Faculty of Arts & Sciences

The course provides a broad overview of the development of Greek art, architecture, and material culture from the end of the "Dark Ages" through the Archaic and Classical periods to the Hellenistic age. It offers basic knowledge about core categories of archaeological artifacts and remains within their topographical setting and the context of Greek culture and society, and includes issues of archaeological method and problems of current research.

The course provides a broad overview of the development of Roman art, architecture, and material culture from the time of the Republic through the Imperial period, to the age of Constantine. It offers basic knowledge about core categories of archaeological artifacts and remains within their topographical setting and within the context of Greek culture and society; it also includes issues of archaeological methods and problems of current research.

The course offers an introduction to Roman public monuments from the reign of Augustus to the age of Constantine, with emphasis on "state reliefs" (triumphal arches, victory monuments, monumental altars) and imperial portraiture, and will address questions of propaganda and self-display through visual media.

This seminar will explore Hellenistic Sicily between Egypt, Carthage, and Rome in its last century of autonomy. It is intended as a hands-on introduction to numismatic methodology: using Harvard Art Museums' collections, we will look at what coins can tell us about Sicily's ethnic populations, the history, and the cultural exchanges of that period, as well as ruler representation.

This seminar explores the transformation of Greece into a Roman province since its conquest in 146 BC, and examines how this process framed, shaped, and changed the Roman perception of Greece as an imaginary place of culture, art, and erudition.

This seminar will explore the life and thought of Augustine of Hippo. As a canonical figure across disciplines, he has fascinated and influenced thinkers as different as Pascal and Derrida. It is hard to overestimate his influence on Western theological, political, and philosophical thought. In addition to considering the major works, we will give ample space to his letters and sermons, which together constitute one of the richest biographical archives in the ancient world. By exploring this portrait in a landscape we will gain a deeper insight into the cultural, religious, and intellectual forces that were then transforming the face of the Mediterranean world.

This seminar will study the botany, landscaping, cultivation, terminology, and social function of gardens in the Roman world, employing literary, epigraphic, papyrological, iconographic, and archaeological sources. Among the literary texts to be studied, including both prose and poetry, special emphasis will be placed on Latin treatises on horticulture from the Republic to Late Antiquity.

For the Greeks, "music" (mousike) encompassed song, instrumental performance, and dance, all of which pervaded their social, religious, economic, and personal lives. This seminar will be an ethnomusicological exploration of the different types of mousike within archaic and classical Greek society—not only their styles of performance, but also their conceptualizations as cultural practices. Although we lack recordings of live music and dance from this period, we do have an abundance of textual commentary on mousike as well as visual images of performance and instruments on Greek vases. The focus of the course will be the Greek musical imaginary, as we investigate how representations of mousike in Greek literature, philosophy, and art are linked with ideas about social structure, gender, ethnicity, education, the cosmos, and the self.

The research projects of this seminar will center on the poetics (e.g. meter, diction, style) and historical contexts (e.g. local traditions, patronage, transmission) of surviving texts attributed to Pindar.

This seminar will examine the Roman literary representations of space and movement. Readings are organized around several central thematic nodes (including "territory," "roads," and "vehicles"). Is it possible to chart a transformation in how particular spaces are conceptualized in Latin literature through the transition from Republic to Empire? How do different literary genres contribute to-or offer competing visions of-the articulation of physical space? And how, in turn, do cultural practices involving space influence literary texts and genres? The emphasis will be on reading and interpreting individual Latin texts, with special attention given to scholarly approaches.

An introduction to Homeric linguistics and philology. Topics include Homeric language (dialect, archaism, innovation), meter and formulaics, and the effects of oral composition on Homeric language.

This course will cover the history of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean palace civilizations to the Roman conquest of the East Mediterranean. Attention will be paid to the major political, social, economic, and cultural transformations. Students will explore the wide variety of textual sources (in translation) and archaeological evidence out of which historians seek to understand ancient Greece.

This course has three components: a chronological survey of Roman history from the beginnings to Constantine; exploration of key features of Roman culture (e.g., economy, education, housing, slavery); and an introduction to the tools and methods available for research on ancient Rome. Students are taught how to work with the Roman collections at Harvard (brick-stamps, coins, manuscripts, maps, papyri, pottery, sculpture, etc.). Each student receives guidance in the planning and execution of a research paper.

An in-depth exploration of the cultural history of Sicily between the Bronze Age and the Norman conquest.

In this course we will explore examples of historical and fictional narrative beginning with late antique compositions and extending to late medieval texts. While we will focus primarily on individual works translated from Greek or Latin, we will also address their cross-cultural nature as well as their common ancient models. In particular, the course will address issues like the development of medieval narrative genres, the treatment of key historical events taking place in both East and West (e.g. transition from the ancient world, iconoclasm, crusades), or reader response.

A study of the most Dionysiac of extant tragedies and its influence on the perception of Dionysos in literature, art and scholarship since Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy (1872). Topics for discussion include divine and human identities; the wine and its beneficiaries; ritual ecstasy; the theater and the mask; gender roles and sexuality; suffering, sacrament and Christianizing interpretations of Dionysos; polarities and otherness; Nietzsche on Dionysos; the Victorian Dionysos; Dionysos in 1933 and 1969; and modern adaptations of the Bakkhai.

In this course we will explore a commonplace of the ancient world: that philosophy in its truest sense was a training for life, or perhaps for death. Philosophy thus conceived is a way of life by which the would-be sage can acquire wisdom. We will follow this theme from Plato through the Hellenistic philosophers to its variegated instantiations in authors such as Marcus Aurelius, Plotinus, and the desert fathers.

To the Greek imagination, Egypt was a land of wealth, antiquity, and arcane knowledge. It was also a foreign and exotic world where everything was reversed. The contradictions and complexities of the Greek view of Egypt provide rich material for exploring the Hellenic response to foreign culture. This class will consider this material with particular attention to questions of how different ideas of Egypt developed and functioned in the Greek imagination, why this was so, and what this reveals about Greek culture and literature. It will explore texts from different genres and periods of Greek literature which present different views of Egypt. When possible, the historical and social situation, Greek material culture, and Egyptian evidence will be drawn in as important context. In studying these texts, we will especially consider how much their treatments of Egypt were conditioned by literary needs and/or how much they reflect real knowledge of Egyptian culture and history. By engaging with the theoretical literature on Greeks and the foreign, we will reevaluate the position of Egypt as an "other," a mirror, or an object of fascination.

This course will explore ancient Greek ideologies of gender difference and sexuality, including the mythical "origins" of gender, legal definitions of marriage and adultery, the gendering of space, the portrayal of women on the tragic stage, gender-bending and cross-dressing in comedy, medical models of sex and childbirth, and the links between pederasty and pedagogy. With the help of some important modern discussions about the construction of gender, sexuality, and identity, we will try to assess the ways in which sexual practices and male and female identities were imagined, formed, reinforced, and institutionalized during the archaic and classical periods (roughly 800-300 BCE).

This course is a comparative investigation of political and cultural aspects of the Byzantine Empire and western medieval polities. Students will use different types of evidence (textual, visual, and material) and read across a variety of literary and historical disciplines. The course will cover key topics like the transformation of ancient societies in the Mediterranean, medieval representations of authority, or the emergence of ethnic and religious identities. Particular emphasis will be placed on the exploration of the institutional and cultural factors which contributed to the formation of medieval political or intellectual discourses and practices.

Theories and practices of health and healing in the ancient Greco-Roman world, with special emphasis on the relationship of learned medicine to philosophy and other healing traditions.

Tutorial instruction for course credit open to candidates for honors who are qualified to do special reading projects in Greek and/or Latin.

Close study of a topic in Greco-Roman civilization and/or literature, culminating in the preparation of a substantial research paper (ca. 20 pages).

Tutorial instruction for course credit (in addition to ordinary tutorial instruction) is open only to candidates for honors writing a thesis in their senior year whose applications for such instruction have been approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Designed to introduce graduate students in the Department of the Classics to the essential fields, tools, and methodologies of the discipline.

A practicum course in the craft of teaching. Topics include designing syllabi and assessments, responding to student writing, and guiding classroom discussion. Strategies will be applicable to courses working entirely in English as well as to those in the languages.

For students with very little or no previous instruction in Greek. Introduction to Greek grammar and reading of sentences and short passages.

For students with little or no previous instruction in Greek who are seriously interested in making very rapid progress. All basic grammar of the normal first-year sequence (Greek Aa and Ab) and practice in reading prose. Students are prepared for Greek Ba or Bb.

Continuation of Greek Aa. Completion of basic grammar and reading of longer passages.

For students with more than one year of formal training in Greek who do not place into Greek Ba. The course will combine a review of morphology and syntax with readings from prose authors. Students are prepared for Greek Bb or Ba.

A bridge between the study of Greek grammar and the reading of prose authors; intended to develop reading and translation skills and introduce prose styles.

An introduction to Homeric poetry: language, meter, formulae, and type scenes.

Practice in the translation of sentences and connected prose passages into Attic Greek; review of forms and syntax; readings of selections from prose authors.

Composition in the prose style of various authors and genres, with selected readings representing the development of classical Greek prose and its analysis by scholars ancient and modern.

This course will be both an introduction to Herodotus' dialect and style, and an exploration of his narrative strategies, concept of "history," and representation of non-Greek cultures. We will read sections from Books 1, 3, 8, and 9 in the original Greek, and all of the "Histories" in English.

Close readings of two tragedies that deal with the same notorious family: Sophocles' Electra and Euripides' Electra. In addition to considering the plays' relationship with each other (and with Aeschylus' Libation Bearers), we will pay close attention to tragic diction, the construction of gender, dramatic conventions, and different styles of musical performance.

Close reading of Plato's Phaedrus with discussion of key themes, including: eros, beauty, and the Platonic conception of the soul; "logocentrism" and the critique of writing; the opposition between rhetoric and dialectic.

A survey of early Greek poetry and prose, with readings from Homer, Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, lyric poetry, and Herodotus. Discussions of genre in relation to performance, historical contexts, thematic (dis)continuities, oral tradition.

A survey of Greek poetry and prose with a focus on the development of narrative technique from the archaic through the classical, Hellenistic, and imperial periods. Close reading of selections in Greek with discussion of key narratological concepts and approaches. Topics include: the representation of temporality, time in relation to space, narrative voice, focalization, fictionality.

Close readings of the Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter, Dionysos and Hermes, with particular attention to hymnic convention, mythical narratives, and Greek ways of talking about the gods.

Essentials of Greek comparative and historical grammar, and a close reading of Iliad 1 and 3. Diachronic aspects of Homeric grammar and diction.

Readings of Greek prose and poetry ranging from archaic to imperial, with emphasis on quick comprehension of syntactic, stylistic, and generic features.

For students with very little or no previous instruction in Latin. Introduction to Latin grammar and reading of sentences and short passages.

For students with little or no previous instruction in Latin who are seriously interested in making very rapid progress. All basic grammar of the normal first-year sequence (Latin Aa and Ab) and practice in reading prose. Students are prepared for Latin Ba, Bb, Bam, or Bbm.

Continuation of Latin Aa. Completion of basic grammar and reading of longer passages.

For students with more than one year of formal training in Latin who do not place into Latin Ba. The course will combine a review of morphology and syntax with readings from prose authors. Students are prepared for Latin Ba or Bb.

A bridge between the study of Latin grammar and the reading of prose authors; intended to develop reading and translation skills and introduce prose styles. The readings are short selections from a variety of genres by authors such as Cicero, Pliny, Nepos, Sallust, and Petronius.

Provides a bridge between study of grammar and reading of prose. After review of fundamentals, studies short selections of post-classical texts and authors such as Vulgate Bible, Augustine, Anselm of Canterbury, Abelard, and Dante.

Reading of selections of Latin poetry and introduction to meter.

Reading of selections of Medieval Latin poetry and introduction to quantitative meter and rhythmical poetry. Aims to facilitate the reading through study of short selections of post-classical poetry from authors such as Ambrose, Alcuin, Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, and Aquinas.

Practice in the translation of sentences and connected prose passages from English into Latin, with review of Latin syntax.

Exercise in the prose style of different authors and periods, working within various subject areas and genres. As a guide to composition, we will read and analyze illustrative passages from major authors, including Cato, Cicero, Sallust, Livy, Seneca, and Tacitus, as well as some distinctive styles in lesser-known authors.

Explores Catullus in his literary, historical and social contexts, with a focus on the revolutionary role he played in the Roman literary tradition.

Ovid's witty, exuberant, and learned epic of change and mortality encompasses the history of the world from its creation to the apotheosis of Julius Caesar. This course examines the work's shaping of narrative and myth, its generic multiformity (embracing tragic, elegiac, comic, and pastoral motifs, as well as epic), and its equally complex vision of human existence.

This course will introduce and survey the genre of Latin letter writing through the reading of selected letters of Cicero and Pliny the Younger. The primary focus will be on reading epistolary Latin, but attention will also be given to issues of generic convention, self-presentation, and the physical realities of ancient letter production and circulation.

This course focuses on Virgil's Eclogues and Georgics. We aim to read and interpret those texts, and to place them in literary and historical context.

Reading and discussion of Virgil's Aeneid, with attention to its place in the epic tradition and its status as a work of Augustan literature.

The literature of the Republic and early Augustan period. Reading of extensive selections from the major authors, with lectures and discussion on the evolution and development of Latin prose and poetry. The course focuses on a variety of issues: Latin individuality through manipulation of inherited Greek forms, metrical and stylistic developments, evolving poetics, intertextuality and genre renewal, dynamic effects of social and political contexts.

The literature of the late Republic and Principate. We shall read extensive selections from major authors across a range of genres, considering their form and content against their historical contexts. Class will consist of a mixture of prepared translation from Latin and introductory lectures.

Readings from Petronius' Satyricon and Apuleius' Metamorphoses, with attention to narrative technique, language and style, as well as consideration of the place of both texts in the history of the ancient novel.

Essentials of Latin comparative and historical grammar, with readings of early Latin inscriptions, legal texts, and selections from Livius Andronicus, Plautus, Ennius, and Cato.

Readings from the poetry of Prudentius, the most inventive and successful Latin poet of the post-classical world. In his powerful transposition of the Christian theological heritage into classical literary forms, Prudentius embodies the spirit of a world living through the Constantinian revolution. The unflagging popularity of his contributions to the allegorical epic, hymnody, and other genres make him an essential part of any literary history of Europe.

Readings of Latin prose and poetry ranging from archaic to imperial, with emphasis on variety, quantity, and quick comprehension of syntactic, stylistic, and generic features.

Introduces students to medieval Greek language and literature and, through selected readings, to important elements of Byzantine culture and society. Texts will be selected to provide a diachronic survey of a variety of literary genres, to reflect the diversity of Byzantine life and letters. Topics will include: biography/hagiography, historiography, sacred and secular poetry, letters, the novel, homilies and rhetorical texts. Choice of texts will correspond in part to the specific needs and interests of participants.

For students with no knowledge of modern Greek. Basic oral expression, listening comprehension, grammar, reading, and writing. Language instruction is supplemented by reading of simple literary passages and other texts, as well as by online instruction.

Aims at further development of skills in speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing. Selected readings in prose (literary and journalistic), poetry, folksongs, modern music, and theater serve as an introduction to aspects of modern Greek literature and culture. The course is conducted in Greek and focuses on topics selected by the instructor and the students in the first term. Grammar is reviewed in the context of readings. Instruction is supplemented by online instruction.

Special Topic: Introduction to the Poetry of Nobel Laureate George Seferis. Literary, sociocultural, and linguistic analysis of selected readings in prose, poetry, and literary criticism by George Seferis. Emphasis will also be given to the reception of the Nobel laureate Greek poet. Students will achieve linguistic and cultural competency while grasping a complete portrait of the poet and diplomat George Seferis within a broader historic and sociopolitical context of 20th-century Greece.

This survey course examines Greek cinema in a broader historical, cultural and sociopolitical context. From its beginnings (the silent era) to the present, and through a variety of perspectives and methods, students will not only become acquainted with the major trends, figures, and works of Greek cinema, but they will also develop an understanding of the major historical events of Greece. Particular emphasis will be placed on the work of Theo Angelopoulos and the documentary genre, with such representatives as Maria Iliou, Phillipos Koutsaftis, and Vassilis Loules. Through the lenses of everyday personal stories, the documentaries will shed light on the turbulent history of Greece.

Explores the reception of Greek culture in Nazi Germany and the cultural, historical, and political implications of the occupation of Greece by the Nazis.

Focuses on current debates on theoretical and methodological issues in the field. Topics to be discussed include: diaspora, reception, postcolonialism, cultural politics, translation.