Surveys 580 - Culture and Politics in Classical Antiquity

Institution:

Allegheny College

Subject:

Description:

This course explores the formation of cultural identities in classical Greece and Rome and examines the political interests that these identities served. Readings in modern psychological, sociological and anthropological literature and cultural/literary theory supply the backdrop against which we read selected classical texts. The cultural construction of civilization (Hellenism, Romanitas) vs. barbarism is a theme that runs throughout the course. Ancient readings include Aeschylus' Persians and Prometheus Bound, Plato's Protagoras, the Hippocratic medical treatise Airs, Waters, Places, Isocrates' Panegyricus, excerpts from the Greek historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon's Cyropaedeia, Aristotle's Politics, I and II Maccabees, and Polybius' Histories. Special attention is given in the final week to the Roman historian Tacitus' ethnographical treatise, Germania. Prerequisite: Permission of the instru

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.allegheny.edu

Phone Number:

(814) 332-3100

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

The Course Profile information is provided and updated by third parties including the respective institutions. While the institutions are able to update their information at any time, the information is not independently validated, and no party associated with this website can accept responsibility for its accuracy.