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GREEK 405 A: Undergraduate Seminar in Classics

Summer Term: 
Full-term
Meeting Time: 
TTh 2:20pm - 4:50pm
Location: 
SWS 036
SLN: 
11666
Joint Sections: 
CLAS 405 A, LATIN 405 A
Instructor:
Picture
James J. Clauss

Syllabus Description:

Classics/Greek/Latin 405

Readings of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and New Testament in Greek and Latin

 

Summer 2022

TTh 2:20-4:50

SWS 036

Instructor: James J. Clauss

E-mail: jjc@uw.edu

 

Students with as little as one year of Greek and/or Latin are welcome to take this seminar. The OT (Hebrew Bible) and NT texts are remarkably easy to read in either language and the texts are incredibly important not only for Judeo-Christian religion but for Western culture and civilization in general. Students with only Latin will read and translate in class the Latin texts and similarly those with only Greek will read Greek passages. Students who sign up for Classics should be able to read both languages. I will introduce the Hebrew alphabet so that we can observe how Greek and Roman translators managed foreign words.

 

We will start out with several OT passages, featuring Joseph, Samson, David, and Elijah. We will then read the Gospel of Luke. Our focus will not only be on language but also on modes of representation of Hebrew “heroes,” who are quite different from Greek heroes. The NT turns out to be a highly intertextual narrative, with many allusions and imitations of earlier OT stories and figures, much as one finds in Vergil’s Aeneid. Please note that this is not a course in Jewish or Christian religion. The focus will be on language, literature and the attempt to accommodate Hebrew constructs and language in Greek and Latin.

 

For such a mixed group, the best resource is on-line The Polyglot Bible that has the texts set side by side: Greek, Hebrew and Latin for the OT and Greek and Latin for the NT, with accompanying translations in English (King James Version). This will be our text.

 

Primary Resources

 

On-line:

 

The Polyglot Bible

STEP Bible

Interlinear Bible: Greek and Hebrew

Interlinear Latin Bible

Sacred Bible Interlinear

English translation of the Septuagint

Different translations of the Bible

Cross references in Luke

Logeion (on-line Greek and Latin dictionary)

Prof. Scott Noegel’s website

Perseus (OT/NT Latin, NT Greek)

 

Hard Copy:

 

F.C. Conybeare and St. George Stock, Grammar of Septuagint Greek, Hendrickson

Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Jay P. Green, The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English (English, Hebrew and Greek Edition), Hendrickson

J.D. Douglas (ed.), The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament, Tyndale

F.J. Long, T. M.W. Halcomb, A Parallel & Interlinear New Testament Polyglot: Luke-Acts in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, English, German, and French

Secondary Resources:

 

Michael Coogan and Cynthia Chapman, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Oxford 2018.

 

Martin, Dale B. New Testament History and Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

 

 

Syllabus:

 

Week 1                        Introduction                                       

Joseph Gen. 37.1-39.23 (skip chapter 38)

 

Week 2                        Joseph Gen. 40.1-42.34

Joseph Gen. 42.35-45.28

 

Week 3                        Samson Judg. 13.1-15.20

                                    Samson Judg.16.1-31; David 1 Kings (= 1 Sam.) 17.1-54

 

Week 4                        Elijah 3 Kings (= 1 Kings) 17.1-19.8

Elijah 3 Kings (= 1 Kings) 19.9-21; 20.1-29 [Greek], 21.1-29 [Latin]

4 Kings (= 2 Kings) 1.1-2.18

 

Week 5                        Midterm exam

                                    Luke 1-3.20   

 

Week 6                        Luke 3.21-6

                                    Luke 7-9.36               

 

Week 7                        Luke 9.37-11.54

                                    Luke 12-15.10           

 

 

Week 8                        Luke 15.11-20.8

                                    Luke 20.9-23.12

 

Week 9                        Luke 23.13-end

                                    Final exam

 

Expectations:

 

Prepare passages for translation in class. Those students with only one year of Greek or Latin should try to complete as much of the assignment as possible and will not be penalized for not being ready to translate everything.  My hope is to read as much as possible in the original languages. Students’ abilities differ and I will be aware of these differences.  Learning is our main goal.

 

The midterm and final exams will be essay exams based on our readings and will be discussed ahead of time.

 

Grades:

 

20% Participation in class

40% Midterm

40% Final

 

Important UW policy-related things to know:

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu.  (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.

 

 

We will start out with several OT passages, featuring Joseph, Samson, David, and Elijah. We will then read the Gospel of Luke. Our focus will not only be on language but also on modes of representation of Hebrew “heroes,” who are quite different from Greek heroes. The NT turns out to be a highly intertextual narrative, with many allusions and imitations of earlier OT stories and figures, much as one finds in Vergil’s Aeneid. Please note that this is not a course in Jewish or Christian religion. The focus will be on language, literature and the attempt to accommodate Hebrew constructs and language in Greek and Latin.

 

For such a mixed group, the best resource is on-line The Polyglot Bible that has the texts set side by side: Greek, Hebrew and Latin for the OT and Greek and Latin for the NT, with accompanying translations in English. This will be our text.

Catalog Description: 
Seminar on a broadly defined topic in classics. Includes reading in Latin or Greek as appropriate for individual students. Additional readings of works in English translation and works of scholarship chosen to give undergraduate majors familiarity with research methods and perspective on the discipline.
Credits: 
5.0
Status: 
Active
Last updated: 
February 15, 2022 - 10:52pm
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