Instructor: Professor Paul Burke
Estabrook Hall, 306
Office hours: MW 8-10:30, 1:30-2:30, TTh 8-9 and by appointment
Office telephone: 793-7365
The course will consist of two 75-minute classes per week (TTh 9-10:15). Many of the classes will be illustrated by slides or by Perseus demonstrations; as a consequence, it will be impossible to make up classes missed. Regular attendance is essential.
Student responsibilities in this course include: (1) attendance at class; (2) completion of the required reading; (3) completion of all assignments related to the Perseus interactive resource. There will be a mid-term examination on Thursday 13 October. Students will also be evaluated on the basis of their work with the Perseus resource, including, but not limited to, the construction and submission of two original Paths, each consisting of a minimum of 25 Perseus locations; details on this aspect of the course will be distributed early in the semester. There will be a final examination on (according to currently-available information) Monday 19 December, 1:30-3:30.
The course grade will be calculated approximately as follows:
Mid-term examination: 30%
Perseus assignments: 40%
Final examination: 30%.
Attendance policy: It is the policy of the Foreign Languages Department that students in department courses will be allowed a maximum of three unexcused absences in each course. Attendance will be taken throughout the term; grades of students missing more than three classes without extenuating circumstances (e.g. illness, religious holidays) will be lowered.
Perseus 1.0: The course will have a double organizing principle: first, the class will study ancient Greece through lectures and reading as in a traditional course in Classics; second, students will confront tasks of gradually increasing complexity in connection with the Perseus system. Initially, members of the class will do no more than follow the step-by-step "paths," or pre-arranged sequences of up to 27 locations already installed on the Perseus 1.0 disk. Next, students will be asked to follow paths composed and loaded into the machine by the instructor. Finally, the students will be required to strike out on their own, reading and assembling material which addresses problems raised by the course material. For example, class members will be asked to construct paths in which they make optimal use of the 27-location maximum to describe as fully as possible, say, the cult of Apollo at Delphi or the history of Athenian sculpture. Paths constructed by students can be saved in the memory of the Perseus computer and can also be submitted to the instructor on 3.5" diskette for evaluation. Assignments in Perseus, in addition to those listed below, will be made verbally and in writing from time to time throughout the semester.
Class schedule
Thu. 1 Sep.: Introduction to the course
PERSEUS: read "Overview," User's Guide, pp. vii-x and Chapter 2, "Basics," pp. 7-18
Tue. 6 Sep.: Training session in Macintosh, HyperCard and Perseus skills
Thu. 9 Sep.: Geographical and historical background: Crete
PERSEUS: User's Guide, Chapter 3, pp. 19-27, "Guided Tour 1" `
Tue. 13 Sep.: Minoan and Mycenaean art and architecture
Thu. 15 Sep.: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey: literacy and literature
PERSEUS: User's Guide, Chapter 3, pp. 28-34, "Guided Tour 2"
Tue. 20 Sep.: Homer's Iliad, books 1-12
Thu. 22 Sep.: Homer's Iliad, books 13-24
PERSEUS: read "Life of Homer" in Primary Texts under "Homer"
Tue. 27 Sep.: The birth of philosophy and science
Thu. 29 Sep.: Archaic Greek art: the sixth century BC
PERSEUS: User's Guide, Chapters 4 and 5, pp. 35-55, "Historical Overview" and "Art & Archaeology"
Tue. 4 Oct.: The Greek city state
Thu. 6 Oct.: War with Persia, the rise of Athens, Herodotus
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: I; II; V B.5 and "Life of Herodotus" under Primary Texts; User's Guide, Chapters 6, 7, 8, pp. 56-87
Tue. 11 Oct.: Greek myth and religion
Thu. 13 Oct.: Mid-term examination
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: IV A; User's Guide, Chapter 9, Appendices A, B, C, pp. 88-112 (esp. "Paths," pp. 95- 101)
Tue. 18 Oct.: Greek drama: Aeschylus
Thu. 20 Oct.: Greek drama: Sophocles
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: IV B. 1-4; read "Life of Aeschylus under Primary Texts; submit Student Path #1
Tue. 25 Oct.: No Class; Mid-term Break
Thu. 27 Oct.: Greek drama: Euripides and Aristophanes
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: IV B.5-8; read "Life of Sophocles" under Primary Texts
Tue. 1 Nov.: Classical Greek art and architecture, I
Thu. 3 Nov.: Classical Greek art and architecture, II
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: IV C
Tue. 8 Nov.: Thucydides and the war between Athens and Sparta
Thu. 10 Nov.: Thucydides and the writing of history
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: VI A (skim all; read VI A 1-6, 11-14, 19-20)
Tue. 15 Nov.: Socrates and Plato
Thu. 17 Nov.: Plato's "Apology of Socrates"
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: V B.1-4, 6-7
Tue. 22 Nov.: Plato's "Phaedo" and life after death
THANKSGIVING VACATION
Tue. 29 Nov.: Daily life in Classical Athens
Thu. 1 Dec.: The decline of Athens and the democratic legacy
PERSEUS: "Historical Overview," read: V A, VI B.1-4; submit Student Path #2
Tue. 6 Dec.: Hellenistic Greek art and architecture
Thu. 8 Dec.: The rise of Rome
Tue. 13 Dec.: Conclusions and review
Required reading
Iliad of Homer: all
Plato, Last Days of Socrates: "Apology" and "Phaedo"
Pollitt, Art and Experience in Classical Greece: all
Ten Greek Plays: Aeschylus, "Prometheus Bound," "Agamemnon"
Sophocles, "Antigone," "Oedipus Rex"
Euripides, "Alcestis," "Bacchae"
Aristophanes, "Lysistrata"