121 - 130 of 151 results for: CLASSICS

This workshop concentrates on the development process of writing a successful dissertation proposal and clarifies expectations of the defense process. Includes peer reviews of draft proposals with an aim to present provisional proposals by the end of term. Highly recommended for current third-year Classics Ph.D. students.

The concept of definition plays a central role in Aristotle's treatment of both philosophical and scientific inquiry, as well as explanation. A definition is an account of what something is, and some definitions are used to guide causal inquiry whereas others function as explanatory starting points. In this course we will examine texts from his logic, natural science and metaphysics in order to see what the different kinds of definition are, how they obtained, and how they are capture the nature or essence of a definable object. Particular attention will be given to the role of matter in the definition of the form of a natural substance, state, process or activity. For instance, what role does a specification of physiological processes play in the definitions of emotions such as anger? No knowledge of Greek is required. May be repeat for credit.

(Formerly CLASSGEN 304.) Intensive study of three plays in Greek (Knights, Peace, Ecclesiazusae) and the rest of the corpus in English, with reference to formal features and a focus on how Old Comedy related to the democratic practices of Athens.

Critical analysis of poetic texts, strengthening and updating the understanding of Latin language and style, and discussion of some of the most influential lyric poetry of all time. Topics include language, style and meter, and also poetics, historical context, gender, ethics, genre, and the history of Western lyric poetry. Classics undergraduates as well as graduate students familiar with other traditions of poetry are welcome.

Petronius' Satyricon and Apuleius' Metamorphoses represent the surviving Latin novel. Differences between them. Readings include Petronius' dinner at Trimalchio's and Apuleius' love story of Cupid and Psyche. Philological analysis, history of the novel, and social history of the Roman empire. The afterlife of these texts. Recent scholarship.

(Formerly CLASSGEN 336.) This course examines Augustine's "Confessions" as an autobiographical discourse. It investigates his theories of memory and of time and address different theories of the "self." How does memory and the passing of time affect the notion of the self? Does Augustine's "subjective" theory of time offer an identifiable self? Is the self constructed by narratives? We will locate these issues in their cultural context by investigating Christian and pagan discourses and practices in Late Antiquity.

The concept of "satire" as a social and literary force will be examined with equal attention given to examples in Greek and Latin. Texts to be analyzed include Greek iambos from the 7th century BC to early Byzantine times; selected portions of Old Comedy; Herodas; Lucian; Lucilius; Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, Persius, and Martial. Particular attention will be paid to authorial self-fashioning; limitations on verbal abuse; and ideas of propriety. All texts to be read in the original languages, with supplementary readings in English and on occasion French, German or Italian.

How have scholars used ancient texts and objects since the revival of the classical tradition? How did antiquarians study and depict objects and relate them to texts and reconstructions of the past? What changed and what stayed the same as humanist scholarship gave way to professional archaeologists, historians, and philologists? Focus is on key works in the history of classics, such as Erasmus and Winckelmann, in their scholarly, cultural, and political contexts, and recent critical trends in intellectual history and the history of disciplines.

What is "ekphrasis"? How was it theorized and practiced in antiquity? Description, interpretation, and the senses; The relationship between the verbal and the visual in antiquity from Homer to Philostratus.