Classics Courses
Spring 2012

CC 200 Classical World (4)
M/W/F 11:15-12:10
Prof. Arnush

An introduction to classical antiquity for students interested in ancient Greece and Rome, the impact of antiquity on Medieval and Renaissance Europe, and a general background in the Western tradition. This interdisciplinary course taught by a team of faculty members from several departments and programs includes studies in literature (epic, dramatic, and lyric poetry, rhetoric, and fiction), history and historiography, art and architecture, philosophy and political theory.   Fulfills Humanities requirement. Prerequisite: None.

CC 222 Greek Tragedy (3)
T/TH  2:10-3:30
Prof. Curley

In the theater of Dionysus at Athens, Greek myths and legends came to life. Heroes and heroines alike took the stage and through their stories demonstrated the frailty of human existence. Students will explore works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the three great tragedians, in the context of Athenian society of the 5th century BCE. In addition, students will write, produce, and perform an original Greek tragedy in English. Fulfills Humanities requirement. Prerequisite: None. Counts toward the Theater major.

CC 265 Women Readers, Women Writers (3)
T/TH  3:40-5:00
Prof. Westerhold

This course will explore the gender politics of consuming and producing literature in ancient Greece and Rome. How did male authors and artists represent women reading and writing? How might ancient women have responded to male-authored depictions of women? What was at stake for a woman who did write poetry in the ancient world? How have modern scholars responded to ancient women writers? How have modern women responded to ancient literature? Our readings will include poetry written by ancient women, poetry written about ancient poetry by women in the modern era, poetry written about ancient women writers, and modern scholarship on the topic.  Fulfills Humanities requirement. Prerequisite: None. Counts toward Gender Studies.

CC 395 The Classics Major and Beyond (1)
Time and day TBA
Prof. Curley

"Classics? What are you going to do with that?" In this transitional course, senior majors will reflect on their work in the Classics curriculum and look ahead to life as Skidmore graduates. Working both individually and collaboratively, students will examine the relevance of classical studies to continuing intellectual, cultural, and civic engagement; explore options for future work and study; compile a portfolio documenting and evaluating coursework in the Classics major; and strengthen the presentation and communication skills essential to professional success

CG 210 Intermediate Greek (4)
M 10:10-11:05,  T/TH 9:40-11:00
Prof. Westerhold

In this continuation of CG 110, students read a speech written by the fifth century rhetorician, Lysias.  The speech was to be given in court by a man accused of murdering his wife's adulterer, Eratosthenes.  His defense, which describes his relationship with his wife and the basis for his suspicions of her infidelity, paints a vivid picture of marriage and the domestic sphere, while also providing a glimpse into the fifth century Athenian court system.  If time permits, we will begin a second speech written by Lysias for an assault case. Prerequisite: CG 110 or permission of the instructor.

CG 310 Homer's Iliad (4)
T/TH 11:10-12:30,  4th hour TBA
Prof. Porter

Students will gain a close acquaintance with Homer's Iliad, the extraordinary epic poem that stands at the beginning of western literature. We shall read extensively in the original Greek, including substantial portions of books 1, 3, 6, 9, 16, 18, 22, and 24; cover the remainder of the poem in translation; learn to read Homer's Greek hexameters fluently and expressively; and through readings and reports throughout the semester survey characteristic examples of the vast critical literature on Homer and the Iliad. At the close of the course each student will complete an original research topic, for which s/he will give an oral report and write a term paper.  Prerequisite: CG 210 or permission of the instructor.

CL 210: Intermediate Latin (4)
M 10:10-11:05,  T/TH 9:40-11:00
Prof. Curley

Students will refine their mastery of Latin grammar, syntax and vocabulary with excerpts from various Latin authors, including the commentaries of Julius Caesar. Written in the 50s BCE as observations on Caesar's own campaigns against the people of Gaul, the "Commentaries on the Gallic Wars" provide opportunities to explore the nature of historical prose, life in the army and the provinces, the end of the Roman res publica, and the types of people Caesar conquered — particularly the Druids, whose mysterious ways both fascinated and horrified Caesar.  Prerequisite: CL 110 or permission of the instructor.

CL 311: Letters of Cicero (4)
M/W 2:30-3:50,  4th hour TBA
Prof. Westerhold

Students will read selected letters written by Cicero to friends, family and contemporaries in the original Latin. We will focus primarily on translation and grammar of the Latin itself. However, Cicero's letters tell us a great deal not only about this very important politician and orator, but also about Roman society and culture, day to day life, family relationships and the political climate in the late Republic. Students will discuss these issues as they come up in the readings and will be asked to engage these topics in papers and presentations for the course.  Prerequisite: CL 210 or permission of the instructor.

AH 223 Roman Art and Archaeology (3)
M/W  4:00-5:20
Prof. Mechem

An examination of architecture, sculpture, and painting beginning with the Villanovan and Etruscan cultures and continuing through the Republic and Empire (fourth century A.D.). Topics covered include wall painting, narrative sculpture, and city planning. Fulfills Humanities requirement. Prerequisite: None.

EN 363 Seminar on Willa Cather    (4)
M/W  4:00-5:20
Prof. Porter

Willa Cather is inextricably linked to that portion of Nebraska prairie called The Divide.  Although she lived on the prairie for only a short time, the term is appropriate, for Cather spent her life on various divides:  a "western" author who lived largely in New York City; private, almost ascetic in her quest for artistic perfection, but tireless, even fierce in promoting her books; an author who craved recognition, but who found more despair than joy when her One of Ours won the Pulitzer Prize; a staunch feminist who often read herself into male protagonists; a gay woman throughout her life, but one who remained in the closet and masked this sexual inclination in her writing; a Protestant who wrote two novels imbued with Catholicism.    Such divides animate Cather's novels and stories, whose limpid and eloquent language can easily mask their unblinking exploration of the contradictions and schisms inherent in the human condition—and in their author's life.

Among works we will read are O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, My Ántonia, A Lost Lady, The Professor's House, Death Comes for the Archbishop, Lucy Gayheart, and a number of Cather essays and stories.  Students will also read representative samples of the extensive scholarship on Cather, will present short oral reports throughout the term, and will at the end write a substantial paper. 
(Note:  This course does not count towards the Classics major/minor).

HI 204 Athens, Alexander the Great, and Cleopatra (3)
MWF 1:25-2:20
Prof. Arnush

A study of Greece from the Peloponnesian War to the end of Greek independence. Students examine the war between Athens and Sparta and its aftermath, the struggle for preeminence among Greek city-states, the rise of Macedonia, the monarchies of Philip and his son Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic kingdoms, the development of scientific thought, and the last "Greek" monarch, Cleopatra of Egypt. Special emphasis is given to the study of the ancient sources: literary, historiographic, archaeological, and numismatic.  Fulfills Social Sciences requirement. Prerequisite: None.

HI 363 The Age of Augustus (3)
T/TH 12:40-2:00,
Prof. Arnush

I found Rome a city of bricks, and I leave it clothed in marble." These are the words of Rome's first Emperor, Gaius Octavian Augustus, who ruled an empire stretching from Spain to Syria, from Britain to Egypt. Students in this seminar will explore the social, artistic, literary and political successes and failures of this "golden age" of Rome's past. Each student will select a topic from the Augustan age — such as Vergil's Aeneid, the Imperial Forum of Augustus, art as propaganda, the creation of empire, the multiculturalism of the Mediterranean, the role of women in the Roman world — and assess it within the context of Augustan ideology and history. Cross-listed as CC 365. Also counts toward the International Affairs major.  Classics in English.