This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

This course aims to provide a broad survey of some of the most influential political thinkers and ideas from classical antiquity. Among the central figures to be examined are: Homer, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Jesus, and Augustine. Major themes include: ancient theories of justice (with special attention to the relation between the just state and the just person), the emergence of political philosophy as a distinct pursuit, the Athenian polis, the Roman republic and its demise, and the rise of Christianity.

What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, literature, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy as a discipline in the Western tradition, looking to thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will examine how natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus distinguished their inquiries from the teachings of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; how ancient atomism had its origins in a response to Parmenides' challenge to the assumption that things change in the world; how Socrates reoriented the focus of philosophy away from the natural world and toward the fundamental ethical question, how shall I live? We will also examine how his pupil, Plato, and subsequently Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems that address the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. Finally, we will examine the ways in which later thinkers such as the Epicureans and Stoics transformed and extended the earlier tradition.

What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, literature, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy as a discipline in the Western tradition, looking to thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will examine how natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus distinguished their inquiries from the teachings of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; how ancient atomism had its origins in a response to Parmenides' challenge to the assumption that things change in the world; how Socrates reoriented the focus of philosophy away from the natural world and toward the fundamental ethical question, how shall I live? We will also examine how his pupil, Plato, and subsequently Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems that address the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. Finally, we will examine the ways in which later thinkers such as the Epicureans and Stoics transformed and extended the earlier tradition.

What is philosophy? How does it differ from science, religion, literature, and other modes of human discourse? This course traces the origins of philosophy as a discipline in the Western tradition, looking to thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome. We will examine how natural philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Heraclitus distinguished their inquiries from the teachings of poets such as Homer and Hesiod; how ancient atomism had its origins in a response to Parmenides' challenge to the assumption that things change in the world; how Socrates reoriented the focus of philosophy away from the natural world and toward the fundamental ethical question, how shall I live? We will also examine how his pupil, Plato, and subsequently Aristotle, developed elaborate philosophical systems that address the nature of reality, knowledge, and human happiness. Finally, we will examine the ways in which later thinkers such as the Epicureans and Stoics transformed and extended the earlier tradition.

The cultures of Greece and Rome, what we call classical antiquity, span over a thousand years of multicultural achievement in the Mediterranean. This course tells the story of what it was like to live in the complex societies of ancient Greece and Rome. This story is told principally using the art, architecture, pottery and coins produced by these societies. We will examine both the bold and sexy, and the small and humble, from the Parthenon to wooden huts, from the Aphrodite of Knidos to the bones of a fisherman named Peter.

The cultures of Greece and Rome, what we call classical antiquity, span over a thousand years of multicultural achievement in the Mediterranean. This course tells the story of what it was like to live in the complex societies of ancient Greece and Rome. This story is told principally using the art, architecture, pottery and coins produced by these societies. We will examine both the bold and sexy, and the small and humble, from the Parthenon to wooden huts, from the Aphrodite of Knidos to the bones of a fisherman named Peter.