CLAS 2010 | GREEK CIVILIZATION

Mr. Dillery (jdd4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1230-1345 +DISCUSSIONS

This course satisfies Humanities and/or Historical Studies requirements.

DESCRIPTION

An introduction to the literature and history of ancient Greece. All readings will be in translation, including: Homer, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Thucydides, Aristophanes, and Plato. Midterm, final and two papers.

CLAS 2300 | ANCIENT ROME AT THE MOVIES

Mr. Hays (bgh2n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1100-1215

DESCRIPTION

Ancient Rome has exercised a fascination on movie producers and directors almost since the beginnings of cinema itself. This class will study the representation of Rome on both the big and small screen from the early days until now. We'll watch some of the major achievements of the genre, from Mervyn LeRoy's Quo Vadis through William Wyler's Ben Hur, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, and Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire, to Ridley Scott's Gladiator. We'll also view and discuss some less distinguished efforts, from the "sword and-sandal" era and beyond. We'll look at predecessors from the silent and black & white years, and at depictions of Rome on television. Throughout the semester we'll be asking how these imagined Romes relate to historical reality, how they engage in dialogue with one another, and how they function as a mirror for the concerns and anxieties of our own society.

CLAS 3210 | TRAGEDY AND COMEDY

Mr. Williams (ddk5ad)

DAY & TIME
TR 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION

Standing at the beginning of a long literary and performance tradition, ancient Greek and Roman drama remain a rich source of artistic and intellectual inspiration. This course is designed to  introduce you to these plays. We will consider the time and place in which the plays were originally produced as well as the questions of enduring concern that they address. As we read our texts, we will also be attentive to how these texts came alive––and continue to  come alive––in performance. Plays studied will include tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca and comedies by Aristophanes and Plautus.

CLAS 7031 | PROSEMINAR

Mr. Lendon (jel4c)

DAY & TIME
M 1800-2030

DESCRIPTION

A course for first-year or second-year graduate students in ancient disciplines which acquaints them with various facets of the study of Greek and Roman antiquity; introduces them to a range of  approaches to the ancient world; and introduces them to each other and to the affiliated faculty in Classics, History, Art and Religious Studies.

GREE 1010 | ELEMENTARY GREEK

Mr. Dillery (jdd4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1100-1215 +DISCUSSIONS

DESCRIPTION

In this course the students will be introduced to ancient Greek, one of the most fascinating languages of the world, the language of Plato, Aristotle, Sappho, and Homer. What’s not to love?  We will learn the forms of verbs and nouns, the rules of syntax, and equip you with a beginning vocabulary (imagine: after a while you might discover that you are able to write in the style of Plato!). And when you continue with your Greek at the Intermediate and Advanced levels, you will be able to appreciate the brilliance of Homer and the pathos of Euripides as people did 2500 years ago, as well as to gain a much deeper understanding of the New Testament. There will be short readings, exercises in writing Greek, plenty of quizzes, a midterm and a final. It will not always be easy — really good things seldom are — but it will be a lot of fun (if you like coding, philosophy, math, or physics, it won’t be difficult either).

GREE 2010 | INTERMEDIATE GREEK I

Ms. Arthur-Montagne (hvk9ks)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1000-1050

DESCRIPTION

This course aims to help students make the leap from the basic principles of Greek introduced in the first-year sequence to the  reading of extended passages of actual Attic prose. In it, we’ll read selections from Xenophon’s Anabasis and Plato’s Crito, with regular quizzes and three tests along the way.

GREE 3030 | ADVANCED READING IN GREEK

Ms. Arthur-Montagne (hvk9ks)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1450

DESCRIPTION

What does justice demand when law and morality collide? This is a central question this class will explore in our advanced reading of  Sophocles’ Electra, a play that combines riveting scenes of  recognition with deeper reflections on the nature of grief and  revenge. Sophocles crafts, in what Cicero hailed a supreme specimen of tragedy, the story of a sister and brother reunited in the traumatic aftermath of the Trojan War. Students will be graded on the basis of quizzes, a midterm, and a final. There will also be a final research  project of each student’s own choosing.

GREE 5240 | THE LANGUAGE OF THE EPIC

Mr. George (chg4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will consider various questions concerning the language of Greek epic poetry (primarily Homer, but also Hesiod,  the Hymns, Apollonius, and others). What is the nature and origin of the epic Kunstsprache? To what extent can linguistic features be used to date the poems (or sections of the poems) or to support unitarian  or analyst positions? How much flexibility does the epic poet have in the use of formulas? What happened to the text of the Iliad and  Odyssey between the first time they were committed to writing and  the earliest papyri fragments? How do later poets manipulate the  traditional linguistic patterns inherited from earlier epic?

GREE 5559 | ARISTOPHANES

Mr. Williams (ddk5ad)

DAY & TIME
MW 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION

The comic playwright Aristophanes is one of the great poets of Greek antiquity as well as an invaluable resource for studying the  culture and history of Classical Athens. In this course we will study  the plays of Aristophanes with a particular focus on language, humor, poetic/dramatic form, and cultural-historical context. We will read at least two complete comedies alongside selections from the other extant plays; additional readings will be drawn from the large corpus of  comic fragments, from the iambic poets, from the tragedians,  and/or from the Socratics.

LATI 1010 | ELEMENTARY LATIN I

Mr. George (chg4n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1230-1345 + Discussions 

DESCRIPTION

This course introduces the basic principles of Latin grammar. Elementary exercises in comprehension and composition will be  complemented by lectures, during which we read adapted Latin passages about ancient myth and Roman history. A plenary session  meets with the lead instructor on TR; discussion sections MW meet  with teaching assistants. This course continues in the spring with LATI 1020, when we cover the remaining grammar and begin reading texts in the original Latin.

LATI 1030 | FUNDAMENTALS OF LATIN

Mr. Celotto (gc4fw)

DAY & TIME
MTWR 0900-0950

MTWR 1100-1150 

DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to introduce you to the Latin language through Wheelock’s Latin. Your main objective in this course will be to gain a working knowledge of the fundamentals of Latin grammar, syntax, and vocabulary by learning paradigms, and reading and  translating sentences and passages adapted from and inspired by  ancient Roman orators, historians, poets, and playwrights. At the end of this semester, the successful student will be able to identify the morphology of nouns and verbs, and understand Latin syntax.

LATI 2010 | INTERMEDIATE LATIN I

Hope Ladd (uqj8nt)

Mary Clare Young (cdn3nm)

Meredith Huff (ayv5wr)

DAY & TIME

MWF 1200-1250
MWF 1400-1450
MWF 1500-1550

DESCRIPTION

We will be reading selections from Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses, including the stories of Daedalus and Icarus and Apollo and Daphne, and Nepos’ biography of Hannibal the Carthaginian general in its entirety. Particular attention will be devoted to issues of grammar, syntax, meter, and style. Students will complete quizzes, exams  featuring unseen passages, and short composition assignments.

LATI 2020 | INTERMEDIATE LATIN II

Kelly Freestone (aqe6wv)

Ms. Kuin (ik6mg)

DAY & TIME

MWF 0900-0950
MWF 1200-1250

DESCRIPTION

In this course you will continue your study of Latin through the translation of ancient authors in prose and poetry. This class will  focus on reading the poems of Catullus and Cicero’s Pro Caelio.  In addition to prepared readings, students will do in-class exercises to improve their understanding of Latin grammar, as well as short Latin compositions. Students in this course must have completed Intermediate Latin I (2010) with a minimum grade of D-. Successful completion of this course will complete the Intermediate Latin  sequence and meet the language requirement for the College of  Arts and Sciences.

Text editions:
Garrison, D.H. 2012. The Student’s Catullus (4th ed.). University of Oklahoma Press.
Englert, W.G. 1990. Cicero: Pro Caelio. Bryn Mawr College Commentaries. (Out of print, PDF will be supplied.)

LATI 3010 | PLAUTUS

Ms. Kuin (ik6mg)

DAY & TIME
MWF 1000-1050

DESCRIPTION

In this course we will study the works of Plautus as a key moment in the history both of Latin literature and of comedy as such. Our starting  point will be a close reading (translation and analysis) of Plautus’  Menaechmi in Latin, and of three other Plautine plays in English  translation.  Through in-class reading of the Latin text and discussion of literary and cultural issues we will attempt to understand Plautus’  comedy. Attention will be given to Plautus’ language, poetic technique, and to the interpretation of his plays within their historical and generic context. We will examine Plautus’ use of his Greek models, as well as his stagecraft and the performance of the plays. Careful translation of the Latin will be stressed, including grammar review.

LATI 3090 | MEDIEVAL LATIN

Mr. Hays (bgh2n)

DAY & TIME
TR  1400-1515

DESCRIPTION

In this course we will read (in the original Latin) the Romance of Apollonius of Tyre, an early medieval novel involving incest,  murder, piracy, riddles, shipwrecks, ball-games, prostitution, virtuous fishermen, wicked step-parents, and more riddles. Time permitting,  we will also look at the novel's later influence, notably on  Shakespeare's Pericles.

LATI 4559 | APULEIUS ON MAGIC, RELIGION, AND EMPIRE

Ms. Kuin (ik6mg)

DAY & TIME
MW 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION

In this course we will read selections from Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Florida, and Self-Defense on a Charge of Magic.  We will relate these texts to the author’s social and cultural  environment in Roman North Africa in the second century CE, and consider their place in the intellectual history of the Roman Empire. In particular we will explore the overlap between rhetoric, philosophy, storytelling, religion, and magic as different modes of inquiry. The course satisfies the Second Writing and Cultures and Societies of the World Requirements.

LATI 5370 | LUCAN

Mr. Celotto (gc4fw)

DAY & TIME
MW 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to introduce you to Lucan’s Bellum civile. We will read the most relevant passages in the original, and the entire poem in English. We will discuss the main questions raised by this poem, such as Lucan’s view of the Principate and Nero, his contentious relationship with Vergil and the epic tradition, and the influence of Stoic thought on his work.

LATI 5559| VERGIL'S ECLOGUES AND GEORGICS

Ms. Myers (ksm8m)

DAY & TIME
TR 1400-1515

DESCRIPTION

The focus of this course is Vergil’s Eclogues and Georgics. We will read the poems closely, with an alertness to matters of translation, meter, style, allusion, poetics, arrangement, and cultural and political context. We will consider Vergil’s Greek and Latin models, as well as his influence on later Latin literature. Attention will also be placed on introducing students to the major research tools of Classicists. Weekly topics and secondary scholarship will also be assigned and discussed. Students will be expected to translate and scan in class, deliver article reports, line reports, and participate in discussion.

ARTH 2053 | GREEK ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Ms. Kreindler (waf5tg)

DAY & TIME
TR 1100-1215

DESCRIPTION

The vase painting, sculpture, and other arts of the Greeks, from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic periods. Works are studied in their social, political, and religious contexts with a special focus on archaeology and material culture.          

ARTH 3591 | URBANIZATION IN THE ROMAN WORLD

Ms. Kreindler (waf5tg)

DAY & TIME
MW 1530-1645

DESCRIPTION 

HIEU 2031 | AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE

Ms. Lendon (lendon)

DAY & TIME
MW 1200-1250

DESCRIPTION

History of Ancient Greece from the Homeric period to the death of Alexander the Great.  Development of the city-state, Athenian  democracy, and the nature of Greek politics; the conflict between Greece and Persia—the Persian Wars—and between Sparta and the Athenian naval empire; consequences of the latter conflict—the Peloponnesian War—for subsequent Greek history; finally, the Macedonian conquest of Greece and Persia; Alexander the Great.
 

Lecture and weekly discussions; midterm, final, seven-page paper, and two announced quizzes in section. Readings will average between 100 and 125 pages a week, to be taken from the following (students are not responsible—for exam  purposes—for the entirety of any of these, although they will have to read all of either Herodotus or Thucydides for the paper):
The Landmark Herodotus (R. Strassler, ed.; Free Press)
The Landmark Thucydides (R. Strassler, ed.; Free Press)
Plutarch, Rise and Fall of Athens (Oxford)
Plato, The Apology of Socrates (Hackett)
J. M. Moore, Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy (California)
S. Pomeroy et al., Ancient Greece (textbook, second edition)
A xerox packet (this and Pomeroy available through  UVAreaders.com on Elliewood Avenue)

HIEU 3041 | THE FALL OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

Ms. Meyer (eam2n)

DAY & TIME
TR 1530-1620

DESCRIPTION

This upper-level lecture class assumes a basic knowledge of Roman history but has no prerequisites. It will cover the most tumultuous period in Roman history, that which stretches from 133 BC to the establishment of Octavian (Augustus) as the first emperor in 27 BC. This was the age of the great generals (Marius, Sulla, Pompey,  Caesar); of great oratory (Cicero), of amazing changes in the city of Rome itself, in Italy, and in the ever-growing provinces; an age of shifting political alliances, howling crowds, and the eventual  transformation of a Republic into a monarchy.

How did this come about? Could the Republic maintain an empire, or was the dominance of one man unavoidable? We will read mostly primary sources in translation, averaging about 140 pages a week; there will be ten in-class discussions, a midterm, a final, one 5-6 page paper, and one 7-10 page paper. 

Readings will be drawn from:

H. H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero (fifth edition, 1982/new foreword 2011)
Plutarch, Makers of Rome and The Fall of the Roman Republic (Penguin)
Sallust, Jugurthine War and Conspiracy of Catiline (Penguin, transl. Woodman, 2007)
Julius Caesar, Civil Wars and Gallic War (Oxford)
M. Tullius Cicero, On Government and Selected Political Speeches (Penguin) and a course packet

Note: graduate students are welcome to take this class as HIEU  9025, a "graduate tutorial" in the History Department. We will have extra meetings and extra readings, and the final paper will be longer and more professional. Meeting times will be geared to everyone's convenience.

HIEU 4501/5051 | THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Mr. Lendon (jel4c)

DAY & TIME
M 1500-1730

DESCRIPTION

Prerequisites for undergraduates: HIEU 2041 OR HIEU 3041; or instructor permission. Not for CR/NC

This course will examine the Principate from its founding (27 B.C.) to the beginning of the third century crisis (A.D. 235). It will proceed by consideration of themes and topics rather than as a narrative: these themes and topics will include emperor and administration, local municipalities, slavery and varying gradations of freed status and citizenship, patronage, social mobility, economy, romanization, the courts, emperor-cult, and resistance to Rome. Students are expected to write five exercises based on ancient sources and to write one five-to-seven-page paper.

Readings will be drawn from the following:
C. Wells, The Roman Empire
Tacitus, Annals and Histories
Josephus, Jewish War
Pliny, Letters
M. Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea. The Origins of the Jewish
Revolt Against Rome A.D. 66-70 (Cambridge U. P., 1987)
R. MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (Yale)
and additional readings on Canvas.

Undergraduates may take this course as a History Department major colloquium; those who wish to do so must sign up for HIEU 4501, and the requirements of the course will differ accordingly.

HIEU 4511/5061 | ROMAN IMPERIALISM

Ms. Meyer (eam2n)

DAY & TIME
R 1700-1930

DESCRIPTION

Not for CR/NC
(Prerequisite: HIEU 2041, HIEU 3021, HIEU 3041, or instructor permission)

How and why did the Romans come to dominate the known world by 140 BC? This course explores the relations between the martial tenor of Roman society, the army, war aims, and diplomacy and internal politics. Was the Roman empire assembled intentionally or unintentionally? Did the Romans of the Middle Republic have a foreign policy, or a strategic sense, at all? A discussion seminar open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Readings average 250 per week.

All will write one eight-page paper on Polybius and Livy;
4511 students will write two more eight-page papers;
5061 students will write a twenty-page research paper.

Readings will be drawn from Livy, Polybius, Plutarch, and other ancient authors; a selection of modern scholars, including W. Harris and A. Eckstein; and readings on Canvas.

PHIL 3120  | ARISTOTLE

Mr. McCready-Flora (icm5h)

DAY & TIME
TR 1230-1345

DESCRIPTION

This course satisfies the History requirement for those who have or will take PHIL 2120-Modern.

This course introduces students to the dialogues of Plato, with an emphasis on those of particular argumentative and philosophical interest. Expect treatments of the divine and our relation to it; love; the nature and possibility of human knowledge; what makes anything one; why the world exists at all, and in particular why it takes the form it does; humanity’s place in the cosmic order; and the nature of the soul. Our aim will be to engage Plato as a fellow philosopher  through close reading and subtle reasoning. This means understanding his assumptions, scrutinizing his  argumentation, and proposing alternatives to his conclusions. No knowledge of Greek required, but some prior course work in Philosophy very much encouraged.       

The Arthur F. Stocker Lectureship

The Arthur F. Stocker Endowment Fund for Classical Lectures was established in 1984 by the colleagues, friends, and former students of Arthur F. Stocker, a longtime member of the Department, in recognition of his contributions to the field of Classics. The Endowment supports an annual lecture by a distinguished visiting scholar on a topic related to Latin literature or culture.

The James S. Constantine Lectureship

The James S. Constantine annual lectureship was established in 1987 by the colleagues, friends, and former students of James S. Constantine, a longtime member of the Department, in recognition of his contributions to the teaching and study of the Classics. Every fall a distinguished visiting scholar delivers a lecture on a topic related to Greek literature or culture.

Margaret Lowe Annual Memorial Undergraduate Lecture

A memorial lecture series endowed by Drs. Sandy and Whitson Lowe honoring the memory of their daughter, Margaret Helen Lowe. Margaret died tragically and unexpectedly at the beginning of her fourth year of study as Greek Major in 2015. Having had enough credits in order to graduate, at the Final Exercises in 2016, Margaret was awarded her BA degree posthumously. This annual talk reminds us and our future Classics students of Margaret’s kind and generous spirit and her love for Classics.

The Classics Graduate Student Colloquium

Each year the graduate students of the Department of Classics sponsor a colloquium, at which graduate students from the University of Virginia and other universities, and a distinguished senior scholar, present papers on a selected theme.

Friday Luncheons

At Friday Luncheons during the academic year, students, faculty of the Classics Department, and other persons with classical interests hear and discuss papers relevant to the Classics. Those interested in attending should contact Inger Kuin (ik6mg@virginia.edu).

The Virginia Senior Classical League

The Virginia Senior Classical League is a statewide organization of college students who are interested in the ancient world. The VSCL assists the Virginia Junior Classical League at the VJCL Convention each fall. Each year the VSCL also runs two Certamina (academic competitions for high school Latin students) for the VJCL. Students interested in joining should consult the League website at http://www.vscl.org/

The Classics Club at UVA

The purpose of the Classics Club is to promote community both among Classics Majors and other interested undergraduates through the facilitation of educational, social, and service-related activities. For further information send an e-mail to: classicsclub@virginia.edu.

The Archaeological Institute of America

The Archaeological Institute of America is an educational and scientific society of archaeologists and others interested in archaeological study and research. There is a chapter of the AIA in Charlottesville, and those interested in joining should contact Professor Tyler Jo Smith (tjs6e@virginia.edu). The AIA sponsors a series of lectures, which are free and open to the public.