orichalcum

Imagine that you're an undergrad, not necessarily a classics major, but someone who is interested in taking a wide variety of courses. (Please feel free to forward this post to actual undergrads.)

Which of these course descriptions sounds interesting and exciting to you, particularly if you had to choose between one of the two Roman literature ones, and which doesn't, and why?


      This course explores the foundation of modern assumptions about gender roles and sexuality through a study of the cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East. Through looking at a variety of different types of text and media, including epics, tragedy, philosophy, history, art, papyri, and graffiti, we will trace the evolution of ancient social values and their relationship to modern ideals. We will focus on the ways in which ancient women negotiated thier lives in  highly patriarchal societies. Texts will include Hippocratic medical writings, the poems of Sappho and Sulpicia, Plato's Symposium, Aeschylus' Oresteia, and Ovid's erotic poetry, as well as modern criticism.



            This course focuses on the literary reaction to the autocracy and prescriptive value structures enforced by the early Emperors of the Roman Empire, especially Augustus. We will begin by briefly examining the officially approved texts of Vergil and Horace and the ways in which such texts undermine their explicit messages of praise and submission, before turning to actual subversive texts such as Ovid's Ars Amatoria, the poem he was exiled to the Black Sea for writing, Seneca's "Pumpkinification of the Emperor Claudius," Petronius' Satyricon, Tacitus' Agricola, and the humorous critiques of Juvenal and Martial, as well as some early Christian works. We will discuss together how censorship functioned in the ancient Roman world, how literature became an outlet for the stifled political ambitions of Roman Senators, and in what ways this social criticism shaped or reinforced the structures of Roman society.




        In the years from 80 - 40 BC, the city of Rome was blessed or cursed not only with a spectacular array of talented leaders and generals, such as Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, but also with many brilliant authors and poets who chronicled the chaos and confusion of civil war and the breakdown of an enduring political system. This course focuses on the works of authors like Cicero, Caesar himself, Sallust, and Catullus, both in their more formal speeches and chronicles and in a close study of Cicero's exhaustive and illuminating correspondence with the great men and women of his day. Through the lens of literature, we will come to understand the interrelationships and social and political developments which marked this period and the causes of its final evolution.




        Since the beginning of the cinematic industry in the early 20th century, films glorifying ancient Roman spectacle or retelling Greek myths have been a popular and enduring genre of cinema. In the past few years, we have seen a major resurgence in films and television series about the ancient world with works like Gladiator and Troy. This course seeks to explore the reasons behind the popularity of this setting and the changing ways in which ancient Rome and Greece were represented and used as metaphors for contemporary issues over the last hundred years. We will combine a close examination of a variety of major modern works, including Spartacus, Ben Hur, I Claudius, Monty Python's The Life of Brian, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with the ancient texts that inspired or influenced them, such as Tacitus, Livy, Plautus, and the Gospels. We will also study modern criticism of these films and the ways in which they inspired scenes in later science fiction and fantasy movies.