The great stories of Greek and Roman epic poetry continue to inspire modern literature, art, and film. In this course, Homers Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiods Theogony, and Vergils Aeneid will be read and discussed in English translation. Emphasis will be on plot and narrative technique, genre characteristics, changes in world view, and the reception of these poems in later periods.
A semester-long study of topics in Classics. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
Delves into the Near Eastern background of ancient Greek myth and cult, looking at parallels among deities, myths, and cult performances; also how, when, and why shared cultural features moved across linguistic and geographic barriers in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age. Works with both oral-derived written texts and material culture, including iconography, pottery, and architectural remains, reading them in conjunction to achieve a holistic understanding of how texts and artifacts created or were embedded in performance contexts and spaces where ritual and cult were enacted. Covers the Near Easter background of specific Greek gods and heroes: goddess of sexuality, storm-god, sun deities, sea deities, young man deities, healing deities, agricultural deities, mountain deities, underworld deities, disappearing or dying of deities, Achilles, Hector, Heracles; cosmogonies; Chaoskampf and snake-slaying myths; ancestor veneration and its connection to epic and hero worship; curses and black magic; invocations; purification rituals; prayers and other performances in temple and sanctuary settings; festivals and processions; animal sacrifice; ritual drama; sacred marriage and other gendered and sexual metaphors for the relations between humans and the divine; genealogies; legitimization of kingship; wisdom literature.
Tragedy and comedy are among the most important genres of ancient literature. The study of major plays by writers such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Seneca, Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence will illustrate the development of ancient theater and the immense influence these dramatic creations still exert on modern Western literature and film. Emphasis will be laid on the historical context of these works, their structure and generic conventions (and the conscious play with them), and on practical issues of staging and performance.
Through the study of ancient Roman texts in translation, this course explores the life experience of women in ancient Rome and the way their lives are reflected in 500 years of Roman literature. Since most Roman authors were men, students will try to reconstruct womens voices and their human experience by exploring both literary and non-literary sources, such as laws, grave inscriptions, and graffiti. In addition, students will examine artistic representations of women in the form of portrait sculptures and funerary monuments.
Herodotus, Caesar, and Tacitus will be consulted, along with comedy, tragedy, fragments of ethnographers and passages from other primary sources to see how perceptions of barbarians changed over time, affected by the ways that Greek and Roman interaction with them changed. In order to better understand how recent history shapes our interpretation of ancient culture, we will study post-colonialist, Afro-centric, and anti-anti-Semitic approaches to the Greco-Roman image of Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Scythians, Libyans, Ethiopians, Phrygians, Lydians, Gauls, Britons, and Germans. Credit may only be earned in one of the following: GREEK 350W, LATIN 350W or CLAS 250W.
The origin of poetic speech in magical incantations and prayers is explored, using a variety of theoretical frameworks, including linguistic, anthropological, and literary, both ancient and modern. We begin with the following premises: Perfectly true speech creates the cosmos; perfectly expressive words compel action. Written signs imbue objects with meaning and render ephemeral performances permanent. Examples are drawn from texts that ancient Wise Women, Masters of the Word, and inspired poets used in magic rituals and cult, with translations. Students will also craft their own charms and prayers following the principles introduced for each genre, and according to the practices of the various ancient European, Near Eastern, and South Asian cultures studied.
This course explores Greek attitudes towards gender roles and sexuality, drawing on primary medical texts, tragedy, comedy, didactic poetry, forensic speeches, the romance novel, philosophy, early lyric poetry, and secondary scholarship about these texts. Topics include gender construction, misogyny, hysteria, virginity, marriage, rape, seduction, inheritance, female and male desire, homosexuality, and rites of passage.
A semester-long study of topics in Classics. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
A semester-long study of topics in Classics. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
A semester-long study of topics in Classics. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar's webpage for descriptions and applicability to graduation requirements.
Required course for Classical Studies majors. Students will choose a topic in consultation with Classics faculty, read a text appropriate to that topic in the ancient language(s) and write a substantial research paper. Prerequisite: Senior standing in Classical Studies or consent of instructor.
Required course for Classical Civilization majors, but open to all Seniors majoring in the Arts & Humanities. Study of an advanced topic in Classical Civilizations. Students read ancient texts in English translation appropriate to that topic and write a substantial research paper.
Willamette University