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Greeks 2
Greeks 2
Greek Literature 2: The Brilliant Fifth Century Cary Honig email: caryh@school-one.org
Welcome to the Greeks 2 wiki. Hopefully, having an overview of what we will do and roughly when will make the class easier. This also allows me to make the suggested but not required readings available in a context that might make them more attractive. The workload is actually a little lighter again this trimester as two of the essays will be done in class, which most students consider easier. There trimester has more essays than last trimester, which was essay-light for this class. There will also be more reading of plays and ancient historians.
Students can take this class for English or history credit. Because the class is so writing intense, there is a different workload for English and history students with history students writing fewer essays (usually those that have more history or sociological content). The reading requirements are the same. The syllabi linked immediately below provide the details.
Every student even considering this class must read and sign the source policy and abide by it. Failure to do so will lead to no credit in the class. I am not interested in what anyone at wikipedia, Sparknotes or Harvard thinks about this literature. I am interested in what YOU think. You must think for yourself in this class. If you don't want to do that and perhaps occasionally struggle, don't take the class. You are always welcome to come discuss your ideas with me before writing if you are worried you are off track. I won't tell you what to write or think, but I am happy to ask you questions that might help you to focus or reorient. This is NOT a research class; it is a thinking class. Please respect that and trust that I respect ideas that may be flawed but original far more than ideas that are on more solid ground but that aren't yours. If you want to improve your reading skills significantly (or want to earn credit), do not cheat, which is what looking for help online or elsewhere is amounts to in this class.
For a guide to proper citation within text and bibliography (works cited), go to
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
Links under the weekly schedule are to note sheets we will use in class as well as to articles that are usually recommended but not required to add to your knowledge about what we are discussing in class. I am also providing a select bibliography for those of you who want to know more either now or in the future.
Essays are due almost every week and always on Thursdays at 9 a.m. . Revisions should be done soon after being returned but MUST be completed by the Monday after they are returned by 9 a.m. unless an earlier date is specified at the end of the trimester. On two occasions this trimester, students will do their essays in class on Thursdays to practice for college testing. They should be sure to have read the materials very carefully and to have given them some thought before taking these exams, but the questions are broad and don't require focus on one particular detail in the text(s). Students who are absent on these days will do the essays at home with the amount of evidence expected in an essay done at home. In-class essays are generally not revised unless the student didn't do the reading. At-home essays need revision until I approve them as complete, which means you must address both mechanical and content issues I indicate on your drafts.
Essays and revisions are due by 9 a.m. on the due date. This prevents last minute rushed work during lunch and sometimes gives me a chance to get it back to you that day. Late work is not tolerated in this class. If a student is late on one essay, s/he will have to do an additional essay as well as the one that is late. If a second assignment is late, the student cannot earn credit. If a student is home sick, the essay must be emailed on time. Very rare exceptions will only be made in a situation that is completely unavoidable by the student and for which there is clear evidence and in which the extension was specifically pre-arranged. Multiple exceptions in a trimester will not be acceptable. If you can't keep up with the pace, there are more appropriate classes for you.
Late work is not tolerated in this class. If a student is late on one essay, s/he will have to do an additional essay as well as the one that is late. If a second assignment is late, the student cannot earn credit. If a student is home sick, the essay must be emailed on time. Very rare exceptions will only be made in a situation that is completely unavoidable by the student and for which there is clear evidence and in which the extension was specifically pre-arranged. Multiple exceptions in a trimester will not be acceptable. If you can't keep up with the pace, there are more appropriate classes for you.
Students should begin reading the Bertrand Russell chapters about the Pre-Socratic philosophers as soon as they sign up for the class (if not sooner). The first essay is due for all students by December 3 at class time. You should definitely use either the document called "presoc chart" or "presoc list" to keep track of the large amount of information.
First Reading Assignment:
Bertrand Russell Pre-Socratic Philosophers text
pre-Socratic philosopher notes by chart 20
pre-Socratics notes by list 20
Early Greek Medicine article 21
Useful maps for ancient civilizations
I will be giving you a copy of Herodotus's The Histories, which should be your main entertainment for the next month. You will be expected to read much of Book 1 and 5-9. Books 2-4 are really interesting and are about Egyptian history and culture, but they are optional. When I am not asking you to read the whole book, page numbers will appear on the note sheets. Note sheets will be filled out and collected for the six books of Herodotus that we will read.
Week 1: Discussion of The Odyssey and comparison of its views with The Iliad and the other texts from last trimester. Did the same person write both? Review of last trimester's main points that are important going forward including the beginnings of the move toward democracy in Athens and whatever it is we want to call the Spartan system at Sparta. I will introduce Herodotus during the week, and we will begin discussing the pre-Socratics on Thursday since everyone's essays will be in. Grammar: Adverbs
What America Owes to the Greeks and Romans: Review of Thomas Ricks's new book 20
Review of Greek politics to 500 BC
This week's essay sets the groundwork for third trimester by introducing you to Greek philosophy up until the time of Socrates. I will give you an article about pre-Socratic philosophy by the 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell to use.
Week 2: We will spend a lot of this week discussing the pre-Socratic philosophers. Grammar: Parallel Structure
Laws of Nature and the Universe 07
For a great discussion among 3 experts at the National Constitution Center from Dec. 2020 about the influence of the Greeks and Romans on our Founding Fathers and Mothers, go to https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/town-hall-video/what-the-founders-learned-from-the-greeks-and-romans
This week's essay requires that you have read Books 1, 5 and 6 of Herodotus carefully beforehand and won't be done until next Monday, so please read the following schedule carefully:
Notes on Book One (through page 79) must be handed in by Monday, December 9.
Notes on Book 5 must be handed in by Thursday, December 12.
Notes on Book 6 must be handed in by Monday, December 16. These are credit deadlines like essay deadlines.
Your essay will be done by Wednesday, December 18 by 9 a.m. based on the three chapters of Herodotus that you have read.
Was the Pythia (Delphic Oracle) Stoned?
exercise 2 Herodotus books 1,5,6 24
Week 3: When we finish with the pre-Socratics, we will begin discussing Herodotus's methodology and its advantages and disadvantages. We will also discuss his use of history to prove a philosophical point and its first clear indication in the classic stories of Gyges and King Croesus in Book One. Grammar: Me/I
Factors in the birth of philosophy in Miletus about 600 BC and notes about the genius of Anaximander
Review of Carlo Rovelli book about Anaximander 23
You have a revision of exercise one due by Monday with the marked up draft attached.
The note sheet for Chapter 7 is due by email on Monday, Dec. 23, and the notes for Chapter 8 are due by email by Monday, December 30. Book 9 notes are due on January 6: the Monday you return. If you get more done before vacation, you have less to do during vacation. I have spread this out to make it more enjoyable for you and to avoid last minute craziness. This essay is due on Thursday, January 9.
Week 4: Welcome back. We will be discussing the Ionian Rebellion, featuring the two classic Greek naughty boys Aristagoras and Histiaeus. Since we are discussing Ionia, we will begin looking at Greek lyric poetry, starting with Archilochus and stopping on Lesbos to meet Sappho.
Pythagoras notes focused on how views of him have changed over the last 50 years.
New Sappho poem 14 (now somewhat disputed as legit 24)
notes about the Persian Wars and Herodotus
Battle of Salamis with helpful maps
For a performance of Aeschylus's The Persians (in English), the first extant Greek tragedy from 472 BC, in which the Persian queen at home in Susa learns about the Battle of Salamis - this description of the battle was written by a participant about 50 years before Herodotus wrote his , go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ2warMTxlU
The reading for Book 9 of Herodotus is due Monday, January 6 by class time. This week's essay is due on January 9 and utilizes Books 7-9 in particular. i want to see a lot of detail coming from Herodotus. Feel free to get this done over vacation if you're smart. You can get a head start on next week's reading, which is an article by John Boardman, one of the great experts about Classical Greek Art.
Week 5: We begin reading Sophocles's Oedipus in class while you are reading John Boardman's article about Greek art (and hopefully those attached blow as well) at home to prepare for this week's in-class essay. You will also have to select two pieces of classical Greek art that will be involved in this week's in-class essay and bring copies of the images to class on Thursday. One good site to find these is www.theoi.com/Galleries, although this site only has art related to Greek mythology. Another site that has some good images is www.perseus.tufts.edu, but you should have no trouble finding Greek art on the web. Grammar: Split Infinitives and Advanced Usage
Good article about Aspasia, Pericle's wife 25
Daniel Mendelsohn on Greek Tragedy in its Civic Context
David Rosenbloom on Material elements and visual meaning in Greek Tragedy
Gregory Hays on Aristotle's Poetics and Greek Tragedy
Mark Munn on the Greek historians' goals very short but useful
Mary Beard discusses Jane Harrison on Greek Religion 24
James Davidson on Greek oracles 04
Daniel Mendelsohn intro to Greek Drama
This week's reading is relatively brief, an article by John Boardman about Greek art, and you need to read this carefully for this week's in-class essay about Greek art. I will give you a handout with selections from Thucydides, the second great Greek historian, so you can get a head start for next week. I strongly suggest you do that. His book is The Peloponnesian War. There are no note sheets for Thucydides, so you should check the essay topics (not this week's) to see which topics will be of the most use. I have already done the excerpting for you, so you must read the full packet but only Books One and Two for next week's essay.
11 classical Greek art masterpieces
An Altar Beyond Olympus for a Deity Predating Zeus 08
The Parthenon Enigma review 14
For a good summary of the period between Herodotus's and Thucydides' histories, read this summary by Simon Hornblower:
Hornblower - History of the Classical Period text
For a 6 minute video from the Metropolitan Museum of art about the Temple of Artemis at Sardis and a column from it in the Met's collection , go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FbkjHNJ2yc&feature=youtu.be
For a 6 minute video from the Metropolitan Museum of Art about the original polychromy (multi-colored painting) of Greek sculpture, go to https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/videos/2022/7/spotlight-caligula-brinkmanns?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Museum&utm_campaign=2022_0711_Spotlight&promocode=
For a page with illustrations about Phidias, the greatest sculptor of Periclean Athens, from Brown's Classics Dept., go to https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/greekpast/4795.html
For an excellent article about color and the misreading of whiteness in Greek art, go to https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/29/the-myth-of-whiteness-in-classical-sculpture?mbid=nl_Magazine%20Daily%20List%20102218&CNDID=50609444&utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Magazine%20Daily%20List%20102218&utm_content=&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=Magazine%20Daily%20List%20102218&spMailingID=14478575&spUserID=MjEwODc0NTQzMjgxS0&spJobID=1501727072&spReportId=MTUwMTcyNzA3MgS2
Week 6: We will continue Oedipus in class and begin its sequel, Oedipus at Colonus, when we finish it. While the first play is one of the handful of most famous plays in history, the second should be as well. It's amazing that Sophocles wrote it in his 90s, shortly before his death and just before the end of the Peloponnesian War. Both facts are very relevant to understanding it fully.
Grammar: We're back to usage:
Notes on the period between the wars 479-431
Chart of interrelationships of leading 5th Century Athenian families and a useful map
Oedipus At Colonus pre-reading
The following are two short excerpts from leading modern historians of the Peloponnesian War that might interest/help you:
Victor David Hanson of the Pelop War
Herodotus on Athens and Sparta essays should be revised by Monday.
This week is the essay bye week so we can catch up
Week 7: Complete Oedipus in class and begin its sequel, Oedipus at Colonus, when we finish it. While the first play is one of the handful of most famous plays in history, the second should be as well. It's amazing that Sophocles wrote it in his 90s, shortly before his death and just before the end of the Peloponnesian War. Both facts are very relevant to understanding it fully.
We will also start to lead up to the Peloponnesian War in class.
This week's essay is about Books 1 and 2 of Thucydides and Oedipus. Be sure to read all of the material in the handout. It's due on Thursday, January 30 by 9 a.m.
Between the wars (mid-5th century) notes
Terry Eagleton writes about tragedy 20
This week's essay is about Books 1 and 2 of Thucydides and Oedipus. Be sure to read all of the material in the handout. It's due on Thursday, January 23 by 9 a.m.
Exercise 5 Oedipus and Pericles 24
Week 8: We will finish Oedipus at Colonus and read at least most of The Trojan Women in class while you read Antigone at home
This week's essay is the second in-class essay, and it's about Antigone, so you should have read it carefully and thought about its main ideas and themes. No revision is due this week if you are up to date.
What US government owes to Greece and Rome 20
Lessons about the Athenian Plague and Democracy 20
Current Politicians Misreading Thucydides 17 This is an interesting article relating Thucydides to current events in 2017, but can you spot the errors, particularly relating to the Sicilian expedition?
Gks 2 Trojan Women pre-reading
Euripides Unbound: new discoveries 24
This week's essay is the second in-class essay, and it's about Antigone, so you should have read it carefully and thought about its main ideas and themes. No revision is due this week if you are up to date.
Week 9: We will will enjoy our most comic play of the trimester, Aristophanes's Lysistrata, which was written in 411 in direct response to everyone's weariness with the 20 year old conflict (and at a particularly bad time for Athens).
Link to podcast of Emily Wilson on Aristophanes: https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/among-the-ancients-aristophanes?utm_campaign=20211208new&utm_content=20211208new%20CID_a9e8e00ab83cc5dc5e515fa80ead0a73&utm_medium=email&utm_source=LRB%20email&utm_term=LRB%20Podcast%20Among%20the%20Ancients%20Aristophanes%20with%20Emily%20Wilson%20and%20Thomas%20Jones
Emily Wilson on Aristophanes 21
At home, you should be reading the rest of your Thucydides packet for this week's essay. You will need to tie it to Euripides's The Trojan Women, which you will have to complete at home most likely, so don't leave Thucydides for the last minute. The essay is of course due Thursday, February 13 by class time.
Exercise 7 - Trojan Women and Thucydides
Week 10: We will finish up with Lysistrata and how it relates to the war and the role of women in Greece and will begin to discuss the latter stages of the war if we have time.
Grammar: commas with because, if, from, for and other initial words
Your Trojan Women essay's revision is due by Tuesday's class.
YOUR FINAL ESSAY'S REVISION IS DUE BY THURSDAY'S CLASS (February 25). I mean business about this. There should be no outstanding work at this point. That will lead to a pleasant last week of the trimester. You should read Euripides's Medea at home. If you have the extra essay, it's due by Tuesday, February 23 at class time and must be revised by Friday, February 26, so the draft must be really thorough and careful. Be sure to make all of these deadlines or, even better, beat them.
It's final essay week! I am providing two choices for this one: a big old comprehensive essay or a creative alternative. There's only do one, and it must be in by Monday, Feb. 24
Alternative creative final project
Here's a sample alternative project of special interest to the Pats fans in the class
Bellicus Rex - sample creative assignment
Extra Essay Euripides and women
Medea prereading - necessary for extra essay
Week 11: I imagine we will be finishing up what is listed under week 10, and we will set up the situation in Athens and Sparta at the end of the Peloponnesian War, as that will lead directly to our intensive study of Socrates and Plato next trimester.
Grammar: commas with and, but, so and or
All of your work should be completed!!!
Week 12: Greeks Jeopardy Link for evaluation of class: https://forms.gle/PiyZDVrAfHEAwfUP9
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