Greek Language and Literature
Fall 2024
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001/60001 01
Instructor: Prof. C. Baron, MW 11:00-12:15 and F 11:30-12:20
4 credit hours
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20003/60003 01
Instructor: T. Mazurek, MWF 2:00-2:50
4 credit hours
Greek Tragedy
CLGR 30013/60013
Prof. E. Kim, TTh 12:30-1:45
3 credit hours
Greek tragedy raises some of the fundamental questions about human society. Why do states engage in warfare? How can the closest friends become the bitterest enemies? What role does the divine have in human lives? How responsible are humans for their actions? How do relationships between the sexes work? What is more important - the individual or the common good? In this class we will read one or more Greek tragedies which address these questions. Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills.
Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
CLGR 60520
Prof. A. Taglibue, TTh 3:30-4:45
This survey of Greek literature in the Hellenistic and Roman periods traces the development of the major genres and literary movements in "post-Classical" Greek. We shall read in Greek selections from the Alexandrian poets, Greek historians of Rome, authors of the Second Sophistic, and orators of the Late Roman Empire. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important modern studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Summer 2024
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001/60001 01
Instructor: C. Baron, MTWThF 9:00-12:00
4 credit hours
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002 01
Instructor: I. Wu, MTWThF 9:00-12:00
4 credit hours.
Patristic and Byzantine Greek
CLGR 30199/60199 01
Instructor: H. Brink, MTWTh 2:00-3:40
4 credit hours
Spring 2024
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002 01
Prof. T. Mazurek, MW 2:00-3:15 and F 2:00-2:50
4 credit hours
HOMER
CLGR 40011/60011
Prof. A. Tagliabue, MW 3:30-4:45
Homer's epic poems stand at the head of the tradition of European literature; their themes and poetic style have substantially influenced the works of Dante, Milton, and many other European writers. This advanced Greek course offers close readings of passages from the Iliad and Odyssey. The selection of texts will vary with every iteration of the course. In addition to reading the Greek texts, we will discuss the poems in their historical, cultural, linguistic and literary context, and reflect on aspects of Greek religion, Greek warfare and the place of men and women in Greek society.
HERODOTUS
CLGR 30012/60012
Prof. C. Baron, TTh 9:30-10:45
Herodotus has been called both the “Father of History” and the father of lies. His Histories, written in the second half of the fifth century BCE, is one of our earliest fully-surviving Greek prose texts and our most important source for the Greco-Persian Wars. But Herodotus offers so much more than political and military narrative: ethnography, geography, religious history, political theory, rhetoric, and a welter of short stories, all delivered by a master storyteller.
In this advanced Greek course, we will read a selected book of the Histories in Greek, as well as the entire work in English and a selection of modern scholarship. We will consider the historical and intellectual context, questions of genre and prose style, and the tradition of historical writing begun by Herodotus and his work.
Prerequisite: CLGR 20003/60003 or equivalent.
Fall 2023
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001/60001 01
Instructor: T. Mazurek, MW 2:00-3:15 and F 2:00-2:50
4 credit hours
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20103/60103 01
Instructor: T. Mazurek, MWF 11:30-12:20
4 credit hours
GREEK SURVEY I
CLGR 40510/60510
Prof. A. Tagliabue, MW 5:05-6:20
This survey of archaic and classical Greek literature traces the development of the major genres and literary movements from Homer to Plato. We shall read in Greek selections from the major texts of epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, historiography, oratory, and philosophy. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important scholarly studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and scholarly methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
GREEK TEXTS IN THE ROMAN AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN WORLDS
CLGR 60050/30050
Prof. C. Baron, TTh 9:30-10:45
3 credit hours
This course offers readings in a wide variety of Greek texts from the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods. It is designed to build upon Intermediate Greek, further improving students' knowledge of Greek vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. After completing this course students will have reached an advanced level of reading proficiency in ancient Greek. Authors to be read include, among others, Philo, Josephus, Plutarch, Pausanias, Lucian, Dio Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Julian, and Libanius. Books of the Septuagint and the New Testament may also be read. The aim of the course is to show students the literary culture in which Judeo-Christian literature developed and of which it came to form a part. This course may fulfill the Greek requirement for graduate students in Theology. Please consult your advisor.
Summer 2023
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001/60001 01
Instructor: J. Schetelich, MTWThF 9:00-12:00
4 credit hours
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002 01
Instructor: S. Reich, MTWThR 9:00-12:00
4 credit hours.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20103/60103 01
Instructor: G. Parlin, MTWThR 2:00-4:30
4 credit hours
Spring 2023
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10000/60002 01
Prof. T. Mazurek
4 credit hours
Reading & Writing Greek Prose
CLGR 20004/60004 01
Prof. C. Baron
3 credit hours
(Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.) This fourth-semester language course continues the review of grammar and translating of texts begun in CLGR 20003. It introduces students to stylistic analysis through close readings of excerpts from a variety of Ancient Greek authors (mostly in prose). Knowledge of syntax will be reinforced by composing sentences and larger units in Greek.
The Greek Novel
CLGR 40033/60033 01
Prof. A. Tagliabue
3 credit hours
Up until 1989, when B. P. Reardon's translation of the Greek novels was published, scholars of ancient Greek literature, who previously denied any interest in what they suspiciously defined as post-classical literature, had largely neglected the study of ancient novels. In recent decades, this trend has been inverted. Many studies have now been published which mostly focus on the five extant ancient novels: Chariton's Callirhoe, Xenophon's Ephesiaca, Longus's Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Cleitophon and Heliodorus' Aethiopica. Moreover, in the last few years, a new trend has been emerging within Classics, namely to compare at greater length these ancient novels with both Jewish and Christian narratives. For example, the study of Joseph and Aseneth and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, among other texts, has pointed out the existence of strong similarities within all these texts in both their narrative form and their focus on love. This has led some to suggest that the genre of the Greek novel might be both a multicultural enterprise and a key component of the literature of the Imperial Era. This advanced Greek class follows this recent trend and invites students to read and compare selections of the following texts: Longus' Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Cleitophon, Heliodorus' Aethiopica, Joseph and Aseneth, and The Acts of Andrew. Students will be introduced to a close analysis of both the koine Greek and the main structural components of these texts. In particular, students will be taught with the help of narratology, intertextuality with the Odyssey and Plato's Phaedrus, characterization and gender studies. Special attention will be given to the identification of shared themes between the texts, and to the intriguing relationship between faithful love as it is portrayed in the Greek novel, and Jewish and Christian love to God. Finally, students will reflect on how all these narratives respond to the challenges of their contemporary historical context, which was characterized both by the Romans' control over the Greeks, the rise of Christianity, and the emergence of a new attention to the human person and to women in particular.
Fall 2022
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 1/60001 01
Instructor: Theresa Crnkovich, MW 12:30-1:45 and F 12:50-1:40
4 credit hours
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 2/60003 01
Prof. A. Tagliabue, MWF 10:30-11:20
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: CLGR 10002, or equivalent.
This second-year language course builds on the work of Beginning Greek I and II. It combines a review of grammar with careful reading of classical Greek authors such as Homer and Plato. The course improves students' translating skills, introduces methods for studying Greek literature in its historical and cultural contexts, and prepares students for more advanced work in the rich literature of the ancient Greeks.
Archaic Greek Poetry
CLGR 3/60031
Prof. T. Mazurek, MWF 2:00-2:50
In this advanced language course, students will read selections from Greek poetry composed during the Archaic Age (before the ascendancy of Athenian literature). Students will explore how poets such as Archilochus, Sappho, Solon, Theognis, and Xenophanes reacted to the didactic epic tradition established by Homer and Hesiod. The course will focus both on the literary style and social agenda of the archaic poets, who expressed wide-ranging opinions about love, sacrifice, nobility, and justice.
Socrates: literature, philosophy, and myth
CLGR 4/60095
Prof. G. Reydams-Schils, TR 3:30-4:45
The figure of Socrates, about whom we know nothing directly from himself, truly captured the imagination of his contemporaries and subsequent generations, and not only in philosophical writings. In many ways, he appears to have created his own 'myth' that required interpretation. In this course, we will be reading in the original Greek and discussing some key texts both from the philosophical and the literary traditions. Plato's staging of Socrates, for instance in his Symposium and Phaedrus, is the most well-known, but it was not the only account in Antiquity, and so we will also be reading excerpts from Xenophon's Memorabilia. Nor was Plato the only philosopher to have claimed Socrates for his views; we will read some of the lectures of a later Stoic, Epictetus, for whom Socrates continued to be a central role model. Finally, we will turn our attention to the ways in which the 'strangeness' of Socrates could also capture the literary imagination, as in Aristophanes' comedy the Clouds. In all these accounts and through all these perspectives, the enigma of Socrates remains.
Greek Paleography
CLGR 4/60118
Prof. D. Gura, MW 9:30-10:45
This course is an introduction to Greek paleography and provides an overview of uncial and minuscule scripts used in papyri, manuscript books, and the early imprints. Students will develop the skills necessary to read, transcribe, and contextualize Greek manuscripts. Areas include: letter forms, abbreviations, ligatures, dating, localization, formal vs. informal hands, scriptoria, and individual scribes. Emphasis is placed on manuscripts and scripts from Late Antiquity through the Byzantine period and Italian Renaissance. Students will work with Notre Dame's small but illustrative collection of papyri, Byzantine manuscripts, and Greek imprints. Intermediate knowledge of Greek is required.
Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
CLGR 60520
Prof. C. Baron, MW 2:00-3:15
This survey of Greek literature in the Hellenistic and Roman periods traces the development of the major genres and literary movements in "post-Classical" Greek. We shall read in Greek selections from the Alexandrian poets, Greek historians of Rome, authors of the Second Sophistic, and orators of the Late Roman Empire. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important modern studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Spring 2022
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002 01
Prof. A. Melzer, MW 9:30-10:45; F 9:25-10:15
4 credit hours
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Homer
CLGR 30011/60011
Prof. A. Melzer, MW 3:30-4:45
3 credit hours
This third-year course builds on CLGR 20003 and CLGR 20004, and offers close reading of Greek passages from either the Iliad or Odyssey. Homer's epic poems stand at the head of the tradition of European literature; their themes and poetic style have substantially influenced the works of Vergil, Dante, Milton, and many others. As we develop advanced skills in translation, we will also examine features of oral poetry, read several key pieces of secondary scholarship, and discuss the cultural context of the poems - read as narratives filled with suspense, emotion, and surprise.
Plato's Symposium
CLGR 40035/60035
Prof. D. O'Connor, T 9:30-12:15
3 credit hours
This seminar will focus on reading in Greek Plato’s Symposium, one of the gems of world literature. The seminar is appropriate only for students whose Greek skills are already advanced. We will also work through some Greek prose composition to enrich our understanding of Plato’s prose technique. Throughout, our goal will be to understand Plato’s Greek with the accuracy and precision necessary to appreciate his literary accomplishment.
Fall 2021
Beginning Greek I and Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10001 01 Beginning Greek I
Prof. Melzer, MW 9:30-10:45, F 9:25-10:15
4 credit hours
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20003 01/60003
Prof. Melzer, MWF 12:50-1:40
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: CLGR 10002, or equivalent
This second-year language course builds on the work of Beginning Greek I and II. It combines a review of grammar with careful reading of classical Greek authors such as Homer and Plato. The course improves students' translating skills, introduces methods for studying Greek literature in its historical and cultural contexts, and prepares students for more advanced work in the rich literature of the ancient Greeks. Offered each fall semester.
The Golden Age of Athens
CLGR 30017/60017
Prof. T. Mazurek, MW 3:30-4:45
3 credit hours
This advanced course in ancient Greek language features literature written in Athens during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. As the centerpiece of the course, we will read Sophocles’ masterpiece Oedipus Rex. Additional readings will be drawn from various genres original to this period, including history, oratory or philosophical essays. The history and culture of democratic Athens will provide an important context for analyzing the authors and texts that are read. (Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.)
Plutarch and the Early Roman Empire
CLGR 40042/60042
Prof. Baron, TR 3:30-4:45
3 credit hours
This advanced course introduces students to the most famous biographical literature from antiquity, Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Illuminating the virtues and vices of famous and infamous men from Greek and Roman history, the Parallel Lives offers an important guide to understanding the ethical imperatives of the Greco-Roman world. Plutarch’s literary style, his conception of biography, and the Roman imperial context in which he wrote are key themes for discussion in the course.
Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills.
Survey of Greek Literature from Homer to Plato
CLGR 60510/40510
Prof. Schlegel, TR 12:30-1:45
3 credit hours
This survey of archaic and classical Greek literature traces the development of the major genres and literary movements from Homer to Plato. We shall read in Greek selections from the major texts of epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, historiography, oratory, and philosophy. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important scholarly studies.
This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and scholarly methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Winter Session 2021
Minding the Gap with Greek Prose
CLGR 20001/60201
Professors Baron and Tagliabue, MTWTh 3:30-5:10pm (via Zoom)
2 credit hours
This two-credit course will provide students the opportunity to "bridge the gap" between fall and spring semesters by reading small portions of Greek prose texts, in a structured setting with regular Classics faculty. We will read passages from Plato, Xenophon, Lysias and Lucian. The class will meet for 15 live sessions over 4 weeks and will consist of translating Greek texts, reviewing grammar and syntax, and discussing stylistic features. Texts will be provided to students beforehand in PDF format. Students will be asked to prepare to translate certain segments of the text for each session; on occasion, we will spend class time translating passages at first sight as well. Assessment will consist of written translation assignments, to be turned in at the end of each week, as well as preparation and participation. Must have completed CLGR 10002/60002 or equivalent.
Spring 2021
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002 01
Prof. T. Mazurek, MW 9:35-10:50 and F 9:35-10:25
4 credit hours
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Herodotus
CLGR 30012/60012
Prof. C. Baron, MW 9:35-10:50
3 credit hours
Herodotus has been called both the “Father of History” and the father of lies. His Histories, written in the second half of the fifth century BCE, is one of our earliest fully-surviving Greek prose texts and our most important source for the Greco-Persian Wars. But Herodotus offers so much more than political and military narrative: ethnography, geography, religious history, political theory, rhetoric, and a welter of short stories, all delivered by a master storyteller.
In this advanced Greek course, we will read a selected book of the Histories in Greek, as well as the entire work in English and a selection of modern scholarship. We will consider the historical and intellectual context, questions of genre and prose style, and the tradition of historical writing begun by Herodotus and his work.
Prerequisite: CLGR 20003/60003 or equivalent.
The Ancient Novel and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
CLGR 40033/60033
Prof. A. Tagliabue, MW 3:55-5:10
3 credit hours
Up until 1989, when B. P. Reardon’s translation of the Greek novels was published, scholars of ancient Greek literature, who previously denied any interest in what they suspiciously defined as post-classical literature, had largely neglected the study of ancient novels. In recent decades, this trend has been inverted. Many studies have now been published which mostly focus on the five extant ancient novels: Chariton’s Callirhoe, Xenophon’s Ephesiaca, Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Cleitophon and Heliodorus’ Aethiopica.
Moreover, in the last few years, a new trend has been emerging within Classics, namely to compare at greater length these ancient novels with both Jewish and Christian narratives. For example, the study of Joseph and Aseneth and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, among other texts, has pointed out the existence of strong similarities within all these texts in both their narrative form and their focus on love. This has led some to suggest that the genre of the Greek novel might be both a multicultural enterprise and a key component of the literature of the Imperial Era.
This advanced Greek class follows this recent trend and invites students to read and compare selections of the following texts: Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Cleitophon, Joseph and Aseneth, and The Acts of Andrew. Students will be introduced to a close analysis of both the koine Greek and the main structural components of these texts. In particular, students will be taught with the help of narratology, intertextuality with the Odyssey and Plato’s Phaedrus, characterization and gender studies. Special attention will be given to the identification of shared themes between the texts, and to the intriguing relationship between faithful love as it is portrayed in the Greek novel, and Jewish and Christian love to God.
Finally, students will reflect on how all these narratives respond to the challenges of their contemporary historical context, which was characterized both by the Romans’ control over the Greeks, the rise of Christianity, and the emergence of a new attention to the human person and to women in particular.
Prerequisite: CLGR 20003/60003 or equivalent
Fall 2020
Beginning Greek I and Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10001 01 Beginning Greek I
Prof. T. Mazurek
4 credit hours
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20003 01/60003
Prof. T. Mazurek
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: CLGR 10002, or equivalent
This second-year language course builds on the work of Beginning Greek I and II. It combines a review of grammar with careful reading of classical Greek authors such as Homer and Plato. The course improves students' translating skills, introduces methods for studying Greek literature in its historical and cultural contexts, and prepares students for more advanced work in the rich literature of the ancient Greeks. Offered each fall semester.
Greek Tragedy
CLGR 30013/60013
Prof. A. Tagliabue
3 credit hours
Greek tragedy raises some of the fundamental questions about human society. Why do states engage in warfare? How can the closest friends become the bitterest enemies? What role does the divine have in human lives? How responsible are humans for their actions? How do relationships between the sexes work? What is more important - the individual or the common good? In this class we will read one or more Greek tragedies which address these questions. Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills.
Greek Texts in the Roman and Judeo-Christian Worlds
CLGR 60050/30050
Prof. W. M. Bloomer
3 credit hours
This course offers readings in a wide variety of Greek texts from the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods. It is designed to build upon Intermediate Greek, further improving students' knowledge of Greek vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. After completing this course students will have reached an advanced level of reading proficiency in ancient Greek. Authors to be read include, among others, Philo, Josephus, Plutarch, Pausanias, Lucian, Dio Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Julian, and Libanius. Books of the Septuagint and the New Testament may also be read. The aim of the course is to show students the literary culture in which Judeo-Christian literature developed and of which it came to form a part. This course may fulfill the Greek requirement for graduate students in Theology. Please consult your advisor.
Greek Survey II: Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
CLGR 40520 01/60520
Prof. C. Baron
3 credit hours
This survey of Greek literature in the Hellenistic and Roman periods traces the development of the major genres and literary movements in “post-Classical” Greek. We shall read in Greek selections from the Alexandrian poets, Greek historians of Rome, authors of the Second Sophistic, and orators of the Late Roman Empire. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important modern studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Spring 2020
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002 01
T. Mazurek
MW 9:30-10:45, F 9:25-10:15
Prerequisite: CLGR 10001/60001
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Reading and Writing Greek Prose
CLGR 20004/60004
C. Baron
MW 3:30-4:45
Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.
This fourth-semester language course continues the review of grammar and translating of texts begun in CLGR 20003. It introduces students to stylistic analysis through close readings of excerpts from a variety of Ancient Greek authors (mostly in prose). Knowledge of syntax will be reinforced by composing sentences and larger units in Greek.
Homer and Epic Hexameter
CLGR 40011/60011
A. Tagliabue
TR 3:30-4:45
Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.
Homer's epic poems stand at the head of the tradition of European literature; their themes and poetic style have substantially influenced the works of Dante, Milton, and many other European writers. This course offers close readings of passages from the Iliad and Odyssey. The selection of texts will vary with every iteration of the course. In addition to reading the Greek texts, we will discuss the poems in their historical, cultural, linguistic and literary context, and reflect on aspects of Greek religion, Greek warfare and the place of men and women in Greek society.
Fall 2019
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001-10002
Prof. T. Mazurek
Prerequisite for CLGR 10002: CLGR 10001
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20003/60003 01
Prof. T. Mazurek
Prerequisite: CLGR 10002, CLGR 10111 or equivalent
This second-year language course builds on the work of Beginning Greek I and II. It combines a review of grammar with careful reading of classical Greek authors such as Homer and Plato. The course improves students' translating skills, introduces methods for studying Greek literature in its historical and cultural contexts, and prepares students for more advanced work in the rich literature of the ancient Greeks. Offered each fall semester.
Greek Texts in the Roman and Judeo-Christian Worlds
CLGR 60050/30050
Prof. A. Tagliabue
This course offers readings in a wide variety of Greek texts from the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods. It is designed to build upon Intermediate Greek, further improving students' knowledge of Greek vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. After completing this course students will have reached an advanced level of reading proficiency in ancient Greek. Authors to be read include, among others, Philo, Josephus, Plutarch, Pausanias, Lucian, Dio Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Julian, and Libanius. Books of the Septuagint and the New Testament may also be read. The aim of the course is to show students the literary culture in which Judeo-Christian literature developed and of which it came to form a part. This course may fulfill the Greek requirement for graduate students in Theology. Please consult your advisor.
Greek Survey I
CLGR 40510/60510
Prof. C. Schlegel
This survey of archaic and classical Greek literature traces the development of the major genres and literary movements from Homer to Plato. We shall read in Greek selections from the major texts of epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, historiography, oratory, and philosophy. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important scholarly studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and scholarly methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Spring 2019
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002
Prof. T. Mazurek
Prerequisite for CLGR 10002: CLGR 10001
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Sophocles
CLGR 30053/60053
Prof. A. Pistone
Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills.
This advanced course offers accelerated reading and detailed study of the tragic plays of Sophocles, the second of classical Athens' great trio of tragedians. The course concentrates on Sophocles' refinement of the model of tragedy developed by Aeschylus, and examines the ways in which his plays established a paradigm for Aristotle's treatment of tragedy in the Poetics. Other topics studied include Sophocles' abiding metaphors of blindness and knowledge and their relationship to the mythical tradition and contemporary philosophical debates.
The Ancient Novel and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
CLGR 40033/60033
Prof. A. Tagliabue
Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills
Up until 1989, when B. P. Reardon’s translation of the Greek novels was published, scholars of ancient Greek literature, who previously denied any interest in what they suspiciously defined as post-classical literature, had largely neglected the study of ancient novels. In recent decades, this trend has been inverted. Many studies have now been published which mostly focus on the five extant ancient novels: Chariton’s Callirhoe, Xenophon’s Ephesiaca, Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Cleitophon and Heliodorus’ Aethiopica.
Moreover, in the last few years, a new trend has been emerging within Classics, namely to compare at greater length these ancient novels with both Jewish and Christian narratives. For example, the study of Joseph and Aseneth and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, among other texts, has pointed out the existence of strong similarities within all these texts in both their narrative form and their focus on love. This has led some to suggest that the genre of the Greek novel might be both a multicultural enterprise and a key component of the literature of the Imperial Era.
This advanced Greek class follows this recent trend and invites students to read and compare selections of the following texts: Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Cleitophon, Heliodorus’ Aethiopica, Joseph and Aseneth, and The Acts of Andrew. Students will be introduced to a close analysis of both the koine Greek and the main structural components of these texts. In particular, students will be taught with the help of narratology, intertextuality with the Odyssey and Plato’s Phaedrus, characterization and gender studies. Special attention will be given to the identification of shared themes between the texts, and to the intriguing relationship between faithful love as it is portrayed in the Greek novel, and Jewish and Christian love to God.
Finally, students will reflect on how all these narratives respond to the challenges of their contemporary historical context, which was characterized both by the Romans’ control over the Greeks, the rise of Christianity, and the emergence of a new attention to the human person and to women in particular.
Plutarch
CLGR 40042/60042
Prof. C. Baron
Recommended for students with advanced Greek skills
This advanced course introduces students to the most famous biographical literature from antiquity, Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. Illuminating the virtues and vices of famous and infamous men from Greek and Roman history, the Parallel Lives offers an important guide to understanding the ethical imperatives of the Greco-Roman world. Plutarch’s literary style, his conception of biography, and the Roman imperial context in which he wrote are key themes for discussion in the course.
Fall 2018 Courses
Beginning Greek I
CLGR 10001 01/60001
Prof. T. Mazurek
MW 11:00-12:15 and F 11:30-12:20, 4 credit hours
Prerequisite for CLGR 10002: CLGR 10001
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Intermediate Greek
CLGR 20003 01/60003
Prof. A. Pistone
MWF 10:30-11:20, 3 credit hours
Prerequisite: CLGR 10002, CLGR 10111 or equivalent
This second-year language course builds on the work of Beginning Greek I and II. It combines a review of grammar with careful reading of classical Greek authors such as Homer and Plato. The course improves students' translating skills, introduces methods for studying Greek literature in its historical and cultural contexts, and prepares students for more advanced work in the rich literature of the ancient Greeks. Offered each fall semester.
Greek Texts in the Roman and Judeo-Christian Worlds
CLGR 60050/30050
Prof. A. Tagliabue
TR 2:00-3:15, 3 credit hours
This course offers readings in a wide variety of Greek texts from the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods. It is designed to build upon Intermediate Greek, further improving students' knowledge of Greek vocabulary, morphology, and syntax. After completing this course students will have reached an advanced level of reading proficiency in ancient Greek. Authors to be read include, among others, Philo, Josephus, Plutarch, Pausanias, Lucian, Dio Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Julian, and Libanius. Books of the Septuagint and the New Testament may also be read. The aim of the course is to show students the literary culture in which Judeo-Christian literature developed and of which it came to form a part. This course may fulfill the Greek requirement for graduate students in Theology. Please consult your advisor.
Greek Paleography
CLGR 40118/60118 (Cross-listed MI 60006 and THEO 60030)
Prof. D. Gura
MW 9:30-10:45, 3 credits
This course is an introduction to Greek paleography and provides an overview of uncial and minuscule scripts used in papyri, manuscript books, and the early imprints. Students will develop the skills necessary to read, transcribe, and contextualize Greek manuscripts. Areas include: letter forms, abbreviations, ligatures, dating, localization, formal vs. informal hands, scriptoria, and individual scribes. Emphasis is placed on manuscripts and scripts from Late Antiquity through the Byzantine period and Italian Renaissance. Students will work with Notre Dame?s small but illustrative collection of papyri, Byzantine manuscripts, and Greek imprints. Intermediate knowledge of Greek is required.
Greek Survey II: Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods
CLGR 40520 01/60520
Prof. C. Baron
MW 11:00-12:15, 3 credit hours
This survey of Greek literature in the Hellenistic and Roman periods traces the development of the major genres and literary movements in “post-Classical” Greek. We shall read in Greek selections from the Alexandrian poets, Greek historians of Rome, authors of the Second Sophistic, and orators of the Late Roman Empire. Additional readings will include other Greek literary works and a sampling of the most important modern studies. This course will also introduce students to scholarly interpretation and methods in the literary and cultural criticism of Greek literature.
Spring 2018 Courses
Beginning Greek II
CLGR 10002/60002 01
Prof. A. Pistone
4 credits
Prerequisite: CLGR 10001/60001
This two-semester sequence of courses introduces students to the language of the ancient Greeks for the first time. It emphasizes the fundamentals of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary, and prepares students to read original Greek texts. An appreciation for ancient Greek culture is also fostered through secondary readings and class discussion. CLGR 10001 is offered each fall semester and CLGR 10002 is offered each spring semester.
Reading and Writing Greek Prose
CLGR 20004/60004
Prof. C. Baron
3 credits
Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.
This fourth-semester language course continues the review of grammar and translating of texts begun in CLGR 20003. It introduces students to stylistic analysis through close readings of excerpts from a variety of Ancient Greek authors (mostly in prose). Knowledge of syntax will be reinforced by composing sentences and larger units in Greek.
Homer and Epic Hexameter
CLGR 30011/60011
Prof. Aldo Tagliabue
3 credits
Recommended for students who have completed CLGR 20003 or equivalent.
This third-year course builds on CLGR 20003 and CLGR 20004 by offering a close reading of the earliest Greek epic poetry. Homer’s epic poems stand at the head of the tradition of European literature; their themes and poetic style have substantially influenced the works of Vergil, Dante, Milton, and many other writers. The focus of this year’s class will be the so-called Apologoi, Odysseus’ narration of his own journey at Alcinous’ court (books 9-12). By focusing on the Apologoi, we will be able to read and hear the first ever produced account of fiction in the Western tradition. Odysseus’ account will be discussed in its cultural context and read as a narrative filled with suspense and surprise; features of poetic oral composition will additionally be examined. Finally, measurable attention will be given to later interpretations of Odysseus’ journey within ancient Greek and Latin literature, with a focus on Polyphemus and the Sirens. If you’d like to be bewitched by Odysseus’ cunning voice, in the same way that Alcinous and many other ancient Greeks afterwards were bewitched, this is the class for you.