Instructor: William Hutton
Office: Morton 326
Phone: 221-2993
e-mail: wehutt@wm.edu
Office hours: MWF 12-1 pm and by appointment.

Time and place of Class: T-Th 11 am – 12:20 pm; Morton 343

Important Electronic Addresses:

Course Description:
This course is a survey of Greek literature, from the earliest works of Homer and Hesiod to the lesser-known works of late antiquity. We will read groundbreaking works in the fields of epic, lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, history and philosophy by such authors as Homer, Sappho, Sophocles, Herodotus and Plato. Lectures will address the interpretation of the works, their significance in the context of ancient Greek history and culture, and their influence in the literature, drama and film of later periods up to the present day.

• To become acquainted with some of the fundamental works of ancient literature that provided part of the foundation of European and American
• To acquire practice in thinking about, writing about and discussing literature from a number of different perspectives, and to gain a familiarity with the terminology and methodology of literary analysis.

Recommended Textbook:

T. Martin: Ancient Greece.

Some additional required readings will be available through the reserve desk at SWEM library or on Electronic Reserve through Blackboard/Courseinfo.

Assignments and Grading:
Your grade will be calculated as follows:

• Quizzes 10%
• Midterm exam 30%
• Final Project 20%
• Final Exam 40%

• Quizzes, of the very brief variety, will occur on alternate Tuesdays beginning with Tuesday, Sept 11. Quizzes will receive one of the following grades: 100% (Perfect), 90% (Almost perfect), 70% (Serious problems/errors), 50% (Unsatisfactory, but not without merit) 0% (missing or completely unmeritorious)
• Final Project: Will be a 1500-2000 word research paper on a subject to be determined in consultation with me, UNLESS you negotiate an alternative project with me, which may include involvement in the production of an ancient Greek play.
• Midterm Exam: Will consist of short answer and essay questions. Sample essay topics will be distributed at a decent interval before the exam.
• Final Exam: Will also consist of short answer and essay questions; it will include one essay which will require you to draw on your knowledge of the entire course’s materials, but the rest will focus on material covered since the midterm.

Important Course Policies:
No late papers, quizzes or assignments will be accepted without verifiable evidence of dire circumstances. No special arrangements whatsoever will be made if you do not notify me of your dire circumstances within 48 HOURS after the date or deadline missed.

Tentative Class Schedule: This schedule presents the main topics to be discussed each week, and important scheduled deadlines and activities. More specific information on topics and reading assignments will be given as we proceed through the semester, but the dates for tests and the DEADLINES for papers, etc. will stay the same unless there is some unforeseen calamity.

(abbreviations: CP=Course Pack; PH: Portable Greek Historians)

Week 0 Aug 30: Introduction 

Week 1 Sept 4-6: Homer and Hesiod: Traditional Poetry 
Reading 9/4: Hesiod: Excerpts from Theogony and Works and Days (CP);
(Martin, Chapter 1, 2)
Reading 9/6: Homer: Excerpts from the Iliad (CP)
(Martin, Chapter 3)

Week 2 Sept 11-13: Homer: The Odyssey
Sept 11: Books 1-6
Tuesday quizzes begin
Sept 13: Books 7-12

Week 3 Sept 18-20:  Odyssey cont’d.
Sept 18: Books 13-18
Sept 20: Books 19-24

Week 4 Sept 25-27: The Archaic Period
Sept 25: Lyric Poetry: Archilochus, Sappho and others (CP)
(Martin, Chapter 4, 5)
Sept 27: Pindar (CP), Bacchylides (CP), and Herodotus (PH)
(Martin, Chapter 6)


Week 6 Oct 2-4: The Classical Period; Athenian Drama             
Oct 1: Intro to Drama; Aeschylus, Agamemnon
(Martin, Chapter 7)
Oct 3: Aeschylus, Eumenides    

Week 7 9-11 Athenian Tragedy, cont’d             
Oct 9: Sophocles OedipusThe King
October 11: Sophocles Antigone

Week 8 Oct 16-18           
Oct 16 (Tuesday) NO CLASS (Fall Break)
             October 18 (Thursday): MIDTERM EXAM 

Week 9 Oct 23-25: Euripides
Oct 23: Euripides Bacchae
(Martin, Chapter 8)
Oct 25: Euripides Trojan Women

Week 10 Oct 30 – Nov 1: Athenian Comedy
Oct 30: Aristophanes: The Frogs
Oct 1: Aristophanes: The Birds
         
Week 11 Nov 6-8: Rhetoric and Historiography           
Nov 6  Gorgias and Lysias (CP)
Nov 8 Thucydides and Xenophon (HP)

Week 12 Nov 13-15: Philosophy
Nov 13 Aristophanes Clouds
(Martin, Chapter 9)
Final Project to be decided on by this date
Nov 15 Plato Apology, Phaedo

Week 13 Nov 20-22: Philosophy 
Nov 20: Plato Symposium
Nov 21-23: No Class; Thanksgiving         

Week 14 Nov 27-29:  Later Greek literature     
Nov 27 The Hellenistic Period
(Martin, Chapter 10)
Nov 29 Lucian           

Week 15 Dec 4-6: Conclusions            
Dec 4: Class Choice
Dec 6: Performance(?)
Final Projects Due

December 11 1:30-4:30: Final Exam