Classics
Chair: Joel C. Relihan
Department home page: http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/Acad/Classics/
The Classics Department offers courses in the languages, literatures and cultures of Greek and Roman antiquity.
All concentrators in classical languages are encouraged to participate in foreign study and archaeological programs and substitutions for some requirements may be allowed for those who undertake them.
Major
Print a major planning worksheet for Classics--Latin and Greek
Print a major planning worksheet for Greek or Latin
Print a major planning worksheet for Classical Civilization
The major programs offered by the Classics Department (nine or ten courses, with at least three at the 300 level or above) allow students to concentrate in either of the languages individually (Greek, Latin), in the two languages combined (Classics) or in literature and culture (Classical Civilization). Concentrators in the languages will plan with their advisor a selection of complementary classical civilization courses (Arth 273 and Arth 274, Phil 203 and Rel 110 and Rel 210 count as classics); concentrators in classical civilization are required to take three semester courses in either Greek or Latin. All concentrators are encouraged to complete a senior thesis; they are also encouraged to participate in foreign study and archaeological programs.
Ancient Studies
The Classics and Religion departments have drawn up guidelines for an interdepartmental major in Ancient Studies. In addition, the Classics Department will work with students to provide individualized programs when necessary or appropriate: in other interdisciplinary studies; in special preparation for graduate work in classics or classical archaeology; in special preparation for the teaching of Greek or Latin at the secondary level.
Minor
Minors are available in each of the separate concentrations: Greek, Latin, classics and classical civilization.
Courses
Classical civilization (readings in English)
130. Egypt in the Greco-Roman World
A study of the influence of ancient Egyptian culture in the Greco-Roman world. Lectures and discussions will examine the historical, economic, literary, artistic and religious ties between Egypt and Greece from the Bronze Age to late antiquity and the early Christian era.
(Joel C. Relihan)
135. Myth and Folklore
Mythology and mythography of the Greeks and Romans, focusing on tales of the Trojan War. Comparison with myths of the ancient Near East and other cultures; discussion of what myths are and what they reveal about the societies from which they come.
(Nancy Evans, Joel C. Relihan)
279. Literary Translation
See Ger 279.
Topics in classical literature
The following courses are offered at both the 200 and the 300 level. All 300 level courses are designated Writing Intensive.
254/354. The Drama of Fifth Century Athens
The explosion of political and intellectual energy in Athens in the fifth century and its repercussions, focusing on Greek historical texts (Herodotus and Thucydides) and Greek drama (text, theatre, performance, interpretation). Topics will include the evolution of the Athenian Empire after the Persian War; the interrelationships of politics, religion and the arts; the diverse forms of comedy and tragedy; and the dissolution of Athenian power after the Peloponnesian War. Classics 254 forms a connection with Thea 351.
(Nancy Evans)
Connections:
Conx 20046 The Greeks on Stage
256/356. The Ancient Romance
Stories of lovers destined to be separated and reunited, of pirates and thieves, false death and miraculous revival, of identity lost and found. From Homer's Odyssey through Daphnis and Chloe and The Ethiopian Tale to utopian and picaresque literature, Petronius' Satyricon and the historical fantasy The Romance of Alexander the Great.
(Joel C. Relihan)
258/358. Tales of Troy
A thorough investigation of the stories concerning the destruction of Troy and the end of the age of heroes, through epic (lliad, Odyssey, Aeneid), drama (Helen, Trojan Women), late classical and medieval tales and modern retellings and adaptations.
(Joel C. Relihan)
298. Experimental Course
354. The Drama of Fifth Century Athens
(See Clas 254. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
(Nancy Evans)
356. The Ancient Romance
(See Clas 256. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
(Joel C. Relihan)
358. Tales of Troy
(See Clas 258. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
(Joel C. Relihan)
Topics in classical civilization
The following courses are offered at both the 200 and the 300 level. All 300 level courses are designated Writing Intensive.
205/305. The Fall of the Roman Republic
The history of Rome from 133 B.C.E. to 69 C.E.: the problems of empire, the fall of the Roman Republic, "band-aid" solutions, civil wars and, finally, Augustus and the infamous Julio-Claudians. Emphasis on political, intellectual and social changes.
262/362. The Ancient Landscape: From Mythology to Ecology
The land outside the walls of the city: how it was used and abused, praised and feared, personified in myth and religion. Topics will include agriculture and ancient farming manuals, deforestation, the cult of streams and fountains, the divinities of the wild, the Eleusinian mysteries and the literature that idealizes the country life.
(Joel C. Relihan)
266/366. Women, Power and Paganism
An introduction to the study of the public and private lives of women in Mediterranean antiquity from classical Athens and Rome to late antiquity (fifth century B.C.E. to fourth century C.E.). The relationship of secular authority to religious custom in the Greco-Roman city-states and empires, and the social status of women within these cultures as understood (and misunderstood) by civic institutions and religious customs, including medicine, law, mythology, art and politics. Special attention to religious practices that allowed women more visible and powerful social identities, including state festivals, the so-called mystery cults, and the emerging Rabbinic (Jewish) and Christian traditions.
(Keeley C. Schell)
305. The Fall of the Roman Republic
(See Clas 205. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
(Joel C. Relihan)
362. The Ancient Landscape: From Mythology to Ecology
(See Clas 262. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
366. Women, Power, and Paganism
(See Clas 266. Students at the 300 level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.)
Seminar
401. Senior Seminar
Greek courses
101. Elementary Greek
A two-semester course that covers the essential grammar of classical Greek and introduces students to the reading of simple Attic prose. Resources in the audio lab and the computer lab will assist students in proper pronunciation and in drill and review.
(Nancy Evans)
213/313. Theologia: Religious and Philosophical Inquiry
Talking about God in Greek: hymns, narratives, myths, catechisms. Translation and analysis of key texts: Homer and Hesiod, Pre-Socratics and Hellenistic philosophers, Septuagint and New Testament, neo-Platonists.
(Nancy Evans)
215/315. Private Lives and Public Citizens
A study of the Greek household of the Classical era. Key texts include Xenophon's Oeconomicus and Lysias's Murder of Eratosthenes.
(Nancy Evans)
219/319. Euclid and Greek Mathematics
A study of the origins and development of Greek mathematics. Selections primarily from Books I-VI of Euclid's Elements, but with additional materials from late Greek mathematicians.
Greek 319 is the section for more advanced Greek language students, and includes additional readings from Greek mathematic and scientific texts.
(Joel C. Relihan)
222/322. Homer, Iliad
Achilles and Hector at the walls of Troy. Selections from the Iliad.
(Nancy Evans)
224/324. Homer, Odyssey
The wanderings of Odysseus. Selections from the Odyssey, Books 9 - 12.
226/326. Attic Drama
The tragic hero. Selections from Sophocles and Euripides.
(Keeley C. Schell)
290/291. Tutorial in Coptic
A year-long course introducing students of Greek to the study of Sahidic Coptic. The first semester covers basic grammar; the second semester is devoted to the study of Coptic Biblical texts and their Greek originals and then to Coptic Gnostic texts.
(Joel C. Relihan)
351. Elementary Greek Prose Composition
352. Advanced Greek Prose Composition
Latin courses
101. Elementary Latin
A two-semester course that covers the essential grammar of classical Latin and introduces students to the reading of simple Latin prose. Resources in the audio lab and the computer lab will assist students in proper pronunciation and in drill and review.
(Keeley C. Schell)
211/311. From Romulus to Rome
The legendary history of Rome. Selections from the Roman historians, primarily Livy; the relationship between myth and history in the Romans' view of their origins.
213/313. Latin Epistolography
The study of Roman letters and the development of the edited collection of letters as a Roman literary genre. Readings will be from Cicero, Fronto, Pliny, and Augustine.
(Keeley C. Schell)
215/315. The Crisis of the Roman Republic
Social, political and military factors leading to the crisis of the end of the Roman Republic. Readings will be from Caesar, Sallust, Cicero and Velleius Paterculus.
217/317. Roman Satire
The origins and development of Roman prose and verse satire. Texts will include Horace's Satires, Petronius's Satyricon and Seneca's Apocolocyntosis.
(Joel C. Relihan)
222/322. Roman Comedy
Selections from Plautus and Terence and a consideration of the origins and development of comic drama in the ancient world.
224/324. Poetry in Motion: Didactic Poetry and Roman Science
An introduction to classical poetry through the study of the poetics of observational astronomy. Selections from Vergil's Georgics, Manilius's Astronomica and other lyric and epic poets who describe the constellations and the Zodiac.
(Joel C. Relihan)
226/326. Eros and Erato: Love Poetry in the Roman World
The study of the conventions of love and of poetry. Selections from the lyric Horace and Catullus and the elegiac Ovid; love poetry from late antiquity and the Latin Middle Ages will also be read.
228/328. Epics and Heroes
Selections primarily from Vergil's Aeneid. Heroic and anti-heroic conventions in Ovid's Metamorphoses and in the Silver Latin epic will also be addressed.
351. Elementary Latin Prose Composition
352. Advanced Latin Prose Composition
(Joel C. Relihan)
Connections:
Conx 20046 The Greeks on Stage