Love and Hate in Ancient Greece and Rome
Syllabus

Schedule

Goals

1. Gain an understanding of the ancient literature of love and hate.  This means:

·         use the literary readings fluently in class discussion (i.e. Be prepared to discuss;

·         learn to recognize and appreciate the aesthetics the literature expresses;

·         investigate the roles of the literature of love and hate in Greek and Roman culture;

·         learn the fundamental realities of material culture, social structure, and attitudes toward gender roles, slavery, love relationships, authority, and other themes, to be able to understand the nuances of this literature on its own terms; and

·         investigate how the themes of love and hate might have affected or resonated with the experience of ancient Greeks and Romans.

Develop sound critical approaches to interpreting the literature of love and hate.    This means:

• learn and master critical methodologies used for literary criticism;
• apply them to individual work;
• observe where ancient literature and modern questions may differ; and
• contrast the insights of different methodologies in specific works or passages.

Appreciate cultural difference in all its forms:

• Investigate and use texts to illuminate issues such as gender roles, sexuality, definitions of justice; social differences including slavery;
• Build awareness of the different uses of literature in different times and places in Classical antiquity; and
• Study the differences in perspectives and literary techniques created by different cultures, times and places.

Understand the place of the literature of love and hate in the Classical world.  This means:

• situate these themes within the full range of classical literature; and
• examine the ways in which important Greek and Roman ideas about ethical and unethical behavior, relationships between humans and gods, significance of family, and so on, are reflected in this subject.

Examine the works studied as creations by individual authors whose perspectives continue to have relevance in the current age.  This means:

• investigate how political and social limitations might inhibit or foster creative expression;
• show how cultural or social expectations were fulfilled or transcended in these works, and
• consider the ways in which these issues have been or might be treated in the modern world, and how our own approaches to similar themes is created by our own cultural expectations.

Write effectively about the material.  This means:

• Master primary source materials, and how to locate good ones and interpret them.
• Learn from and effectively use academic secondary sources;
• Support arguments effectively from primary and secondary sources, and cite sources fully and appropriately;
• use appropriate methodologies to guide and support your own interpretations; and
• Make critical interpretations both of the literature and of secondary source materials, effectively summarizing both in a way that supports your own arguments.

Requirements:

• Attendance:  Since a lot of this class is based on discussion of the novels, attendance is necessary.  If you miss more than 3 classes, 1 point will be deducted from your grade for each class missed.
• Midterm and Final (20% each, total 40%): Including factual and essay questions.
• Quizzes and daily work (10%): several quizzes on factual material are scheduled throughout the term.  At times you will be asked to prepare brief responses to a focus question (a page or so); some of these will be ungraded but not doing them counts as a missed assignment.  One quiz/daily work grade will be dropped.
• Two Essay responses to a discussion question (25%):  Each week I will put up a different essay question on the class website.  When you like, write a 3 page response and turn it in.  (If you don’t like the grade you get, you can try again.)
• Paper (25%):  A 3-5 page paper on some aspect of the literature we have studied, or on Greek and/or Roman culture that specifically relates to the theme of love and hate. May be revised for final grade.

Textbooks:

All of the texts we will study for this course are available online.  The Index has the links for all of the downloads.  These are all in PDF format to make them easier to print out.  You are expected to have printed copies and bring them to class.

Grade Scale:

Other Information:

• Your professor: Andrea Deagon. 

• Office: LH 273. 

• Phone: 962-3870. 

• Email: deagona@uncwedu. 

• Office Hours: MW 12:00-2:00, TR 12:30- 1:30, 2:00-3:00 or by appointment. 

• Course web site: http://people.uncw.edu/deagona/LIT

Policies:

Safety: UNCW practices a zero-tolerance policy for violence and harassment of any kind, so kindly do not violently harrass each other or me.  For emergencies contact UNCW CARE at 962-2273, Campus Police at 962-3184, or Wilmington Police at 911.  For University or community resources visit http://uncw.edu/wrc/crisis.htm.

Honor Code: This class is conducted in accordance with the honor code of UNCW as detailed in the Code of Student Life.  Please don't cheat, I hate failing people.  If you are in any doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism in paper-writing, there are detailed guidelines in Important Information.

Final Exam policy: Part of the final exam involves my showing slides for your identification and commentary.  Consequently, you must be at the exam when it begins in order to complete the slide section, which will only be shown at the beginning of the exam.

Manners: Come to class on time.  Do not play video games or do email while pretending to take notes.  Turn off cell phones and other irrelevant media in class.  Listen attentively to my comments and your classmates' contributions.  Participate, be kind, volunteer.