Syllabus | Fall 2014
Required Texts
- Aeschylus, The Oresteia, trans. Fagles (Penguin)
- Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. George (Penguin)
- New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, trans. Coogan, et al. (Oxford)
- Curd, ed., Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testimonia, Second Edition, trans. McKirahan (Hackett)
- Freeman, Egypt, Greece and Rome (Oxford)
- Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Selincourt (Penguin)
- Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, and Shield, trans. Lombardo (Hackett)
- Homer, The Iliad, trans. Lattimore (Chicago)
- Miller, Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation (Hackett)
- The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, trans. Parkinson (Oxford)
- Sophocles, Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, trans. Grene and Lattimore (Chicago)
- Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, trans. Warner (Penguin)
- Various Readings on The Ancient Mediterranean and Western Asia available on e-reserves
E-Reserves
To access texts that are listed as being on e-reserves, find the day's reading assignments and follow the link to the text. You will need your kerberos username and password to be able to access the texts. Learn more about accessing e-reserves on Moodle. Please bring a copy of the day's reading assignment to class.
Recommended Texts
Williams and Colomb, The Craft of Argument (Concise Edition) (Chicago)
Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (Hackett)
All texts may be purchased at the Reed College Bookstore; limited numbers of each are on reserve in Hauser Library. Also on reserve or in the reference section: Oxford Classical Dictionary; Oxford Companion to Classical Literature; Anchor Atlas of World History, Volume I; Richard Lanham, Revising Prose.
Conference Assignments
The Registrar makes initial assignments to conferences in this course that continue through the year. Students who subsequently find it necessary to change conferences must petition the Humanities staff (forms for this purpose may be obtained from the Registrar or from Kathy Kennedy, Chem 303). Return completed forms to Michael Faletra, chair of Hum 110. No conference changes will be permitted after the second week of the term.
Papers, Writing Assignments, and Examinations
Three course-wide papers will be assigned, due at the times designated on the schedule of readings and lectures; at least one of these papers will be revised. Individual conference leaders may assign additional writing. If the due date for an assignment conflicts with a religious holiday or obligation that you wish to observe, please consult with your conference leader. A four-hour final examination for the fall semester will be given Thursday, Dec. 18, 1:00 – 5:00 pm in Vollum Lecture Hall. Rescheduling of the final exam will be allowed only for medical reasons
Writing Center
You can get additional help with all stages of the writing process from the Writing Center located in the Dorothy Johansen House. Drop-in help from writing tutors is available Sunday – Thursday, 6 p.m.-10 p.m.; additional hours will also be available during weeks that a paper is due (contact the Writing Center for more information).
Schedule of Readings and Lectures
The Ancient Mediterranean and Western Asia
Timeline for the texts covered this semester
+ Expand Weeks | - Collapse Weeks
Week 1
Wed 3 Sept
Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh, pp. xiii-lii, 1-100, 175-195;
Freeman, Egypt, Greece and Rome, pp. 1-18.
Lecture: "When Terrified by Death" / Nathalia King
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Fri 5 Sept
Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh;
Freeman, pp. 19-39.
Lecture: "Gilgamesh and the Humanities" / Sonia Sabnis
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Additional Resource: Lecture Bibliography
Week 2
Mon 8 Sept
Anonymous, The Epic of Gilgamesh;
The Code of Hammurabi (online)
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "Of Gods, Kings, and Law" / David Garrett
Wed 10 Sept
"The Great Hymn to Osiris" (Lichtheim II: 81-86) (on e-reserves);
"Coffin Text 148" (Simpson 263-65) (on e-reserves);
"Horus and Seth" (Lichtheim II: 214-23) (on e-reserves);
Freeman, pp. 40-62;
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "Sirius Rising: Religion and Art in Ancient Egypt" / Pancho Savery
Additional Resource: Ancient Egypt at a Glance
Additional Resource: Quotes
Additional Resource: Terms
Fri 12 Sept
"Pyramid Texts" (Lichtheim I: 29-50) and "Coffin Texts" (Lichtheim I: 131-133) (on e-reserves);
"The Book of the Dead" (Lichtheim II: 119-132) (on e-reserves);
"The Dialogue of a Man and His Soul", Tale of Sinuhe and Other Egyptian Poems, pp. 151-65;
Freeman, pp. 63-79;
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "Tomorrow is the Question: The Literature of Death" / Pancho Savery
Additional Resource: Bibliography
Additional Resource: Quotes
Additional Resource: Terms
FIRST PAPER DUE: Saturday, Sept 13, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 3
Mon 15 Sept
"The Tale of Sinuhe" and "The Teachings of Khety," Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, pp. 21-53, 273-83;
Freeman, pp. 80-93
Lecture: "'True' Identity in The Tale of Sinuhe" / Elizabeth Drumm
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Additional Resource: Lecture Bibliography
Wed 17 Sept
"The Book of the Dead" (Lichtheim II: 119-132) (on e-reserves)
Tom Buckley, "The Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb" (on e-reserves)
I. E. S. Edwards, "Treasures of Tutankhamun: Catalogue" (on e-reserves)
Lecture: "Democratizing Culture: King Tut and the Canon Wars" / Sarah Wagner-McCoy
Additional Resource: Golden Shrine, and, Lion unguent jar, Treasures of Tutankhamun, pp. 116-119, 124-125, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976 (e-reserves)
Additional Resource: Lion unguent jar color plate, The gold of Tutankhamen, pp. 291, Dai Nippon Printing Company, 1978 (e-reserves)
Fri 19 Sept
Fowler, Love Lyrics of Ancient Egypt (selections) (on e-reserves)
Foster, Ancient Egyptian Literature (selections) (on e-reserves)
Foster, Love Songs of the New Kingdom (selections) (on e-reserves)
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "Familiar Yet Strange: Love Lyrics of New Kingdom Egypt" / Dustin Simpson
Week 4
Mon 22 Sept
Genesis (including the Introduction from the Oxford Study Bible)
Freeman, pp. 94-109
Lecture: "The Geneses of Genesis" / Michael Faletra
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed 24 Sept
Genesis
Lecture: "Babble" / Jan Mieszkowski
Fri 26 Sept
Introduction to, and Selections from Exodus (1-35 and 40.16-34)
Lecture: "A People in Between: Exodus and the Israelites at the Crossroads of Empire" / Margot Minardi
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Hebrew Bible Timeline
Week 5
Mon 29 Sept
Selections from Exodus (25-29; 31);
Jaffee, Early Judaism, pp. 19-28; 172-188 (on e-reserves)
Lecture: "To Distinguish Holy from Unholy: Sacrifice and Purities in the Torah" / Steve Wasserstrom
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed 1 Oct
The Book of Job
Lecture: "The Book of Job: Approaches, Contexts, Readings" / Marat Grinberg
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Fri 3 Oct
Homer, The Iliad, Bks 1-5
Lecture: "Oral Tradition in Homer: Giving Form to Action" / Nathalia King
Week 6
Mon 6 Oct
Homer, The Iliad, Bks 6-10
Freeman, pp. 121-38.
Lecture: No lecture.
Wed 8 Oct
Homer, The Iliad, Bks 11-15
Lecture: "The Iliad's Conception of Fate"/ Meg Scharle and Paul Hovda
Fri 10 Oct
Homer, The Iliad, Bks 16-20
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Lecture: "The Shield of Achilles" / William Diebold
SECOND PAPER DUE: Saturday, Oct 11, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 7
Mon 13 Oct
Homer, The Iliad, Bks 21-24
Lecture: "Achilles and the End of The Iliad"/ Walter Englert
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed 15 Oct
Hesiod , Theogony
Freeman, pp. 139-44
Lecture: "Feeble, Ignorant, Ugly, and Smelly: Gods and Humans in Hesiod's Theogony" / Sonia Sabnis
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Fri 17 Oct
Hesiod, Works and Days
Lecture: "Golden Ages" / Michael Faletra
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
OCTOBER 18 – OCTOBER 26: FALL BREAK
Week 8
Mon 27 Oct
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference;
Hurwit, The Art and Culture of Early Greece, pp. 125-202 (on e-reserves)
Study Guide for Greek Vases
Lecture: "Death in Archaic Greek Art" / William Diebold
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Wed 29 Oct
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference;
Hurwit, The Art and Culture of Early Greece, pp. 125-202 (on e-reserves)
Lecture: "The Uses of Classicism" / William Diebold
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides
Fri 31 Oct
Miller, Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation: Archilochus, pp. 1-12; Mimnermus, pp. 27-30; Solon, pp. 64-76; Xenophanes, pp. 107-111.
Freeman, pp. 144-82
Lecture: "Putting the 'I' in Ideology" / Nigel Nicholson
Week 9
Mon 3 Nov
Miller, Greek Lyric: An Anthology in Translation: Sappho, pp. 51-63; Theognis, pp. 82-94;
Ibycus, pp. 95-98; Anacreon, pp. 99-103
Lecture: "The Unspeakable Vice of the Greeks" / Jay Dickson
Wed 5 Nov
Presocratics Reader, pp. 13-22, 31-65
Freeman, pp. 183-97
Lecture: "Parmenides and the Roots of Western Philosophy" / Paul Hovda
Fri 7 Nov
Herodotus, Histories, Bk/Ch. 1.1-1.170; 1.201-1.216
Freeman, pp. 198-214
Lecture: "Oracular History and Athenian Empire" / Margot Minardi
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Bibliography
Week 10
Mon 10 Nov
Herodotus, Histories, Bk/Ch. 2.1-2.64, 2.113-2.120, 2.142-2.151, 2.164-2.182; 3.1-3.38, 3.66-3.89; 5.39-5.78.
Lecture: "Herodotus the Tourist: The Role of Ethnography in Herodotus' Histories" / Ellen Millender
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Wed 12 Nov
Herodotus, Histories, Bk/Ch. 6.48-6.84, 6.103-6.131; 7.1-7.152, 7.172-7.239.
Lecture: No lecture.
Fri 14 Nov
Herodotus, Histories, Bk/Ch. 8.1-8.103, 9.17-9.82, 9.108-9.122.
Lecture: "Look to the End" / Jay Dickson
THIRD PAPER DUE: Saturday, Nov. 15, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 11
Mon 17 Nov
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference.
Axworthy, "Origins: Zoroaster, the Achaemenids, and the Greeks," A History of Iran, pp. 1-30 (on e-reserves);
Royal inscriptions (selections), The Persian Empire, Kuhrt, ed., 70-74, 141-158, 492-495, 503-505 (all on e-reserves)
Lecture: "Empire of All Kinds" / Margot Minardi
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Bibliography
Additional Resource: Persia Gallery
Wed 19 Nov
Aeschylus, "Agamemnon," Oresteia
Freeman, pp. 247-69
Lecture: "Feminine Speech in The Oresteia" / Michael Faletra
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Fri 21 Nov
Aeschylus, "The Libation Bearers" and "Eumenides," Oresteia
Lecture: "Justice in The Oresteia" / Peter Steinberger
Week 12
Mon 24 Nov
Sophocles, Antigone
Lecture: "Tragedy, Kinship, Dust" / Jan Mieszkowski
Wed 26 Nov
Parthenon
Visual Images: study these images before lecture and conference:
Tour of Parthenon frieze by Hellenic Ministry of Culture (Greek: click "English" in lower right of screen for English edition)
Tour of Parthenon Frieze by Columbia University (English)
Slides of Parthenon
Ancient Athens 3D
Castriota, "The Parthenon Frieze, Persia and the Athenian Empire" (on e-reserves)
Study Guide for Greek Temples
Lecture: Lecture moved to December 3
NOVEMBER 28 – DECEMBER 1: THANKSGIVING VACATION
Week 13
Mon 1 Dec
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Introduction, Bk/Ch. 1.1-146;
Freeman, pp. 294-313
Presocratics Reader, pp. 144-161
Lecture: "Thucydides and the Nature of History" / Walter Englert
Wed 3 Dec
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Bk/Ch. 2.1-2.65
Lecture: "Goddess and Polis" / Laura Leibman
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout
Additional Resource: Lecture Slides (PDF) or (Keynote)
Fri 5 Dec
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Bk/Ch. 3.1-3.85, 5.13-5.24, 5.83-5.116
Lecture: "Thucydidean Thought" / Peter Steinberger
FOURTH PAPER DUE: Saturday, Dec 6, 5:00 PM See Paper Topics
Week 14
Mon 8 Dec
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Bk/Ch. 6.1-6.41, 6.88-6.93, 6.105-7.18, 7.49-7.87, 8.65-8.71, 8.96-8.98
Lecture: "Thucydides: Tragedian, Historian, and Political Ethicist" / Nathalia King
Wed 10 Dec
Euripides, The Bacchae
Lecture: "Possessed by Bacchus" / Elizabeth Drumm
Additional Resource: Lecture Handout