GREEK HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY:                                            

ORIGINS OF WESTERN CULTURE 


Blocks 3-4, 2002

Professor Dobson, Armstrong 131, x 6442

Professor Riker, Armstrong 135, x 6566

TEXTS

Harrison, Themis (to be distributed)
Homer, Iliad
Wheelwright, Presocratics
Herodotus, Histories
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus
Euripides, Orestes and Other Plays ("Orestes," "Iphigeneia at Aulis")
Plato, The Last Days of Socrates; The Symposium and The Phaedrus: The Erotic Dialogues of Plato
Aristotle, Philosophy of Aristotle
The HarperCollins Study Bible
Steiner, Rudolf, Christianity and the Occult Mysteries of Antiquity
Pomerory, Ancient Greece

ASSIGNMENTS

BLOCK I

Week 1

1. Introductions. History of the Minoan-Mycenean Period (Pomeroy 1-40). Greek Dancing (Syrtaki) 

2. Themis, pp. 1-49

3. Themis, pp. 51-94, 119-151; 

4. Themis, pp. 385-415; 444-479

5. Themis, pp. 480-535

SUNDAY, 7:15--FILM: ZORBA THE GREEK (142 min.)—Max Kade Theater, AH 300

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Minoan Snake Goddess

 

Week 2

1.Iliad,Bks.1-7                                                               

2. Iliad, Bks. 8-14

3. Iliad, Bks 15-21

4.  Iliad, Bks. 22-24; History Lecture on Archaic Greece  (Pomeroy, 41-129)                           

5. Presocratics: sections on Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus; 

 

Rampin' Horseman

Archaic
Week 3 

1. Presocratics: sections on Parmenides, Empedocles, Pythagoras 

(Pomeroy, 131-200)

2. Herodotus, Histories, Bk. 1

3. Herodotus, Histories, Bks. 6-9 (selections to be announced)

Film: IPHIGENIA AT AULIS—Max Kade Theater, AH 300 - 1-4 PM

4  Aeschylus, Oresteia (Agamemnon ); 

( Pomeroy, 201-244)

5. Aeschylus Oresteia (Libation Bearers & Eumenides)


 

 

 

 

 

Oresteia Questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athena in the Parthenon (5th Century, Roman Copy)

 

 

 

 

 

Week 4

1. Sophocles, Antigone; History Lecture 

( Pomeroy, 246-328)                                                

2. Sophocles, Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus

Film: GOSPEL AT COLONUS, 3:30 PM (83 min.)—Max Kade Theatre

3. Euripides, Iphigeneia at Aulis (Please review film), Orestes

 

BLOCK BREAK

BLOCK II

Week 1

1. MID-TERM EXAM DUE

2. Day off    

3. Day off

THANKSGIVING BREAK

 

  

Cnidian Aphrodite (4th Century)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 


Week 2

1. Plato, Euthyphro, Apology (Come Prepared!)

2. Plato, Phaedo

3. Plato, Symposium

4. Plato, Phaedrus

5. Aristotle, Ethics, Bks. I, chs. 1-4, 7, 13; II, 1-7 III, chs. 1-5.

Week 3

1. Aristotle, Politics, Selection; Physics, Bk. II: 1-8

2. Aristotle, Ethics, X, 5-9; Metaphysics, XII, 1-7, 9

3. HarperCollins Study Bible(TBA)                                                    

4. Bible (TBA)

5. Bible (TBA)

Week 4

1. Steiner (TBA)

2. Steiner (TBA)

3. FINAL EXAM ( Group Orals)

 

The Death of Socrates

The Last Supper

   

GENERAL INFORMATION

This is a two-block course, and therefore you must complete both blocks to receive credit. You will receive one grade for the entire course. We expect to see improvement in your thought and writing over the two blocks. We will evaluate written assignments for quality of writing and thinking. Correct grammar and spelling are a sine qua non. We also require that your writing be "non-sexist."

It is also your responsibility to understand and follow the Honor Code. Ask questions if you are uncertain in any way about this requirement.

We expect intelligent and involved reading, writing, and an active listening and speaking presence in class. No single disaster will cause you to do poorly in the course.

We want you to study together and talk about class readings outside of class. Thinking together in and out of class will help your learning. We will be planning small group presentations on some of the reading, and may ask you to lead off some classes with questions, to see how well you've prepared. 

Do not expect all the material assigned to be covered in class. What is not covered, we assume you will read, discuss and think about carefully at home. You will be responsible for it on the examinations. 

The history readings from Pomeroy are meant to help you to get background on the original source material. We will be lecturing on this material in class, and we expect you to know what we lecture on.  If you should miss a history lecture,  you will be responsible for writing a paper on the same period, of approximately five pages.

We expect you to attend class, unless you have a bona fide reason for absence. Unexcused absences will result in a significant lowering of your discussion grade. Please notify either Professor Dobson or Riker if you must miss a class, before you miss it!

Class Schedule:

We will meet from 9:30 AM until 12:00 PM every day except Thursday, when we will meet at 9:45 AM and finish at 12:15 PM
Please note that the three days in between Block Break and Thanksgiving there will be no class. HOWEVER, your midterm is due on Monday of Block II, and you must complete the assignment thoroughly for the second Monday of Block 2 (after Thanksgiving).  Please plan to return on Sunday so that no one will miss class on Monday. (*These days have been garnered from usual days off during the Blocks)

Writing:

Block I: One short (1-2 pages) paper on Themis; one paper (2-3 pages) on the Iliad, one paper (2-3 pages) on Herodotus or Aeschylus; mid-term exam.

Block II: one 2-3 page paper on Plato, one 2-3 page paper on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and one longer paper connecting Steiner's ideas with earlier authors.  Final: Oral Examination (in small groups).

Policy on Late Papers:  We expect papers to be handed in the day of class.  If you have not finished your paper, please come to class anyway.  Late papers will be marked more severely and we will expect them to be more complex and longer than those handed in on time, because you will have more time to work on them.

Grading: Class participation 20%; papers 50%; mid-term and final 30%.

Promptness is appreciated and rewarded