GREEK 462 A: Literature Of Classical Athens

MW 2.30-4.20pm,  SAV 167

Prof. Deborah Kamen, dkamen@uw.edu

Office hours: DEN 262F, Tuesdays and Thursdays 3-4pm (and by appointment)

Course Description

In the fourth-century BCE law-court speech Against Neaira, a freed-slave prostitute named Neaira is charged with posing as an Athenian citizen in order to secure citizen rights for her children. Preserved in the corpus of Demosthenes’ speeches but written and delivered by a man named Apollodoros, this speech provides a lively model of Greek oratorical prose, as well as delivering insights into issues of gender, sexuality, and status in classical Athens. In this class, students will read Against Neaira in Greek and write three short response papers.

Course Texts

The Greek text of Against Neaira (from Rennie, W., ed. (1931) Demosthenis Orationes. Vol. 3. Oxford); please download and bring to class (either printed out or on a laptop/tablet/phone is fine)

Online commentary: Kamen, D. (2018) Pseudo-Demosthenes: Against Neaira. Dickinson College Commentaries. Carlisle, PA. 

Grading

Participation: 15%

Response papers: 20%

Midterm: 30%

Final exam: 35%

The grade for this course is based on participation, three response papers, a midterm, and a final exam. Participation includes discussion and translation in class; students are expected to prepare their own translations at home, but they should bring only the Greek text and their notes to class, not a written-out translation. Late response papers will not be accepted. Make-up exams will not be given except in the case of illness, family emergency, religious observance, or university-approved absences (like athletic events). The final exam will not be cumulative but will be based on the passages we have read since the midterm.

Religious Accommodations Policy

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Response Papers

The three response papers will be brief analyses of scholarly articles (for the articles, see below). Response papers should be approximately 300-500 words, and should, in three paragraphs, 1) clearly and concisely summarize the author’s main argument; 2) describe something specific that you think works well about the article (e.g. the examples s/he cites, the methodology s/he uses, the presentation of the argument, etc.), and explain why; and 3) describe something specific that you think does not work well, or with which you disagree, and explain why. Since this is a short paper, please avoid direct quotations from the author; I’d rather hear your own words!

Week 1

Mon Jan 6: Introduction

Wed Jan 8: Read ch. 1-15 in English (trans. Carey); read ch. 16-20 in Greek

Week 2

Mon Jan 13: Read ch. 21-27 in Greek

Wed Jan 15: Read ch. 28-33 in Greek

Week 3

Mon Jan 20: NO CLASS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Wed Jan 22: Read ch. 34-40 in Greek

Week 4

Mon Jan 27: Read ch. 41-47 in Greek; Response paper #1 due (on Bakewell 2008/9) [some helpful terms to know for this article]

Wed Jan 29: Read ch. 48-53 in Greek

Week 5

Mon Feb 3: Read ch. 54-60 in Greek

Wed Feb 5: Read ch. 61-67 in Greek

Week 6

Feb 10: MIDTERM (format of midterm)

Feb 12: Read ch. 68-74 in Greek

Week 7

Mon Feb 17: NO CLASS: Presidents Day

Wed Feb 19: Read ch. 75-82 in Greek; Response paper #2 due (on Glazebrook 2005)

Week 8

Mon Feb 24: Read ch. 83-90 in Greek

Wed Feb 26: Read ch. 91-98 in Greek

Week 9

Mon Mar 2: Read ch. 99-108 in Greek

Wed Mar 4: Read ch. 109-117 in Greek

Week 10

Mon Mar 9:  Read ch. 118-126 in Greek

Wed Mar 11: Response paper #3 due (on Miner 2003). Office hour in lieu of class.

FINAL EXAM: Tues Mar 17, 2.30-4.20, SAV 167

UW Grade Scale