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last updated: 4/17/02

 

   

   
Classes Offered Fall 2002

Latin

Greek

Hebrew

Classical Studies

World Views: 5th-Century Athens

 



Two Brothers
from Roman Egypt,
2nd c. A.D.,
detail of distemper painting on wooden panel
(Cairo, Egyptian Museum)

Latin

Stock characters of Roman comedy (from a manuscript of Terence)

Latin 131: Elementary Latin I (1) (Knorr)
MWF 09:10a-10:10a
ETN 105
(Syllabus)
Introduction to the language and culture of the ancient Romans. The course emphasizes the fast development of basic reading skills. Students will read continuous texts, starting with simplified versions of three hit comedies by Plautus (2nd century B.C.) and ending with Cicero's famous prosecution of the corrupt and debauched former governor of Sicily, Verres, and his speeches against Catilina who conspired to kill both consuls, set fire to the city of Rome, and take over the government (1st century B.C.).
 

Latin 231: Latin Prose (1) (Lowe)
TTh 01:50p-03:20p
ETN 206
Close reading of classical Latin authors. Texts by Cicero, Sallust, Livy, Suetonius, Seneca, and/or Apuleius will be translated and discussed. Prerequisites: Latin 132.

Fall 2002: We will read Livy's Ab urbe condita (History of Rome from its Beginnings), Book 1. This book contains Livy's account of Rome's foundation ( the story of Romulus and Remus) and early kings, and it ends with the rape of Lucretia that leads to the overthrow of Rome's last Etruscan king, Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquinius the Proud). These charter myths played an important role for the Romans and will provide you with a deep look into the Roman soul.
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Greek

Dionysos (from a kylix by the Brygos Painter, ca. 480 B.C.)

Greek 131 Elementary Ancient Greek I (1) (Knorr)
MWF 10:20a-11:20a
ETN 108
(Syllabus)
Introduction to the ancient Greek language and culture. The course emphasizes the fast development of basic reading skills. Students will read continuous texts, including passages from Plato, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Euripides, and Homer.

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Hebrew

 

Ark of the Covenant

HEBR 231 Intermediate Classical Hebrew I (1) (McCreery)
MWF 08:00a-09:00a
ETN 108
Reading and translation of selected passages from the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of the finer points of Hebrew grammar, poetry and orthography will be examined. Prerequisites: Elementary Classical Hebrew I and II (open to freshmen with good Hebrew background).

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Classes in the Classical Studies Program

Alexander the Great (detail from mosaic in the National Museum in Naples)

HIST 313 Greece and the Hellenistic World (.5) (Lucas)
MWF 01:50p-02:50p
ETN 308
Course Meets 9/3-10/23
The course will deal with Homeric Greece, early Sparta and Athens, the rise of tyrannies and their fall to democratic forces at the time of the Peloponnesian War. Further, the course will deal briefly with the cultural ascendancy of Athens as reflected in its philosophy and theater and the growing disillusionment in the decline of the 4th and 3rd centuries. Lastly, it will cover the diffusion of Greek culture in the East following the conquests of Alexander the Great.
 
HIST 314 Ancient Rome (.5) (Lucas)
MWF 01:50p-02:50p
ETN 308
Course Meets 10/24-12/13
Primitive Italy and the founding of Rome; its expansion, the Punic Wars, social discontent and the Gracchi; the civil wars and the decline of the Republic; Julius Caesar and Octavian; the Julio-Claudian dynasty; the Flavians; philosophies of resignation, religions of hope.
 


from left to right: Thales (?), Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

PHIL 230 History of Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval (1) (Lou Goble)
MWF 12:40p-01:40p
CLN 105
Ancient and medieval philosophy from Thales through St. Thomas. The important ideas of leading philosophers and the movements they influenced. Emphasis is on metaphysics and the problems of knowledge. (from the WU course catalog)

Fall 2002: In this course, we explore the origins of western philosophy. We begin at the very beginning, with the philosophers known as the Pre-Socratics, who preceded Socrates and Plato. We will then spend several weeks studying Plato's philosophy, followed by some weeks devoted to Aristotle's. We conclude with a brief look at the philosophical movements that came after Aristotle, in the Hellenistic period and in Classical Rome as well as in the European Middle Ages. The emphasis of the course, however, is on the philosophical work of Plato and Aristotle. With both we will work primarily on problems in metaphysics (the one nad the many, being, becoming, change), epistemology (knowledge, belief, appearance), and ethics (the good, justice). We will be interested in the questions the philosophers asked, and how they answered them, and we will be especially interested in their methods of doing philosophy.

This course will require writing three or four formal papers and various informal exercises. PHIL 110 (Philosophical Problems), or the equivalent, is a prerequisite for this course. This class is required for all Philosophy majors.
(Lou Goble's course announcement for Fall 2002)

 

ONE-TIME SPECIAL

REL 341 Religions of the Ancient World: The History & Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (1) (McGaughy, McCreery, et. al.)
TTh 07:00p-08:30p
ETN 110
Offered in conjunction with the major exhibit on ancient Egypt coming to the Hallie-Ford-Museum in Fall 2002. Part of the course will be a series of lectures given by internationally renowned Egyptologists, mostly Thursdays from 7-8 pm. In addition, there will be a weekend workshop on Egyptian hieroglyphics.
 
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World Views Freshman Seminar
(not part of the Classical Studies Program, but thematically related)


Athenian silver drachma

IDS 123 W (1) World Views: Fifth-Century Athens (Staff)
Fall 2002 faculty coordinators: Sammy Basu (Politics), Catherine Collins (Rhetoric and Media Studies), Ortwin Knorr (Classics)

The World Views first-year seminar is a program unique to Willamette University. The primary motivation of the faculty who developed the course in 1987 was to provide a common experience for all first-year students that would serve as an introduction to the goals, the purposes and the rigors of the liberal arts tradition in which Willamette University is firmly rooted. The course, taught by faculty from a wide variety of disciplines and departments, is built around the skills of critical reading, informed discussion, and cogent writing, the same skills that are the foundation for most academic programs on campus. By studying a world view centered in another culture, we seek both understanding of that world view and a vantage point for conscious reflection upon our own.

This Fall, as in the last three years, Willamette's World Views Seminar will engage students with classical Athenian texts and monuments, including the Athenian Acropolis, Aeschylus' tragic trilogy Oresteia, selections from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, comedies by Aristophanes (along with a professional live performance of The Birds by the Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon) and philosophical dialogues by Plato. These documents all come from a period, the fifth century BCE, when the Athenians were the foremost political and economic power in the Mediterranean. Scholars, writers, philosophers, and artists from all over the Greek world were attracted to Athens. The intellectual achievements of classical Athens in democracy, literature, philosophy, and science form the very fabric of Western culture. Notwithstanding many similarities to today, however, Athenian culture, as we will discover, was in many ways utterly foreign to our own. Required of all entering Freshmen.

For more information, see the World Views website.
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