural process whereby Greece evolved from a scattered group of isolated and backward villages in the Dark Ages (ca. 1100-750 B.C.) to a series of independent, often cosmopolitan city-states united against the threat of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 B.C. Considers such questions as: Where did the Greeks acquire the concept of monumental temple architecture and why did they choose to build temples in only two or three different architectural styles? Where did the Greeks learn to write in an alphabetic script and what did they first write down? When and why did the Greeks begin to portray their myths in art? May be taken in partial fulfillment of the major in Art History. Kramer-Hajos

CLST 30 and 31 Foreign Study By means of extensive field trips throughout the Italian peninsula (e.g., Latium, Tuscany, Campania, Umbria), students develop a deep familiarity with the topography and material culture (sites, monuments, artifacts) of ancient Italy. A separate trip off-peninsula focuses on the material culture and history of Roman Britain, as an administrative region and a frontier society of the Roman world.  The aim of the program is to develop a coherent understanding of the processes of continuity and change in the development of ancient Rome, Roman Italy, and the Roman world. The monuments of the post-Classical Roman world are also examined whenever possible, so that students may begin to understand the profound and continuing influence of ancient Italic cultures upon the present. The curriculum embraces architecture, the visual arts, history, religion and the basic techniques of archeological analysis. Students learn to see and understand the Roman world in its own context through lectures and discussion in situ. We develop a deeper understanding of types of evidence and how we reconstruct and write history, especially history "from the bottom up" or "from the margins." The academic requirements consist of on-site group work, short weekly papers, oral reports, and an independent research project. Stewart

GRK 10   Readings in Greek Prose and Poetry For who have aleady studied the basics of the language. Readings drawn from Greek tragedy will illustrate foundational concepts of the culture. LIT, W Tell

GRK 25 Aristophanes' Frogs  In this class, we will read Aristophanes' Frogs, performed in 405 BCE, a few months before Athens' defeat at the hands of Sparta. The play displays a bewildering mix of themes, ranging from bowel humor, literary criticism, education, to notions about salvation and the afterlife. We will explore all of those topics in this class. We will also pay attention to comedy as a genre and the stylistic conventions it employs.  LIT, W. Tell

LAT 1    Latin 1  A rapid introduction to the Latin language through reading passages of gradually increasing difficulty, with an introduction to the history and culture of Pompeii and Roman Egypt in the first century AD. LAT 1 Course Flyer 2023.pdf, Lynn, Gaki, Walker

LAT 3    Latin 3    Completes the introduction to Latin grammar and syntax, then moves into unadapted selections from Pliny, Catullus, Ovid, and other Roman authors. Foxley, Walker

LAT 10.01  The Landscape of Latin Literature  Designed to introduce students to varied aspects of Latin literary culture. Beginning with some physical evidence of literacy and writing materials, we will proceed to study the physical history of ancient books and publication methods, then analyze a series of short works illustrating how the Romans themselves thought about literary production, the functions texts can serve, and the nature of meaning and authorship. Also introduces library resources, including illuminated manuscripts in Dartmouth's collection. LIT, W. Lynn (Course flyer LAT 10 2023.pdf

LAT 30.07 Roman Perspectives on Friendship Studies the ideology and practice of friendship at Rome through personal letters, short poems, and philosophical discussions. In particular, we consider how the relationship called amicitia fit into the social hierarchy, whether that relationship entailed personal affection, and how Romans dealt with the ethical problems that sometimes arise in the context of friendship. Readings in Latin include personal and political letters of Cicero, short poems of Catullus to both friends and enemies, and Cicero's essay De amicitia. TMV, W. Graver

LAT 30.08/LING 11.14 The History and Structure of the Latin Language  This course focuses on the grammar, pronunciation, and writing of Latin, starting from its origin in Proto-Indo-European (c. 4000 BC), proceeding through early Latin into the classical period (1st cent. BC to 1st cent. AD), and ending with the post-classical era. Through analysis of language data and reading of selected ancient texts, students will gain a greater mastery of synchronic language patterns, and also will understand the diachronic origins of those patterns. QDS, W, LRP. Pulju