Classical Languages
Chairs: Associate Professor Clara S. Hardy, Professor Jackson Bryce
Professors: Jackson Bryce, Nancy C. Wilkie, Clayton L. Zimmerman
Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor: John J. Peradotto
Associate Professor: Clara S. Hardy
Assistant Professor: Stacy N. Beckwith
Post-Doctorial Fellow: Matthew S. Semanoff
Requirements for a Major:
The Department of Classical Languages offers four majors:
Major in Classical Studies: This major is intended for students who want a broad introduction to classical civilization. Students anticipating further work in classics should supplement the requirements of this major with more courses in the ancient languages. Requirements: 30 credits of work in Greek and/or Latin, including at least 24 credits of language work beyond the 102 level; 36 additional credits in the general area of classical civilization, including Classics 110 and one Greek and one Roman history course. Further courses in the languages may be included in this group. Students must choose a particular focus within the general area of classical civilization and shape their program around it. Normally this will involve a concentration on either Greek or Roman civilization with work in the appropriate language. Students must register for six credits of Integrative Exercise during their senior year.
Major in Greek: This major is intended for students who want a thorough introduction to the language and literature of Greece; students who intend to go on to graduate work in classics will need to take more work in Latin than this major requires. Requirements: 36 credits in Greek beyond Greek 102. In addition, students must take 30 additional credits in the general area of classical civilization including Classics 110 and Greek History. Further courses in Greek beyond 102 or Latin at any level may count toward this requirement. Students must also register for six credits of Integrative Exercise during their senior year.
Major in Latin: This major is intended for students who want a thorough introduction to the language and literature of Rome; students who intend to do graduate work in classics will need to take more work in Greek than this major requires. Requirements: 36 credits in Latin beyond Latin 102. In addition, students must take 30 additional credits in the general area of classical civilization including Classics 110 and Roman history. Further courses in Latin beyond 102 and Greek at any level may count toward this requirement. Students must also register for six credits of Integrative Exercise during their senior year.
Major in Classical Languages: This major is intended for students who plan to pursue graduate work in classics or who want a thorough introduction to the language and literature of both Greece and Rome. Requirements: 30 credits in Latin beyond Latin 102, plus 24 credits in Greek beyond Greek 102; or 30 credits in Greek beyond Greek 102, plus 24 credits in Latin beyond Latin 102. In addition, students must take the following in-translation courses: Classics 110 and one course dealing with Greek or Roman history, depending on the language emphasized. All students must register for a total of six credits of Integrative Exercise during their senior year.
The College language requirement may be satisfied by completion with a grade of at least C- in any of the Greek or Latin languages numbered 204 or above.
The Classics Departments of Carleton College and St. Olaf College cooperate in a program under which students of either college may elect certain courses on the other campus. This option is especially appropriate for upper level language courses not offered at Carleton. Carleton students should register for St. Olaf courses through the inter-registration process.
The Concentration in Archaeology will interest many students who are attracted to ancient civilization.
Certificate of Advanced Study in Foreign Language and Literature or Foreign Language and Area Studies: In order to receive the Certificate of Advanced Study in Classical Languages students must fulfill the general requirements (refer to Academic Regulations) in the following course distribution: six courses, of which at least three will be in the target language at the 200 level or above. Courses remaining may be from the Classics department or from a list of approved courses offered by other departments (philosophy, art, history, political science, etc.)
Classics Courses (CLAS)
(These courses do not presume knowledge of Greek or Latin)
CLAS 110. Introduction to Classical Studies This course will examine in depth the two most content-rich focal points of Classical antiquity-Periclean Athens and Early Imperial Rome-since they provide a context for so much of what Classics is about and, just as important, what different ages have imagined antiquity to be about. The course will cover Athens and Rome in roughly equal units, providing different perspectives on the material from the variety of approaches that currently make up the study of the Classics: history, archaeology, anthropology, gender studies, literary criticism, philology, religious studies, etc. 6 credits cr., HU, Winter—C. Zimmerman
CLAS 111. Classical Mythology: The Language of Myth We will study a selection of the most famous Greek myths through close reading of Homer, Greek tragedy, and other ancient sources, and discuss the most prominent of ancient and modern modes of myth interpretation, in an attempt to determine how myth speaksboth to the ancient audiences and to us. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 112. The Epic in Classical Antiquity An introduction to the genre of epic poetry from Classical Antiquity. Students will read in translation examples from the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman traditions in order to trace the development of the major features and themes of this genre and to understand the considerable influence this genre has exerted both during antiquity and thereafter. Authors will include Homer, Apollonius, Virgil, and Lucan. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 114. Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity Cross-listed with WGST 114. In both ancient Greece and Rome, gender (along with class and citizenship status) largely determined what people did, where they spent their time, and how they related to others. This course will examine the ways in which Greek and Roman societies defined gender categories, and how they used them to think about larger social, political, and religious issues. Readings from epic, lyric, and drama, as well as ancient historical, philosophical, and medical writers. No prerequisites. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Spring—C. Hardy
CLAS 116. Ancient Drama: Truth in Performance Cross-listed with THEA 116. The tragic and comic stage offered the Greeks and Romans a public arena for addressing in an engaging way such fundamental topics as love, family, justice, and the divine. Although the written word has fortunately preserved for us many ancient plays, the proper media for their communication remains, as their authors intended, the stage, the voice, and the body. This course will therefore address a variety of ancient tragedies and comedies with special attention, not only to their themes, but to the manner of their staging and performance. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 117. Archaeology of Greece The course will concentrate on the Prehistoric Period in Greece, from the first arrival of man to the end of the Bronze Age. A major emphasis will be placed on the Minoan and Mycenaean Periods in Crete and Greece respectively. Along with the study of the culture of this period, the course will include a study of archaeological technique, so that the archaeological evidence can be evaluated. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 125. Love, Death and Destiny: The Ancient Novel The novel is an unfamiliar but delightful area of Greek and Roman literature, with its heyday in the Roman empire of the second century A.D. We will study most of the nine Greek ones, which are romantic short novels about ill-fated lovers and their wild, world-wide adventures. We will also read the two Latin ones, Petronius' Satyricon and Apuleius' Metamorphoses, or Golden Ass, which are rich both in satire and an important spiritual dimension. No prerequisites. Read in English. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 225. The Greek Mind A lecture course, surveying ancient Greek thought based on readings in English translation from great texts of ancient Greek epic, tragedy, philosophy, and history: Homer's Iliad; Aeschylus' Oresteia and Sophocles' Oedipus the King; Aristotle's Poetics and Nicomachean Ethics; the philosophers Heraclitus, Parmenides, Melissus, Zeno, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, Democritus; the Sophists; Plato's Republic, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo; the historians Herodotus and Thucydides. 6 credits cr., HU, Fall—J. Peradotto
CLAS 227. Greek History: The Greek World From the Rise of the City-State to the Rise of the Hellenistic Kingdo Cross-listed with HIST 201. A survey of the civilization of the ancient Greeks, emphasizing the evolution of the city-state as a cohesive social, political, and economic organism. The development of the city-state as a response to the physical environment of Greece will form a component of this study, as will a discussion of the historical method: how do we use the few surviving archaeological remains and little written evidence to reconstruct the history of these people and their institutions? The period covered in depth will run from the beginning of the city-state ca. 750 B.C. to the conquests of Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.) and the legacy of international monarchies that followed. 6 credits cr., HU, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 228. Roman History, Republic and Principate Cross-listed with HIST 202. Introduction to the basic facts of political history from the Etruscan period to the early third century A.D. Readings in literary works and primary sources with emphasis on historiography and interpretation of evidence. Some attention to art and architecture. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Spring—J. Bryce
CLAS 229. The Later Roman Empire, Byzantium and Islam Cross-listed with HIST 203. Introduction to the basic facts of political history of the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic empires from the 3rd to the 9th centuries A.D. Readings and discussion of primary texts from the points of view of social, intellectual, and particularly religious history. Some attention to art and architecture; individual projects of research and interpretation. An important goal is to understand the phenomena of Christianity and Islam in their native context, the Mediterranean world of late antiquity. 6 credits cr., HU,RAD, Not offered in 2003-2004.
CLAS 400. Integrative Exercise Required for all senior majors in the department. 6 credits cr., S/NC, ND, Fall,Winter,Spring—Staff
Greek Courses (GRK)
(These courses all involve acquiring or using ancient Greek)
GRK 101. Elementary Greek Study of essential forms and grammar, with reading of connected passages. 6 credits cr., ND, Fall—M. Semanoff
GRK 102. Intermediate Greek Study of essential forms and grammar, with reading of original, unadapted passages. Prerequisite: Greek 101 with a grade of at least C-. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter—C. Zimmerman
GRK 103. Greek Prose Selected prose readings. The course will emphasize review of grammar and include Greek composition. Prerequisite: Greek 102 with a grade of at least C-. 6 credits cr., ND, Spring—J. Bryce
GRK 204. Greek Tragedy Selected readings from Greek Tragedy with an introduction to Greek meter. Prerequisite: Greek 103 with a grade of at least C-. Completes the college foreign language requirement. 6 credits cr., ND, Fall—J. Peradotto
GRK 230. Homer: Selections Reading of selected portions in Greek and either The Illiad or the Odyssey in translation. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
GRK 244. Plato, Gorgias Readings of some of the most significant dialogues in translation, with selections in the original. Prerequisite: Greek 204. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
GRK 245. Herodotus Study in the original Greek of selections from Herodotus' Histories and in translation of the entire work. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
GRK 304. Greek Tragedy for Advanced Students Intensive study of one play in the original and the remaining plays in translation. Offered simultaneously with Greek 204, with additional assignments for the advanced students. Prerequisite: Greek 204. 6 credits cr., AL, Fall—J. Peradotto
GRK 351. Aristophanes Intensive study of one or two plays in the original and of the remaining plays in translation. 6 credits cr., AL, Spring—C. Zimmerman
Latin Courses (LATN)
(These courses all involve acquiring or using Latin)
LATN 101. Elementary Latin Study of essential forms and grammar. This course should be elected by all students who have taken less than two years of secondary school Latin or who have not studied the subject for two or more years before entering college. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter—J. Bryce
LATN 102. Intermediate Latin Continuation of essential forms and grammar. Prerequisite: Latin 101 with a grade of at least C-; or placement by examination during New Student Week. 6 credits cr., ND, Spring—C. Hardy
LATN 103. Latin Prose Review of essential forms and grammar, with introduction to Latin prose through the study of medieval texts, Cicero and elementary Latin prose composition. Prerequisite: Latin 102 with a grade of at least C-; or appropriate score on the Latin placement exam. 6 credits cr., ND, Fall—C. Zimmerman
LATN 204. Catullus and Other Latin Poets Readings from the works of great poets in the original Latin, and of further selections in English. Prerequisite: Latin 103 with a grade of at least C-. Completes the college foreign language requirement. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter—M. Semanoff
LATN 241, 242. Petronius and Apuleius Selections from the Satyricon and/or Golden Ass in the original as well as reading the entire works in English translation. 3 credits each cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 243. Medieval Latin Reading from representative works of prose and poetry, and from the Roman liturgy. Prerequisite: Latin 204 or equivalent; students with a strong high school background of 3-4 years may also register upon taking the Latin placement exam. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 245. Cicero Representative readings, in Latin, across the range of Cicero's literary activity, including oratory, philosophy, criticism, and correspondence. Prerequisite: Latin 204 or equivalent. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 254. Survey of the Latin Silver Age Readings from representative works of prose and poetry from the Silver Age of Latin literature. Authors will include Pliny, Juvenal, Seneca, Martial, Suetonius, and Tacitus. 6 credits cr., AL, Fall—C. Zimmerman
LATN 258. Seminar: Horace Selection from Horace's Odes, Epodes, Satires and Epistles in Latin and the remaining works in translation. Prerequisite: Latin 204 or equivalent. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 345. Roman Comedy Selected readings in the original from Plautus and/or Terence; study in translation of both Roman Comedy and its predecessor Greek New Comedy. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 347. Themes in Latin Love Elegy This course will consider several major themes comprising the rhetoric of desire among the three Roman elegiac poets of the Augustan Age. The course begins with Tibullus and traces the development of certain images and ideas though Propertius, culminating with Ovid. We will examine how each author makes use of these poetic conventions and adapts them to his own particular style. 6 credits cr., AL, Spring—M. Semanoff
LATN 349. Ovid's Metamorphoses In this seminar we will read selections from Ovid's poetry in Latin, as well as representative passages from elsewhere in Ovid's corpus, in English translation. Prerequisite: Latin 204 or above. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.
LATN 359. Seminar: Virgil Selections from Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid in Latin and all of Virgil in English. Prerequisite: Latin 204 or equivalent. 6 credits cr., AL, Not offered in 2003-2004.