Andrew Wolpert

Fall 2007

Time and Location

Wednesday, Period 9-11 (125 Dauer Hall)

An introduction to the various approaches, methods, and theories used in classical studies.  This course does not attempt to provide a comprehensive overview of the history of the field or of the methods applied to individual subfields.  Instead, it seeks to introduce students to some of the major trends that have had significant impact on the direction of contemporary classical scholarship and to help students develop skills in critical analysis, which they will be expected to apply in their work on their M.A. and Ph.D. theses.  Topics include source criticism and Quellenforschung, epigraphy, Athenian Politics, Greek philosophy, the Augustan Principate, Roman Slavery, Roman religion, literary theory, the ancient economy, sexuality, and the construction of private space.

Required Texts 

• Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon  Price, eds. Religions of Rome, vol. 1 (Cambridge 1998).
• Bradley, Keith, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge 1994).
• Dougherty, Carol, and Leslie Kurke, eds., Cultural Poetics in Archaic Greece: Cult, Performance, Politics (Cambridge, 1993).
• Halperin, David, John Winkler, and Froma Zeitlin, eds., Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient Greek World (Princeton 1990).
• Nightingale, Andrea, Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy (Cambridge 1995).
• Zanker, Paul, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor 1988).

Recommended Texts

• M. I. Finley, Ancient Economy, updated ed. (Berkeley 1999).
• J. Ober, Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People (Princeton 1989).

Additional Readings

• Required books are on reserve in Library West; articles are either online on the course’s e-reserves page or available in 125 Dauer Hall. Web links to library resources are accessible off-campus only if you use the UF VPN or the Library Proxy.

Course Requirements

• Class Participation (15%), based on contribution in weekly class meetings.

• 2 Book Reviews (20% each), approximately 1200-1500 words (each).  Students are to choose two books to review from required readings.  Each review is due at the beginning of class on the day that book is to be discussed in our weekly meeting (see Weekly Schedule). No extensions.

• Review of the Literature (45%), approximately 15 pages, due on Dec. 5.  Provide a critical analysis of the seminal scholarship for a particular topic or subfield (e.g., Homer, Vergil, the Peloponnesian War, Augustus), explaining how the field has changed, what are the essential questions that scholars have debated, what methods and theories have been applied to the particular area of study, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches.

Schedule

August 29: Introduction

PART 1: GREECE

September 5: Source Criticism and Quellenforschung

• Battle of Aegopotami
  • Xen. Hell.2.1.17-29.
  • D. S. 13.104.1-106.7.
  • Strauss, Barry, “Aegospotami Reexamined, AJP 104 (1983) 24–35.
  • Wylie, G., “What Really Happened at Aegospotami?” AC 55 (1986) 125–41 (electronic document; available on Course Reserves).
• Rule of the Thirty
  • Xen. Hell. 2.3.11-4.43.
  • [Arist.] Ath. Pol. 34.3-38.4.
  • Krentz, Peter, The Thirty at Athens (Ithaca 1982) appendix, 131–52 (electronic document; available on Course Reserves).
  • Adeleye, Gabriel, “Theramenes: The End of a Controversial Career,” Museum Africum 5 (1976) 9–22 (electronic document; available on Course Reserves).
  • Wolpert, Andrew, “The Violence of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens,” in Ancient Tyranny, edited by Sian Lewis (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006) 213–23 (electronic document; available on Course Reserves).

September 12: The Athenian Democracy

• Ober, Josiah,  Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People (Princeton 1989).

September 19: Greek Philosophy

• Nightingale, Andrea, Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy (Cambridge 1995). Also available online in Netlibrary (can be checked out by only one UF patron at a time)

September 26: Archaic Greece and Postmodern Literary Theory

• Dougherty, Carol, and Leslie Kurke, eds., Cultural Poetics in Archaic Greece: Cult, Performance, Politics (Cambridge, 1993).

PART 2: ROME

October 3: Augustus and Roman Culture

• Zanker, Paul, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor 1988).

October 10: The Pisonian Conspiracy

• Senatus Consultum de Cn. Pisone Patre, AJP 120.1 (1999).

October 17: Slavery

• Bradley, Keith, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge 1994).

October 24: Religion

• Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon Price, eds. Religions of Rome, vol. 1 (Cambridge 1998).

PART 3: ANCIENT SOCIETY

October 31: The Ancient Economy

• Finley, M.I., Ancient Economy, updated ed. (Berkeley 1999).

November 7 Sexuality

• Halperin, David, John Winkler, and Froma Zeitlin, eds., Before Sexuality: The Construction of Erotic Experience in the Ancient Greek World (Princeton 1990).

PART 4: RESEARCH PROJECTS

November 14: Work on Projects

November 21: Work on Projects

November 28: Work on Projects

December 5: Review of Literature due

Grading Scale

A = 91-100%
B+= 86-90.9%
B = 81-85.9%
C+ = 76-80.9%
C = 71-76.9%
D+ = 66-70.9%
D = 61-65.9%
E < 60.9%