ClCv 201: Classical
Tradition
Asst. Professor of Ancient
Scripture; Affiliate faculty, Classics and Ancient History
Fall 2005 office hours: M-W 9-9:50 a.m.
Course Objective: ClCv 201 is designed to fill a G.E. history
of civilization requirement by exploring the ideas, literature, and
culture of the Greeks and the Romans and then surveying their
convergence with Christianity and their development through the Middle
Ages and the early Renaissance.
Early Christianity spread through the Greco-Roman world largely
through the medium of Classical languages and the cultural and
political unity provided by the Roman state. St. Augustine began
his career as a student of Classical literature and rhetoric and, while
rejecting paganism, deeply admired Cicero, Vergil, and Horace.
Classical learning and the dream of world unity provided the basis for
the Carolingian imperial restoration, and it was the rediscovery of the
full-depth of Classical learning that initiated the Italian Renaissance.
The readings in ClCv 201 will concentrate on primary texts—some in
unabridged forms and selections of others—and will study them within
their historical and cultural contexts. Readings and lectures will help
the student identify historical trends and the development of ideas and
literary traditions. Classical culture was far more than just literary
texts and systems of philosophies, however. Accordingly, this course
will also touch upon other aspects of culture—particularly developments
in art and architecture that reflected the humanism of the Classical
world and heavily influenced the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
Gaining an appreciation of the Classical world-view will provide
students with insight into modern perceptions of human nature, society,
beauty, and religion, and will promote in them an appreciation of the
rich legacy that the Classical Tradition has been through the history
of the West.
Syllabus:
Fall 2006
Directions for Writing Assignments
Upcoming Dates
- Quiz 2: distributed
F03Nov, due in-class M06Nov
- Paper 2 (considering Cicero and the earlier Greek
Classical Tradition –or– comparing Vergil and Homer, or Ovid and any earlier
poets) due M13Nov.
Preparing for the Season!
With other Christians throughout the world, we commemorate the birth of the
Savior in this season. For ideas on preparing for a more spiritual and
Christ-centered season, see my Christmas and Advent materials at
http://hccl.byu.edu/classes/Seasonal-eh/Advent/index.htm
Bookmarks and Links
- Introduction
- Unit 1: Homer, Classical Greece, and the
Hellenistic World
- Unit 2: Rome, Early Christianity, and
Late Antiquity
- Unit 3: Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Religion links
Lecture Outlines and Handouts
Introduction
- 1. Introduction
to ClCv 201: Civilization. The Study of Cultural History;
What is the Study of the Classics? The Importance of the Classical Tradition
to Western Culture. Classical Antecedents: The Near East.
Reading: After class, review MP Intro (pp.
xvii–xxi) and ch. 1 (pp. 1–8, 12–16, 26).
Unit 1: Homer, Classical Greece, and the
Hellenistic World
Bronze Age Aegean, 3000-1150 B.C.
Greek Dark Age/Age of Heroes, c. 1150–750 B.C.
- 2. The Bronze Age, The Greek Dark
Age, and Oral Poetry: Classical Antecedents:
The Bronze Age Aegean—Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece. The Greek Dark Ages,
1100-750 B.C. The Greek Dark Ages, Development of Greek Religion, and the Rise
of the Oral Tradition. Characteristics of Epic.
Reading: MP ch. 2 (pp. 31–38, 41-45); peruse "Synopsis of the Greek
Pantheon," noting the names and functions of the chief Greek gods and
goddesses (packet, 175–185).
- 3. The Trojan Cycle and Homer:
The historical Trojan War; Episodes from the Trojan Cycle;
Homer; Oral Poetry and Epic; Homeric Values; the Age of Heroes.
Readings: Lombardo introduction, ix–xx.
- 4. Introduction to Homer; Iliad I: The Trojan War
and Homer’s Poem. The Rage of Achilles; Agamemnon Calls the Greeks to Council—Thersites;
Paris and Menelaus; the Truce Is Broken; the Aristeia of Diomedes. Readings:
Homer, Iliad, from books 1–6.407 (Lombardo, 1–78).
- 5a. Homer, Iliad II:
Hector and Andromache; the Trojans Reach the Ships; the Embassy
to Achilles; the Shield of Achilles; Death of Patroclus. Death of Hector;
Priam Visits Achilles; Funeral of Hector. Readings: Homer,
Iliad, from books 6.408–558; 8–9; 16; 18; 22–24 (Lombardo, 78–106,
153–87, 205–240).
- 5b. Homer, Odyssey I:
Background, Structure, and Opening of Odyssey.
The Telemachy. Readings: Homer, Odyssey,
from books 1, 4 (Lombardo, 241–284).
- 6. Homer, Odyssey II:
Odysseus and Calypso; Nausicaa; the Wanderings of Odysseus —Polyphemus,
Circe, the Underworld, and Dangers at Sea; hybris, atasthalia,
and the Fate of Odysseus’ Companions. Readings: Homer,
Odyssey, from books 5–6, 8–12 (Lombardo, 284–365).
- 7. Homer, Odyssey III:
Return to Ithaca—the Beggar and the Hound; Faithful and
Unfaithful Servants; Recognition; Theodicy and the Death of the
Suitors. Odysseus and Penelope. The Final Resolution. Readings:
Homer, Odyssey, from books 13, 16–24 (Lombardo, 366–482).
Archaic Greece, 700-490 B.C.
- 8. Archaic Greece: Social and Economic Transition.
The Polis and Man as a Politikos Zoön.
Colonization. Political Developments: Aristocracies, Tyrants, and towards
Democracy. Hesiod. Cultural and Artistic Advances. Lyric poetry: Archilochus
and Sappho. Begin Natural Philosophers: Materialists and Idealists.
Readings: MP ch. 2 (pp. 38–39, 45; Aristotle, Politics (I)
1253 a 7 (packet, 42).
- 9. Archaic Greek
Culture: Philosophy and Art: Complete Natural
Philosophers: Materialists and Idealists. Vase Painting. Archaic Sculpture.
Doric Architecture. Vase Painting. Doric Architecture. Archaic Sculpture.
Readings: MP ch. 2 (pp. 45–53); Archaic Greek Supplements
(packet, 1–4).
- 10. The Rise of Athens and the Persian Wars: Finish looking
at sculpture and architecture. Solon and Peisistratos at Athens. The Origins
of Athenian Drama. Herodotus and the Beginning of Historiography. The Stories
of Croesus and Solon. Cleisthenes and "Democratic" Politics at Athens. Athens
in the Persian War. Readings: MP ch. 2–3 (pp. 39–41, 67);
Herodotus excerpts (packet, 5–20).
Quiz 1 Materials
Classical Greece: the Fifth Century, 490–404 B.C.
- 11. The Rise and Fall of Classical Athens: The Rise of the
Athenian Empire; Thucydides, the Pentekontaëtia,
and Ironies of Empire; Thucydides and Scientific History—the Outbreak of the
Peloponnesian War. The Funeral Oration and the Elevation of Athenian Culture—
filokalei/n kai. Filosofei/n:
"Loving Beauty and Loving the Things of the Mind."; the Effects of
War—Thucydides and the Decline of Athenian Morality. Readings:
MP ch. 3 (pp. 55–59, 67–68); Thucydides excerpts (packet, 21–33) and MP–R,
75–80.
- 12. Classicism, Aeschylus, and "Lyric" Tragedy: Classical
Culture and Achievement (The Hellenic Good Life, Development of Humanism, and
the Principles of Classicism); Development of Classical Tragedy;
Aeschylus and the Oresteia, especially Agamemnon.
Readings: MP ch. 3 (pp. 61–64, 75–79); Aristotle, excerpts from
Poetics, MP–R, 89–94; Introduction to Aeschylus and Agamemnon,
(GT 1, 2–60).
- 13. Sophism and Sophoclean Drama: Presocractic Philosophy
and the Spread of Sophism. Sophoclean Drama. The Oedipus Cycle. Antigone:
Radical Democracy and the Role of the State. MP ch. 3 (pp. 64–65, 68–69);
Aristotle, excerpts from Poetics, MP–R, 89–94; Introduction only
to Oedipus the King, MP–R, 56–57 and GT, 108–109; Antigone,
(178–232).
- 14. Classical Greek Art and
Architecture: Sculpture—Severe, High Classical, and
Late Classical; Doric Architecture Perfected—the Parthenon. Ionic
Architecture. Readings: MP ch. 3 (pp. 71–80).
- 15. Euripides and
Aristophanes: Culture in the Midst of War: Societal Stress and
Literature–Euripides' Medea and Hippolytus; the Old Comedy of Aristophanes.
Readings: MP ch. 3 (pp. 65–66); Hippolytus (GT, 235–295).
Fourth Century Greece, 404–336 B.C.
- 16. Fourth Century Greece I.
The Figure and Trial of Socrates (Cf. Plato’s
Apology)); the Socratic Revolution. Fourth Century Changes in Greek
Society and Politics; Plato and Greek Philosophy—idealism, the Theory of
Forms, and Mimesis. Readings: MP ch. 3 (pp. 59–60,
69–71); Plato, excerpts from The Republic and Phaedo, MP–R,
89–94 and packet, 34–37; D&C 93:1–39. Paper
#1 due, comparing and contrasting Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey –or–
compare and contrast the genres of historiography and tragedy
- 17a. Fourth Century Greece II:
Isocrates, Rhetoric, and the System of Paideia.
Aristotle, the Aristotelian Method, and ethics. Cultural, Artistic, and
Political Developments. Readings: MP ch. 3 (pp. 71,
80–81); Isocrates, from Antidosis (packet, 38–41); Aristotle, from
Nicomachean Ethics (packet, 42–60) and Politics (MP–R,
94–95).
- 17b. Fourth Century Art.
The Hellenistic World, 336–164 B.C.
- 18a. The Hellenistic World:
Alexander the Great; Hellenistic Kingdoms; the Spread and
Development of Classical Greek Culture; Hellenistic Religion and Philosophy;
Hellenistic Art. Readings: MP ch. 3–4 (pp. 60, 87–107);
MP–R, 96–97; Epicurus, "Letter to Menoeceus," MP–R, 98–101; on
Epicurus and Zeno from Introduction to On the Good Life (Grant, 25–27).
- 18b. Hellenistic Art.
Exam 1 Materials
Unit 2: Rome, Early Christianity, and Late
Antiquity
Rise of Rome: Early and Middle Republic, 753–133 B.C.
- 19. The Rise of Rome.
Legendary Rome, 753–509 B.C: Roman Origins and the Early History. Early
and Middle Republic, 509–133 B.C.: conquest of Italy, Punic Wars and Roman
Expansion; culture, literature, art, and architecture; Polybius and the Roman
constitution (introduction). Readings: MP ch. 5 (pp.
109–115, 117–118); Livy, "The Founding of Rome" [1.1–7.3], "The Expulsion of
the Kings," [1.49, 56–60 and passim] (packet, 90–101); Livy, "Cannae,"
[22.44–51] and "The Defeat of Hannibal" [30.35] (packet, 109–114); Polybius,
summary and introduction (packet 61–63).
The Late Republic, 133–27 B.C.
-
20. The Weakness of the Late Republic.
Polybius and the Roman constitution
(continued); The Roman Revolution, Great Men and Writers of the Late
Republic—Marius, Sulla, Sallust, Cicero, and Caesar; the Catilinarian
Conspiracy. Reading: MP ch. 5 (p . 115); Polybius, esp.
from book 6 on the Roman constitution (packet, 63–73); Sallust, from Bellum
Catilinae (packet, 74–78); Cicero, from In Catilinam I (packet,
79–87).
- 21.
Roman Art, Education, and Philosophy.
Visual Arts in the Late Republic:
Sculpture, Architecture, and Engineering. Cicero and a Roman Classical
Education. The Greek Cultural Heritage. Ciceronian humanism. Philosophy in
Cicero’s age. Introduction to Cicero’s philosophic writings.
Readings: MP ch. 5 (pp. 117–119, 123–125, 130–132); Cicero, from
Pro Archia. (packet, 87–88). Cicero, On the Good Life, 7–22,
31–44.
- 22. Cicero on
Philosophy and Statecraft.
- a. Qualities and Training of a Statesman. Excerpt: from
Cicero, On the Orator (On the Good Life, 228–64 and 307–36)..
- b. A Classical Cosmology—the Universe and Man’s Place in It.
Excerpt: from Cicero,"Dream of Scipio" (On the Good Life,
341–55).
- c. Philosophy on Ethics and Emotions. Excerpt: from
Cicero, Discussions at Tusculum 5 (On the Good Life, 49–116).
- d. A Treatise on Practicality. Excerpt: from Cicero, On
Duties 2 (On the Good Life, 117–139, 170–171).
- We are only reading representative selections from Cicero's
philosophic treatises; if one of them interests you for your paper, you will
want to read that complete treatise.
Augustan Rome, 27 B.C.–A.D. 14
- 23. The Augustan Age.
The Rise of Augustus—the aftermath of Caesar’s murder and the rise of
Octavian; Actium: the victory over Antony and Cleopatra; Augustus’
Constitutional Settlement. The Augustan Program—Moral Reforms and the
Restoration of Values; The Artistic Program; Livy and Moralizing History.
Reading: MP ch. 5 (pp. 115–117, 124, 132–135); Suetonius, from
the Life of Augustus (packet, 135–142); From Livy 1 and 2 (packet, under
"Prologue," 89, and Good and Bad Exempla," pages 101–109;
Cincinnatus episode).
- 24. Vergil I. The Author and
the Times; Maecenas and Augustan Patronage; The Aeneid: A New Kind of
Epic; Vergil and Roman Origins. The Gods and Aeneas; Aeneas in Africa. The
Fall of Troy—furor to pietas; a New Future for the Family. The
Odyssey and the Wanderings of Aeneas—Prophecies and Portents; Death of
Anchises. Reading: MP ch. 5 (pp. 119–121); Vergil,
Aeneid I–III (West, vii–x, 3–68; note West’s introductory essays and
summaries as you proceed to read the Aeneid).
Quiz 2 Materials
- 25. Vergil II.
Quiz #2 distributed. The "Tragedy" of Dido;
Funeral Games for Anchises; Vergil’s Book of the Dead; the Iliad
revisited. Reading: Vergil, Aeneid IV–VII (West,
69–164).
- 26. Vergil III. Quiz
#2 due. The Future of Rome and the Shield of Aeneas; Nisus and
Euryalus; the Gods and Battle; Turnus and Aeneas: the cost of greatness—pietas
versus furor; poetry or propaganda: the meaning of the Aeneid.
Reading: Vergil, Aeneid VIII–XII (West, 165–290).
Imperial Rome, A.D. 14–235
- 27. Imperial Rome I.
Ovid and the Late Augustan Poetry; History and Governance
during the Pax Romana: the Roman Peace; from principate to monarchy: the
Julio-Claudians. Silver Age Literature. Lucan and Epic.
Reading: MP ch. 5 (pp. 121–122); Ovid, Metamorphoses,
excerpts from 1 and 4 (MP–R, 122–126) and the apotheosis of Caesar,
15.745–870 (packet, 115–117); Lucan, from the Pharsalia (packet,
118–123).
- 28. Imperial Rome II.
Flavian, "Adoptive," and Severan emperors. Imperial
Philosophy—Roman Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius the Stoic, Neoplatonism; Later
Silver Age Literature—Tacitus and historiography; a brief look at Imperial Art
and Architecture. Reading: MP ch. 5 (pp. 122–130,
135–137); from Tacitus, excerpts from Annales (packet, 124–131);
Suetonius, read Lives of Gaius and Nero (packet, 142–150). Marcus
Aurelius, from Meditations (MP–R, 132–138).
Early Christianity
- 29. Christianity and the
Greco-Roman World. Paper #2 due, considering Cicero
and the earlier Greek Classical Tradition –or– comparing Vergil and Homer, or
Ovid and any earlier poets. Topics:
The Jewish Background; Jesus and the Early Church; The New Testament and
Hellenistic Culture; Christians and the Roman Empire; Early Christian Art.
Reading: MP ch. 6 (pp. 143–152, 157–167); Acts 9–28; 1
Thessalonians; from Tacitus, Annales (packet, under "The Burning of
Rome," 131–134); Eusebius, excerpts from Ecclesiastical History (MP–R,
171–174).
The Late Empire, A.D. 235–476
- 30. Constantine and the Triumph of
Christianity. Late Antiquity: Historical and Religious
Developments; Diocletian and Constantine; Christianity—from Persecution to
Toleration to Official Religion; Christian Architecture and Art.
Reading: MP ch. 7 (pp. 169–173, 174–184); Eusebius, excerpts from
Ecclesiastical History (MP–R, 174–175).
- 31. Augustine and the Fall of the
Roman West. Background of St. Augustine; the
Confessions—Classical education and the struggle of the unsaved soul;
Augustine and the Problem of Rome’s decline. Fall of Rome. Germanic Successor
States. Reading: MP ch. 7 (pp. 173–174); excerpts from
Augustine, selections from Confessions (MP–R, 165–169), and
City of God (packet, 151–164).
Exam 2 Materials
Unit 3: Medieval and Renaissance Europe
The Persistence and Transformation of Classical Culture.
- 32a. Heirs of Classicism: Byzantium.
New Rome: Byzantine History and Society, A.D. 476–1453.
Reading: MP ch. 7 (pp. 184–188); Anna Comnena from The
Alexiad (MP–R, 175–178).
- 32b. Byzantine Art.
Byzantine Architecture and Art—Hagia Sophia, San Vitale,
mosaics, and characteristics of Byzantine style. Reading:
MP ch. 7 (pp. 184–188)
- 33a. Heirs
of Classicism: Germanic Europe. Germanic Europe,
A.D. 476-768—the Germanic Successor States; Boethius and Bede; the Role of the
Church in the Preservation of the Classical Tradition; Gregory the Great;
Benedictine Monasticism. Reading: MP chs. 7 and 8 (pp.
189–191, 203–225); Boetheius, from The Consolation of Philosophy (MP–R,
178–182).
- 33b. Heirs of Classicism: Islam.
Rise of Islam, A.D. 570–732—Muhammad, the Qur’an,
Hegira, Jihad, conquest of Arabia; Five Pillars; Caliphs, Umayyads,
Abbasids; Mosques and Arabesque. Reading: MP chs. 7 and 8 (pp.
189–191, 203–225); excerpts from the Qur’an (MP–R, 192–198).
- 34. The Dream
Rediscovered—Charlemagne and Empire.
Charlemange and Empire; The Carolingian Renaissance; Einhard and Notker: The
Legend and Figure of Charlemange. Reading: MP ch. 7 (pp.
191–199); Einhard, from The Life of Charlemagne (MP–R, 182–185).
Feudal Europe, A.D. 814–987
- 35. Feudal Europe.
Manorialism and the Feudal System; Rise of Towns and the Feudal
Monarchies; Medieval Christianity and the Strength of the Church; Romanesque
Style. Reading: MP ch. 9 (pp. 227–238, 244–248).
The High Middle Ages, A.D. 987–1309
- 36. The Twelfth Century
Renaissance. Tuesday is Friday!
Economic and Urban Revival; Development of Feudal Monarchies;
Universities; Peter Abelard, Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas; Gothic
Architecture. Reading: MP ch. 9 (pp. 238–242, 248–259);
Elements of Scholasticism (packet, last supplement, 188ff., including excerpts
from Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas); Thomas Aquinas, excerpts from Summa
Theologica (MP–R, 233–235).
Quiz 3 Materials
Late Middle Ages, A.D. 1309–1401
- 37. Dante.
Quiz #3 distributed. Topics: Dante and the Rise of the
Vernacular; The Structure of the Divine Comedy. Dante and the Classical
Tradition; Sins of Incontinence, Violence, and Fraudulence. Sins of Treachery,
Cato and Purgatorio, and Trajan, Constantine, and Ripheus in
Paradiso XX. Reading: MP ch. 9 (p. 243); Dante,
from Inferno 1, 3, 5, and 24 (MP–R, 235–246; handout from
Paradiso 20).
- 38. Petrarch and the
Rediscovery of Classical Humanism. Quiz #3 due.
Topics: Emerging from Plague, Famine, and War; Late Gothic and
the International Style; Petrarch and the rediscovery of Classical Humanism;
the Pisani and sculpture; Italy during the fifteenth century; studia
humanitatis. Reading: MP ch. 10 (pp. 263–283);
introduction to Petrarch (MP–R, 252–253); Petrarch,
Ascent of Mt.
Ventoux
(handout) and excerpts from Letter to Posterity, Africa, Letter
to Cicero, and My Secret (packet, pp. 165–170)
The Early, or Florentine, Renaissance, A.D. 1401–1494
- 39. The Great Innovators
and the Florentine Renaissance. Topics:
What was the Italian Renaissance? The context and spirit of the Early
Renaissance. The Medici and Florence. Revolution in painting: Cimabue and
Giotto. Brunelleschi and Architecture; Donatello, Ghiberti, and Sculpture;
Painting and the Early Italian Masters. [Flemish School and Van Eyck extra]
Reading: MP chs. 10 and 111 (pp. 283–291, 297–321).
The High, or Roman, Renaissance, A.D. 1494–1520
Exam 3 Materials