The ancient city of Athens, Greece, is renowned as the birthplace of democracy; Sparta is famous for its warlike society; Olympia for the Olympic Games; and Delphi for its famed oracle. But the Greek landscape was dotted with hundreds of other cities, towns, villages, sanctuaries, and hamlets. This seminar is a journey through town and country in ancient Greece, from dense urban spaces to vast forests and agro-pastoral countrysides. We will examine many lines of evidence: (1) ancient texts (e.g., Homeric epics, Hesiod's depiction of rural life, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the tragedies and comedies of the great playwrights, the geography of Strabo, the travel writing of Pausanias); (2) inscriptions that record details of life and death ; and (3) archaeology (site discovery and excavation, recovery of the material remains of everyday life). These sources will reveal much information about how urban and rural life were organized. A central aim of this seminar is to address this question: is the past a foreign country, or is there nothing new under the sun?

An introduction to the principles and practices of Greek Epigraphy. Study of selected Greek inscriptions.

In this graduate seminar, we will read several Athenian tragedies set in wartime or its immediate aftermath, including Aeschylus’ Persians, Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes, and Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis, Hecuba, and Trojan Women. We will discuss how these plays use or contrast with other Greek representations of military conflict (especially the Iliad), and we will trace the relationship between tragic representations of war and contemporary fifth-century warfare.

Intensive reading in ancient Greek literature, focusing on the skills and practices required to read closely a 150-page “short list” of key texts and becoming familiar with authors, chronology, meters, dialects, and genres. Exercises include analysis, sight translation, and practice versions of the Qualifications Examination in Greek.

TBA

Advanced Greek for heritage speakers.

This course is intended to help Heritage Speakers or student with prior knowledge of conversational modern Greek (or even Ancient Greek) to refresh or enrich their knowledge of modern Greek and who would not be a good fit for the elementary or intermediate classes. A theme based textbook and instructions along with a comprehensive overview of grammar as a whole is presented while original text, songs, video and other media are used in order to augment vocabulary and increase fluency in modern Greek. Students are expected to properly use the language, do theme-based research on the themes examined and provide written work on various subjects and make conversation in class. Presentations on researched topics account for final exam.

This course is designed for students with an elementary knowledge of Demotic Modern Greek, and aims mainly at developing oral expression, reading and writing skills.

This course is for those who have completed GREK 0200, Greek 0110, or equivalent. You are now ready to begin reading real Greek! We will read a selection of passages from Greek prose authors, focusing on language and style.

This course is designed for students with no prior knowledge of the modern Greek Language. Instructions are theme based and is supported by a Textbook as well as other written or audiovisual material. It provides the framework for development of all communicative skills (reading, writing, comprehension and speaking) at a basic level. The course also introduces students to aspects of Modern Greek culture that are close to students' own horizon, while it exposes them to academic presentations of Greek history, arts, and current affairs. Quizzes, finals and short individual work with presentation are the testing tools. The completion of this unit does NOT satisfy the language requirement.