Classical Languages and Literature Major

For beginners. No prior acquaintance with Greek assumed! Together, we’ll cover the whole of ancient Greek grammar, reading excerpts from Greek literature along the way. By the conclusion of the semester, you will be thoroughly prepared for GRE 201, which fulfills he college’s language requirement and serves as gateway to advanced courses in ancient Greek.

Socrates, citizen of Athens and one of the most celebrated thinkers in history, was sentenced to death by the democratic government under which he lived. We will not only consider why this happened, but also grapple with the impossible “Socratic Problem,” trying to gain a coherent sense of who Socrates really was. 

Ostensibly writing to titillate his readers, the Numidian (modern Algeria) Platonic philosopher Apuleius confounds them with his meandering tale of Lucius, a man transformed into an ass that endures unimaginable (yet gripping!) sufferings until his shocking religious conversion to the Egyptian goddess Isis.