From the wrath of Achilles to the Golden Bough, this class examines how ancient civilizations used mythology to make sense of their world. Students develop skills in literary and contextual analysis while investigating the intellectual traditions of myth and its role in intercultural exchange. The class also focuses on how the study of the ancient world can help us understand and appreciate our own modern mythologies. Taught in English. (5T)

Study a language over 3,000 years old in which some of the greatest and most influential works of world literature were composed. In addition to learning grammar, syntax, and vocabulary (you are guaranteed to become etymological savants), you will be exposed to the field of historical linguistics, and in particular to the place of Ancient Greek in the Indo-European language family. Readings in the first semester include selections from Plato (What is the meaning of life?), Herodotus (What is history and why is it so interesting to study the past?), and the New Testament (Got questions about God? This book has answers!). (1S) Offered occasionally.

In the second term students complete the study of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Readings include shorter passages from Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, and the New Testament, along with more extensive ones from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. (1S) Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 120 or consent of instructor.

In this class, students master the basic vocabulary and forms of the language of the Caesars, Cicero, and the citizens of the Roman Empire. Latin is an advantageous starting point for learning any of the modern Romance languages (including Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian), and an education in Latin literature was once considered the backbone of a liberal arts education. This course is designed to enable a disciplined student to deal as soon as possible with Latin texts in a competent and sure manner. (1S) Offered each fall.

Completion of all Latin forms and syntax, followed by a reading of a classical Latin texts chosen by students and instructor. (1S) Offered each spring. Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 140 or consent of instructor.

The focus of this entry-level topics course is on either a specific genre, such as epic, tragedy, or comedy, or on a particular myth, such as that of Medea. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Taught in English. (5T) Offered occasionally.

Rome is a city of ghosts, of sharp juxtapositions between ancient and modern, then and now. It is haunted by a past that also sustains it, culturally and economically. Some ghosts are sanctioned, others are not; some are displayed, some reveal themselves, and others have to be sought. This course engages students in an imaginative approach to the ancient and modern city, exploring its past and present and learning how our own experiences (of history, urban spaces, culture, and even college itself) inevitably change the landscape of our investigation. Students spend a week in Beloit immersing themselves in Roman history, calibrating approaches to on-site study, and planning for study abroad. The class then travels to Italy, where we spend ten days hunting the ghosts of Rome—those that live there, and those we bring with us. Taught in English. (2A) Offered occasionally during the summer Beloit Blocks session.

What can a study of the ancient Greeks teach us about history, politics, philosophy, law, literature, gender, sexuality, and art? And how reliable are works of literature as historical sources? This course follows the birth and progression of Greek societies from the Bronze Age through the death of Alexander the Great. Students learn much about the Greeks, but are also challenged both to extract nuanced historical information from literary sources and to relate the ancient material of the course to modern day practices, ideas, and structures. Taught in English. (3B) (Also listed as History 221.) Offered fall term, even years.

Ancient Rome produced great works of literature, art, and architecture, and was the model for the American Republic. Yet its people enjoyed the blood sports of the arena and engaged in the ruthless conquest and subjugation of much of the Mediterranean world. This course explores the history and culture of this seemingly contradictory civilization, from its origins as an Etruscan kingdom through the rise of the Republic and its transition into Empire. Through a critical and integrated analysis of literary and material culture, students develop a picture of what it meant to be Roman, and consider what it might mean to see ourselves as the inheritors of a Roman tradition. Taught in English. (3B) (Also listed as History 222.) Offered fall term, odd years.

An introduction to the art and architecture of ancient Greece, Etruria, and Rome, from the Early Bronze Age through the Imperial period. Special emphasis is given to classical Athens, the Hellenistic world, and Rome of the late Republic and early Empire. Taught in English. (3B) Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: one course in either Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, art history, or archaeology, or consent of instructor.

The subject and content of the course change according to the training and special interest of the instructor. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Taught in English. (5T) Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 100 or 200, or consent of instructor.

The subject and content of the course change according to the training and special interest of the instructor. May be repeated for credit if topic is different. Taught in English. (3B). Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 100 or 200, or consent of instructor.

This course addresses various aspects of Greco-Roman medical systems: what constitutes a “healthy” body; how genetics and environment affect health status; what diseases affect humans; the relationship between symptom and cause of disease; what treatment styles are practiced/recommended; the importance of case studies, family history, and environmental factors in determining a course of treatment; and women’s (reproductive) medicine (including theories of how reproduction happens in humans and suggestions for midwives). Students engage with large selections of the Hippocratic Corpus, Aristotle, Soranus, and Galen; and shorter selections of other relevant authors (e.g., Pliny the Elder). Throughout, students are asked to use the Greeks and Romans as a way to interrogate contemporary medical epistemology: what do we “know” about the body, disease, and treatment, and how do we know it? How do we define “health?” What socio-cultural assumptions do we make about the nature of illness and people who suffer with illness? Taught in English. (5T) (Also listed as Critical Identity Studies 216 and Health and Society 215.)

Readings include selected books of the Iliad or Odyssey, and at least one Homeric Hymn. The focus is on an examination of Homeric style, narrative technique, meter, and the nature of oral poetry. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

Readings may be drawn from the following Greek prose authors, genres, and works: Lysias (On the Murder of Eratosthenes), Lucian (True History), the Novel (Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, Xenophon of Ephesus’ An Ephesian Tale), the New Testament (Mark, Luke, John, 1 Corinthians). Special emphasis is given to an examination of each work’s genre and style, as well as to the evolution of the Greek language over time. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

Delineation of the Herodotean view of history. The interaction of personal motive and social movement. The historian as reporter and interpreter, as ethnologist and sociologist, as entertainer, moralist, and artist. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

An in-depth literary and linguistic study of one or two plays (e.g., Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound; Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus the King; Euripides’ Medea, Electra, Bacchae, Alcestis). (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

This course focuses on the epistolary and oratorical genres: how did Roman writers communicate to their family and friends, and how did they make arguments in public? We focus on the works of Cicero, and other authors may include Ovid, Pliny the Younger, Seneca the Elder, Seneca the Younger, Quintilian, and Marcus Aurelius, depending on the interest and expertise of the students and instructor. Attention is paid to argumentation, salutations, and the relationship between writing and action. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

The explosion of civil wars in Rome in the 1st century BCE is met with an equal explosion of... love poetry? This course examines the tropes, imagery, and metrics of Roman elegy. Students will encounter representative works of Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Sulpicia, and Ovid. Depending on the interests and expertise of the instructor and the students, the course may focus on one or two of the above authors, or it may focus on a particular theme (e.g., programmatic openings, the amica, the art of seduction, complaints, breakups). Attention is directed toward stylistics and critical interpretation in light of Augustan literature and politics. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

How did Roman writers make sense of the natural world, human societies, and the place of the individual within these systems? This course explores representative philosophical writings of Cicero, Lucretius, Seneca, and Augustine. The course may focus on one or two of the above authors, or it may focus on a particular theme (e.g., friendship, the state, emotions, physics), depending on the interest and expertise of the instructor and students. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

A survey of the extraordinary diversity of Medieval Latin literature (both poetry and prose), with special emphasis on the 11th-13th centuries. This course also serves as an introduction to Latin palaeography (i.e., how to read medieval and early-Renaissance manuscripts written in Latin). (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

This intermediate-level Latin course helps students to refine, review, and/or deepen their understanding of Latin grammar, syntax, and vocabulary, but its focus is to introduce students to basic statistical concepts and techniques in the process of studying and making arguments about ancient Latin poetry. Students explore how to represent and study texts as sets of quantitative and qualitative data, how to use quantitative analysis of these data to find patterns in texts, how to develop and test hypotheses about texts using data analysis, and how to develop persuasive arguments that use quantitative data as evidence for textual interpretation. The ancient author(s), genre(s), and time period(s) of study will vary depending on student and instructor preference. (1S) Offered occasionally. Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 140 or permission of instructor.

The victory of conceptual thought over the mythological mode, and the consequences that flow from the creation of philosophic language. Primary emphasis upon the Presocratics and the early and middle dialogues of Plato. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

The influence of logos upon historical writing and political action in Thucydides’ history, with particular attention paid to the practice and effect of rhetoric in a democratic society. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

Close reading of one play by Aristophanes (e.g., Clouds, Lysistrata, Frogs). Detailed attention to the inner world of the playwright as poet, dramatist, theatrical craftsman, and commentator on the culture of democratic Athens. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

Hesiod and the lyric poets serve as sources for the examination of poetic texture as well as guides to the character of Greek myth, religion, and social and literary development. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 121 or consent of instructor.

This course features close reading of representative plays of Plautus, Terence, and Seneca. We consider each figure as a possible representative of and critical commentator upon his age, and we investigate the dramas for their attitudes about politics, gender, history, and performance. Detailed attention is also paid to the inner world of the playwrights as poets, dramatists, and theatrical craftsmen. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

A consideration of the Roman interpretation of the epic genre, beginning with Ennius and focusing on Vergil and his ambiguous relationship to Augustan ideology. We may also explore selections of some of the following: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Lucan’s Bellum Civile, Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica, and Statius’ Thebaid. The class draws attention to the manipulation of imagery, plot, intertext, and vocabulary in the creation of layered meaning. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

How did Romans understand and craft their own history? How have their narratives shaped our understanding of what it means to tell stories about our own past? Attention is paid to the social and historical context of textual production, narrative and character development, and the (re)production of Roman ideologies. Possible authors include Sallust, Livy, Tacitus, and Suetonius. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

Exploration of the comic as a critical key to social history and the Roman mind. Approaches to the intersection of humor and society: how the comedic illustrates and reveals issues of class structure and social ethics, personality and stereotype, power politics and statesmanship. Possible authors include Plautus, Horace, Juvenal, Martial, Seneca, and Petronius. (5T) Prerequisite: Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 141 or consent of instructor.

This course has three goals: (1) embark on an in-depth study of a topic, chosen in consultation with classmates and faculty; (2) share written work-in-progress with peers and faculty; (3) investigate the state of Classics in academia and in contemporary American culture, including research into secondary, undergraduate, and graduate curricula and programs. Taught in English. (CP) Prerequisite: junior standing, Greek, Latin, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies 100, 202 or 204 and 121 or 141, or consent of instructor.

Prerequisite: sophomore standing.

Work with faculty in classroom instruction. Graded credit/no credit.

Course and curriculum development projects with faculty.