Rethinking Classics

Literary and philosophical texts from Antiquity (including Homer, the Greek tragedians, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, and Augustine).  In each case, we will examine the cultural contexts in which each text was composed (e.g. political regimes and ideologies; attitudes towards gender and sexuality; hierarchies of class and status; discourses on "barbarians" and resident aliens). We will study various theoretical approaches to these books in an effort to "rethink" these texts in the 21st century.