CLASSICS 150g FALL 2008 THE GREEKS AND THE WEST PROF. VINCENT FARENGA Goals: What Will You Learn? 1. You ll acquire a solid understanding of what the ancient Greeks achieved in government, warfare, philosophy, literature, drama, art and architecture over nearly 1500 years; 2. You ll understand how these achievements developed a western power model whose cultural values and ideas still shape western societies and policies today; 3. You ll learn to interpret complex texts (epic, lyric poetry, tragedy, history, philosophy, political theory) and to compare Greek achievements to those of today s world. General Education Requirement (Category 1: Cultures and Civilizations I) This course offers a broad, conceptual introduction to the ancient civilization that has most influenced modern European and North American (= western ) cultural values. The Greeks will help us recognize the values of westernization that are at work in the globalization that is transforming our world. These are some of the key values and developments we ll examine: 1. In politics, we ll understand why the Greeks formed small-scale, independent communities that stressed political relations of equality among male citizens. We ll examine reasons why these republican and democratic states distrusted monarchies and yet, through empire-building (imperialism), eventually developed into monarchies. 2. We ll ask why Greek states promoted individualism and self-determination for citizens and valued dominant individuals (heroes, generals, political leaders) over the social group. We ll also examine how these states made the individual glory of great men and male citizens possible by exploiting women, slaves and foreigners. 3. We ll see how the Greeks favored innovation not just in politics but in warfare, thought (philosophy), storytelling (literature, theater), and the arts (painting, sculpture, architecture). 4. We ll trace how the Greek used aggression to foster competition among equals but also oppression of inferiors through gender discrimination, slavery, and imperialism. We ll understand how they created the split between West East by rigorously distinguishing themselves from non-greeks (barbarians). At the same time they eventually created cosmopolitan societies where Greeks and barbarians lived side-by-side. Course Requirements 1
1. Attendance: you are expected to attend the two lectures and one discussion section each week. Attendance will be taken at discussion sections. 10% 2. Quiz (objective, short-answer questions) 15 3. Midterm exam (objective, short-answer questions + 1 essay) 20 4. Two essays (6 full pages each; no outside research required) 30 5. Final exam (objective, short-answer questions + 1 essay) 25 Study and Research Aids: To help with assigned readings, focus questions will be provided for certain texts. These highlight the key information and developments you should look for and key concepts you should recognize. Study sheets are also provided to help you prepare for the Quiz, Midterm and Final Exams. You ll find all these on our Blackboard site. Policy on exams: You must be present on the dates specified for the Midterm, Final Exam, and the quiz. A make-up exam will be given for medical or family emergency, but only if Prof. Farenga is contacted personally before the exam to approve the reason. Policy on essays: Essays are due at the times and dates indicated in the syllabus. Late essays will not be accepted unless Prof. Farenga has personally approved a later date. Policy on Academic Integrity: We will adhere rigorously to the university s policies as described in the latest edition of SCampus. Violations, during exams and quizzes or through plagiarism on written work, will be reported and full penalization recommended. Policy on Grade of Incomplete : A grade of IN can only be assigned if you do not complete work after the end of the 12th week because of illness or personal emergency. Prof. Farenga must, however, approve assignment of this grade. The missed work must be completed within one academic year. Statement on Students with Disabilities: To request accommodations based on a disability, register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP, STU 301; x00776) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to Prof. Farenga ASAP. Required Readings Homer. The Iliad [selections]. Trans. S. Lombardo. Hackett. Aeschylus. Oresteia. ( Agamemnon & The Furies ). Trans. P. Meineck. Hackett. Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. P. Woodruff. Hackett. Herodotus. The Histories [selections]. Trans. R. Waterfield. Oxford UP. Thucydides. Of Justice, Power and Human Nature [selections]. Trans. P. Woodruff. Hackett. Plato. The Apology of Socrates and Crito in The Trials of Socrates: Six Classic Texts. Ed. & Trans. C.D.C. Reeve. Hackett. Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch et al. Alexander the Great. Tr. P. Mensch & J. Romm. Hackett. Apollonius of Rhodes. Argonautika [selections]. Trans. P. Green. U Cal P. Pomeroy, Sarah, et al. A Brief History of Ancient Greece. Oxford UP. 2
Course Guide (detailed syllabus; selected short texts; review material). On-line: Blackboard. Instructor: Vincent Farenga, Assoc. Prof., Classics & Comparative Lit. Office hours: Mon 2-4 pm, Wed 2-3 pm and by appointment, THH 256-R. Tel: 740-0106. E-Mail: farenga@usc.edu Teaching Assistants: Ashley McIntosh (ashmmc@gmail.com) and John Milam (johnmila@usc.edu) Detailed Syllabus Week 1 THE MIDDLE TO LATE BRONZE AGE AEGEAN (2000-1100 BC) Complex civilization entered the Aegean after 2000 BC as a small-scale transplant of the Near Eastern power model centered in the palace state. It appeared first on Crete as Minoan civilization. Aug 25 Course introduction: discussion of goals, syllabus and requirement Should globalization today change the way we look at the ancient world? Are Western concepts of power and values responsible for globalization? Why have human societies developed inequalities of power and wealth? Are natural or human resources responsible? The Greco-Roman model of imperial expansion as the prototype for westernization. Aug 27 What happens when the Near Eastern palace state s power model is transferred to the Aegean s maritime environment? A look at material evidence for Crete s palace systems. Pomeroy et al., A Brief History of Ancient Greece 12-22. Week 2 Sep 1 Sep 3 Labor Day Holiday How mainland Greeks built a power base through contact with Crete, the Near East & Egypt. Material evidence from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae. How did the Mycenean Greeks infiltrate and absorb the Minoan Empire? Pomeroy et al., 22-35; Homer, Iliad xvii-xxi and Book 1 (1-19). See Focus Questions. 3
Week 3 Sep 8 How powerful was the Mycenaean Empire? Why did the fragile ecosystem of palace states in Mycenaean Greece (1400-1200) collapse? The Linear B tablets as blueprints for precarious power management. Greece s return in the Dark Ages (1100-800 BC) to small-scale, prestate society. A look at Lefkandi: was this a freer society? Homer, Iliad Books 2 and 3 (20-64); Blackboard (Assignments): Focus Questions on Iliad; Pomeroy et al., 36-43. Sep 10 The Iliad: the roots of the Trojan War in Mycenaean history and Dark Age memory. How historically accurate is Homer s world? Political debate in the Greek army over leadership: Agamemnon and Achilles dispute just rewards and compensation. Achilles quits the battle. Homer, Iliad Books 5 & 6 (83-127); see Focus Questions on Iliad. Pomeroy et al., 43-59. Week 4 Sep 15 What motivates Homer s warrior-heroes? Honor, aggression and shame: a look at Diomedes and Hector as contrasting models of the hero. Agamemnon tries to persuade Achilles to return. Do Achilles' insights into the costs of heroism express an individual s moral autonomy? How does Patroclus death (Book 16) enable Achilles to return to battle? Homer, Iliad Books 9 (160-79); 12 (224-38) & 16 (305-331). Sep 17 Achilles returns (Book 18) for a climactic duel with Hector (Book 22) Why does heroic aggression lead to mutilating the enemy s corpse? Why is the warrior s funeral so important? How does compassion transform Achilles and lead to accord with old King Priam? Homer, Iliad Books 18 (355-73), 22 (421-39), 23 (partial: 440-48), and 24 (467-92); see Focus Questions. 4
Week 5 Sep 22 QUIZ THIS WEEK IN DISCUSSION SECTIONS (45 min.) GREECE IN THE ARCHAIC PERIOD (800-480 BC) After the Dark Age the Greeks reinvented the state in a form very different from the Bronze Age. The city-state (polis) appeared c. 750 BC due to a unique cluster of ecological, economic, and political realities. Its key organizing principles: (1) power must not be monopolized by any individual; (2) power is open to competition among groups (factions) of citizens. How did city-states form? Outline of their social groups: citizens (elite & commoner, male & female), resident aliens, serfs, and slaves. What did it mean to be an elite male citizen? Farming, fighting, feasting and f... ing in the male lyric poets and in archaic sculpture. What did it mean to be an elite female? Erotic adornment, display and interplay in Sappho s poems and in sculpture. Pomeroy et al., 61-85; Blackboard (Course Documents): all selections from Hesiod and Lyric Poets. Sep 24 Tale of Two Cities: How did Sparta and Athens develop into politically opposite city-states? The Athenian invention of democracy. Step 1: Solon liberates poor citizens from enslavement to the rich. Step 2: the tyrant Peisistratus promotes egalitarian values. Step 3: Cleisthenes redefines voting practices so that the will of ordinary citizens is sovereign. How does Athenian democracy compare with modern? Pomeroy et al., 85-122; and Blackboard (Course Docs) Selections from Lyric Poets (Solon) and Political Reform in Athens. Week 6 Sept 29 GREECE IN THE CLASSICAL AGE (480-338 BC) Greek victories over invading Persian armies (490 and 480) make the Aegean maritime power model look superior to the Near Eastern model--and Greece enters a period of vigorous cultural development. Athens leads the way as the 5
first western power to accommodate both democracy and imperialism. Its version of western values uses humanistic philosophy in social, intellectual and artistic life to justify its overseas empire. But the Aegean power model splits into two competing empires, Athenian and Spartan, and into the Peloponnesian War. Herodotus & "history": reason displaces mythology to analyze war, human behavior and success/failure. Question: Is an individual morally responsible for his fate? History of Lydia s King Croesus. The Persians invade Greece in 480 BC under King Xerxes: a study in personal and national character. Are nations and their leaders morally responsible for their fates? Pomeroy et al., 122-37; and Herodotus, Histories Book 1 (sections 1-14 [pp. 1-8]; secs. 26-55 [pp. 12-23]; & secs. 77-91[pp. 35-43]. Book 7 (secs. 1-105) [pp. 403-441] & secs. 138-163 [pp. 450-62]). Blackboard: Focus Questions on Herodotus Oct 1 How do the strategies and leaders at Thermopylae display the different national characters of Persians and Spartans? Do Spartans wage a peculiarly western way of war? Herodotus, Histories Book 7 (secs. 184-239 [pp. 469-88]). Week 7 Oct 6 How do the strategies and leaders at Salamis display the national characters of Persians and Athenians? Do Athenians wage a peculiarly western way of war? Reading Herodotus, Histories Book 8 (secs. 1-124 [pp. 489-531]). Oct 8 MIDTERM EXAM TODAY. See exam policy and Blackboard (Assignments): Midterm Study Sheet Week 8 Oct 13 Aeschylus' Oresteia : Why should a democratic society rethink a person s moral and legal responsibility for homicide? The first play, "Agamemnon." Blackboard (Course Docs): Mythological Background to the Oresteia; Blackboard (Assignments): Focus Questions on Aeschylus; Aeschylus' Oresteia ("Agamemnon") 3-66. 6
Oct 15 Rationally speaking, what s an acceptable motive for a Greek homicide? On what moral and legal grounds should a murderer be acquitted? Orestes & matricide in the trilogy s last play, The Furies. Aeschylus' Oresteia ("The Furies") 117-160; Blackboard (Assignments): Focus Questions on Aeschylus. Week 9 Oct 20 FIRST ESSAY DUE TODAY AT START OF CLASS. See Policy on essays and Blackboard (Assignments): Topics for First Essay. Athens' Golden Age under Pericles, 450-430 BC: Why did democratic Athens pursue an imperialistic foreign policy after 480? Humanism as a worldview (Protagoras). How did it spring from the experience of democracy and imperialism under Pericles? Pomeroy et al., 38-48; and Blackboard (Course Docs): Selections from Protagoras. Oct 22 Should a democratic society limit the power of the human beings who create democratic state law (nomos)? Sophocles' Antigone. How can Antigone, a female character on stage, provide a powerful moral example for a patriarchal society like Athens? Blackboard (Course Docs): Mythological background to Antigone; Sophocles, Antigone Week 10 Oct 27 The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta erupts because the Aegean power model thrives on competition for supremacy among multiple states. Pericles as military strategist, orator, and political leader. Casualties of war: How could the Athenians justify genocidal policies toward fellow Greeks (Mytilene and Melos)? What impact can good & bad leadership have on decision-making? Nicias, Alcibiades and debate on invading Sicily. Why did the Athenians suffer a disastrous defeat by Syracuse? Pomeroy et al., 193-217; and 7
Thucydides, Of Justice, Power and Human Nature 31-36; 39-50; 52-58; 66-76; 102-109; 111-160. See Blackboard (Assignments): Focus Questions on Thucydides (Pericles); Oct 29 How did Athenians redefine their democracy and empire through architecture and sculpture? The Acropolis building program, the Parthenon and its sculptures. Week 11 Nov 3 Socrates teaching, trial and execution. Why did Athenian citizens find his individual expression of moral autonomy undemocratic and treasonous? Plato, The Apology of Socrates, in Trials of Socrates, 26-48. Nov 5 What really was Socrates defense strategy? What was his true relation to Athens democratic laws? Does he espouse a Socratic citizenship of complete freedom? Or one that puts limits on moral autonomy? Xenophon, Socrates Defense to the Jury, in Trials of Socrates, 177-84; and Plato, Crito, in Trials of Socrates, 62-78. Week 12 Nov 10 Oligarchy, democracy s inner demon. Why did the Athenians dissolve their democracy into violent oligarchy in 411 and 404? Why did political theorists like Plato and Aristotle prefer oligarchy to democracy? The defense of hierarchy over equality in Plato s utopia of justice, The Republic, and in Aristotle s Politics. Pomeroy et al., 218-230 and 241-52; and Blackboard (Course Docs): On Plato s Republic and Selections from Aristotle s Politics. Nov 12 THE GREEK WORLD IN THE HELLENISTIC AGE (338-31 BC) By 338 the Aegean power model is swallowed up by the autocratic empire of Philip of Macedonia. Under his son Alexander, a new Aegean war machine absorbs the Persian empire to form a multi-national, multi-ethnic kingdom. This Hellenistic power model is the earliest globalized society: Greek & barbarian, European & Asian, male & female, free & enslaved, all share the same humanity. How Philip and Alexander conquered a Greece weakened from inter-state 8
warfare; Alexander's "world" conquest, 338-323. Pomeroy et al., 254-69 and 270-93; and Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch et al. Alexander the Great, pages TBA Week 13 Nov 17 SECOND ESSAY DUE TODAY AT START OF CLASS. See Policy on essays and Blackboard (Assignments): Topics for Second Essay. Alexandria in Egypt emerges as a prototype of the new cosmopolis. Diogenes and the Cynics, and Zeno and the Stoics, encourage Athenians to imagine themselves citizens of the world. Pomeroy et al., 294-324; and Blackboard (Course Docs): Life of Diogenes and Zeno s Republic. Blackboard (Course Docs): Plutarch's "On Alexander's Luck or Achievement Nov 19 The Alexandrian Apollonius reimagines the Greek past through the voyage of the Argo to reclaim the Golden Fleece. Why is the hero of this quest an androgynous hero/heroine Jason & Medea? Eros, fear, despair and magic as universal experiences in Argonautika. Greek epic becomes romance through psychological archetypes in a cosmopolitan age where everyone feels spiritually homeless. Blackboard (Course Docs): Mythological Background to Argonautika; Apollonius, Argonautika 43-78 and 113-50. Week 14 Nov 24 Nov 26 Jason and Medea: cosmopolitan heroes for the Hellenistic Age? No lecture today Week 15 Dec 1 Dec 3 Geopolitical change in the Mediterranean: Roman imperialism absorbs the Aegean and Hellenistic power models, 264-31 BC. How Romanization became the western model for global expansion. Is every great Roman military commander an Alexander Wanna-be? 9
Dec 15 FINAL EXAM: MONDAY DEC 15, 8-10 am. See exam policy and Blackboard (Assignments): Final Exam Study Sheet. 10