Course Description
Summary
The Mediterranean Greeks of the 4th-6th c. BCE powerfully shaped the political, cultural, and intellectual worlds we inhabit today. The Greeks are credited with inventing democracy, drama, spectator sports, and astronomy, physics, biology, musical theory, history, and philosophy as areas of study. Various Greek thinkers championed free inquiry, global citizenship, radical equality, and vegetarianism. At the same time, the Greek world included male supremacy, slavery, and imperialism. In this course, we will immerse ourselves in the intellectual ferment of Greek antiquity. We will engage with Greek thinkers on a range of topics related to nature, culture, reality, ethics, politics, and the divine. Readings will include primary texts (in English translation) by Plato, Aristotle, and representatives of the atomist, Stoic, Epicurean, Pythagorean, and Eleatic intellectual movements.
