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This course offers an optional side-bar to Narratives of Enslavement ( CLASSICS 145/245) for graduate and advanced undergraduate students seeking additional reading of original Greek and Latin texts. Selections will come, inter alia, from Aristotle's Politics; [Demosthenes'] Against Neaera; Paul's Letter to Philemon; Columella, De re rustica; Pliny's Letters; the anonymous Life of Aesop; as well as Greek and Latin legal documents and inscriptions.

Widely dispersed narratives by and about enslaved persons are our focus. We'll explore the concept of 'slave narrative' by comparing texts from the ancient Mediterranean, the Cape of Good Hope, West Africa and the United States. We'll consider famous autobiographies alongside less familiar material such as court trial records. What are the affordances, what are the limits of such narratives as historical evidence? What notions of enslaved experience emerge? How close can we come to understanding the experiences of the enslaved? How different do such experiences seem when compared across time and space? Note: graduates and advanced undergraduates wishing to read original Greek and Latin texts should register for Reading Greek and Roman Slavery ( Classics 142/242) in addition.

Modern political theorists, from Hobbes and Rousseau, to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, to Sheldon Wolin and Robert Dahl, have turned to the classical Greek theory and practice of politics, both for inspiration and as a critical target. The last 30 years has seen renewed interest in Athenian democracy among both historians and theorists, and closer interaction between empiricists concerned with 'what really happened, and why' and theorists concerned with the possibilities and limits of citizen self-government as a normatively favored approach to political organization. The course examines the current state of scholarship on the practice of politics in ancient city-states, including but not limited to democratic Athens; the relationship between practice and theory in antiquity (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and others); the uses to which ancient theory and practice have been and are being put by modern political theorists; and experiments in democratic practice (citizen assemblies, deliberative councils, lotteries) inspired by ancient precedents. Suggested Prerequisites: Origins of Political Thought OR The Greeks OR other coursework on ancient political theory or practice. (For undergraduate students: suggest but do not require that you have taken either Origins of Political Thought, or The Greeks, or some other course that gives you some introduction to Greek political history or thought. )

This course is to be taken twice during the third year of the Classics PhD program. It takes the form of a tutorial based on weekly meetings, leading to the writing of the dissertation prospectus. To register, a student obtain permission from the prospective faculty advisor.

Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

For graduate students only. Individual research by arrangement with in-department instructors. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.

(Formerly CLASSGEN 801.)