Current course offerings

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Course description

Shelley once declared that 'We are all Greeks'. But who is the 'we' here and what does it mean to be 'Greek'? How can a world separated by thousands of years claim to embody 'us'? In this course you will read foundational texts of classical culture and investigate their legacy. The literature, theatre, and art of Greco-Roman antiquity continue to resonate today. The 'Ancients' established paradigms that subsequent generations have struggled to imitate, surpass, and overthrow. The genres and systems of thought that they established have proven foundational. From the Renaissance onwards, wrestling with the 'Classics' has been one of the central dynamics of European culture. This course examines this dynamic and asks what does it mean to create a genealogy that goes back to antiquity? How have the ancients been used to develop ideas of 'Western' culture? One of the key themes emerging from these texts is the way in which they create the notion of the individual through the triangulation of competing duties in relation to the Gods, family, and the State. The works covered in this course reflect upon how this concern was played out in a variety of genres and by a diversity of authors.

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