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Continuation of CLASSICS 1G. Vocabulary and syntax of the classical language.

(Formerly CLASSLAT 2.) Vocabulary and syntax of the classical language. Prerequisite: CLASSICS 1L or equivalent placement.

Euripides' Medea sympathetically and unflinchingly portrays a marginalized woman choosing to do the unimaginable: kill her own children. From its first performance in 431 BCE to the present, the tragedy has shocked, challenged, and inspired its audiences: Medea's poignant expression of her own powerlessness given her gender, citizenship status, and displacement, combined with her extreme manner of taking revenge into her own hands, make her impossible to fully embrace or reject. With Medea as our entry point, this course will give students the tools and experience needed to confidently read ancient Greek tragedy. Additional discussion will provide context for the play's original performance praxis, important themes in scholarly interpretation, and the play's later reception from Ovid to Alfaro. Classics majors and minors must take the course for a letter grade. It may be repeated for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

In this class you will practice with and reinforce the advanced vocabulary, forms, and syntax of classical Latin that you have previously acquired by closely reading selections from Books 1-6 of Vergil's Aeneid. While the emphasis of this course is on developing fluency in reading and analyzing the Latin texts, you will have opportunities to discuss and research the biographical, political, and literary issues raised by the readings. A primary focus of your inquiry will be the connection between art and propaganda as you examine how Vergil either contributes to or subverts the vision of Rome's imperial destiny and civilizing mission. In addition you will read the remainder of Books 1-6 in English and become familiar with the general outline of the first half of Vergil's epic. Your knowledge of the content and syntax of the readings will be assessed by several short quizzes. You will also sit for mid-quarter and end-quarter tests. Each of you will give a brief presentation on a topic relating to the life or poetry of Vergil, the historical background of his era or his influence on literature, art or music. Classics majors and minors must take course for letter grade. Classics majors and minors may repeat for degree credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

The literature of medieval Ireland (600-1400 AD) is rich in tales about war and adventure, pagan gods, and otherworld voyages. The sagas of kings and queens sit side by side (sometimes in the same medieval manuscripts) with stories of holy men and women, and exquisite poetry in praise of nature or important persons. We will explore this largely unfamiliar but fascinating world through careful reading of the primary texts, backed up by some secondary works on history, myth, and society. In addition, the influence of early Irish literature on such later writers as W. B. Yeats and Flann O'Brien will be investigated. Readings include heroic stories of Finn and Cú Chulainn; the Cattle Raid of Cooley; the Voyage of Bran; satires; bardic praise-poems; monastic poems; and Sweeney Astray (Buile Shuibhne).

Preference to freshmen. Sappho's surviving fragments in English; traditions referring to or fantasizing about her disputed life. How her poetry and legend inspired women authors and male poets such as Swinburne, Baudelaire, and Pound. Paintings inspired by Sappho in ancient and modern times, and composers who put her poetry to music.

Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.

This course will journey through ancient Greek and Roman literature from Homer's Iliad to the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, in constant conversation with the other HumCore travelers in the Ancient Middle East, Africa and South Asia, and Early China. It will introduce participants to some of its fascinating features and big ideas (such as the idea of history); and it will reflect on questions including: What is an honorable life? Who is the Other? How does a society fall apart? Where does human subjectivity fit into a world of matter, cause and effect? Should art serve an exterior purpose? Do we have any duties to the past? This course is part of the Humanities Core, a collaborative set of global humanities seminars that brings all of its students and faculty into conversation. On Mondays you meet in your own course, and on Wednesdays all the HumCore seminars (in session that quarter) meet together: https://humanitiescore.stanford.edu/.

The two epics attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer enshrine a vivid world of experience centered on the deeds and misdeeds of warriors and divinities, kings and queens, in the last days and aftermath of the Trojan War. The course examines these remarkable poems in detail, with attention to their political, social, historical and artistic contexts, as well as to their reception in art, literature, film and music over the last two millennia. No prior knowledge of Homer or Greek literature necessary.