WELCOME TO ANCIENT GREEK!
Introduction to Plato
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Dr. Caroline Stark MWF 2:10 PM – 3:00 PM Online via Zoom OFFICE HOURS: |
This course is intended for students with a firm foundation in Greek grammar who are now ready to read an extended original prose text. We will devote some time to a review of grammar, sight reading, and relevant secondary scholarship on Plato, but the focus of the class will be on reading select speeches from Plato’s Symposium. We will also look at the reception of these ideas in later times, including some modern reworkings of the Symposium.
Course Goals
By the end of the course, students will have acquired basic knowledge of Plato, his Dialogues, the symposion as an event, ideas about eros in antiquity, and be able to place those ideas in the context of modern debates about love and sexuality. More concretely, students will have acquired a mastery of the most common words in Plato’s Symposium (~80% of words in the dialogue occur seven or more times) and, therefore, be able to complete this dialogue and read other dialogues with greater fluency and accuracy.
Required Texts
Steadman, G., ed. (2009). Plato’s Symposium: Greek Text with Facing Vocabulary and Commentary. ISBN-13: 978-0984306510 ISBN-10: 098430651X
Plato, Symposium, translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff. Hackett Classics, 1989. ISBN-13: 978-0872200760 ISBN-10: 0872200760
Suggested Texts
Plato: Symposium, edited by Kenneth Dover. Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980. ISBN-13: 978-0521295239 ISBN-10: 0521295238
[This commentary is affectionately called the Green and Yellow. This is an advanced student commentary on the text with a detailed introduction and notes that focus on the most difficult grammar points as well as references to Plato’s other works and the literary and philosophical tradition].
You will need a good Greek-English dictionary. Liddell & Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (affectionately known as the Little Liddell or the Middle Liddell to distinguish them from the Big Liddell) is highly recommended.
Course Requirements
Since this is an advanced seminar that meets three times a week, regular attendance and participation is essential. The grade takes into account attendance and active participation in class, vocabulary mastery, the midterm exam, and the final. The relative weight of each portion of the grade is as follows:
Attendance and participation 25%
Mastery of Core Vocabulary 25%
Exam I 25%
Exam II 25%
Vocabulary mastery will be practiced weekly through quizlets and assessed with periodic vocabulary tests that can be repeated until full mastery is accomplished. The core vocabulary should be memorized as soon as possible, as it will greatly increase your reading speed and efficiency in the class. Extra credit will be given to those students who master the second core (3-6 times). Exams will consist of prepared passages to translate, grammar questions on those passages, and a sight passage. Each exam should take only 1 hour, but you will have 3 hours to take it.
Grammar review and vocabulary building will be an essential part of weekly work with the ultimate goal of mastering the core vocabulary in the Symposium (words occurring at least 7 or more times) and ideally (words occurring 3-6 times).
Each week we will work to increase our speed of reading Greek, so assigned passages should be well prepared in advance of class. Resist the urge to write out your translations or use a translation as a crib. Mastery is accomplished through repetition, so read through the assigned passage at least twice before class: looking up the vocabulary and grammar the first time and then review your notes before class, reread it after class, and then before starting the next passage, reread it again. Be prepared to participate in class and bring questions of grammar, etc.
In addition, we will read the entire dialogue in translation as well as some secondary scholarship in order to engage with the ideas and philosophical concepts in the text. Optional readings will also be provided for those of you who would like to explore the text further.
Course Information
- Syllabus
- Online Greek Dictionary
- Online Greek Grammar
Tentative Weekly Schedule
| Week | Chapters & Assessment |
|---|---|
| Week 1: January 19 – 21 |
Introduction to Plato;
Plato Symposium 177e-178b (Speech of Phaedrus) Reading: “Introduction” in Plato, Symposium, translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff. Hackett Classics, 1989. |
| Week 2: Jan. 24 – 28 |
Plato Symposium 177e-178b (Speech of Phaedrus)
Reading: Symposium (up to the speech of Agathon in Nehamas and Woodruff translation). |
| Week 3: Jan. 31- Feb. 4 |
Plato Symposium 178c-179a2 (Speech of Phaedrus)
Reading: Symposium (to the end in the Nehamas and Woodruff translation). |
| Week 4: Feb. 7 – 11 |
Plato Symposium 179a3-179d6 (Speech of Phaedrus) |
| Week 5: Feb. 14 – 18 |
Plato Symposium 179d7-180b (Speech of Phaedrus) |
| Week 6: Feb. 21 – 25 |
Plato Symposium 189a-c1 (Speech of Aristophanes) |
| Week 7: Feb. 28 – March 4 |
Review
Wednesday: Exam I ; Vocabulary Core Test I Plato Symposium 189c2-e5 (Speech of Aristophanes) MIDTERM GRADES DUE |
| Week 8: March 7 – 11 |
SPRING BREAK |
| Week 9: March 14 – 18 |
Plato Symposium 189c2-e5 (Speech of Aristophanes) |
| Week 10: March 21 – 25 |
Plato Symposium 189c2-190e2 (Speech of Aristophanes) |
| Week 11: March 28 – April 1 |
Plato Symposium 189e3-192a2 (Speech of Aristophanes) |
| Week 12: April 4 – 8 |
Plato Symposium 189e3-192a2 (Speech of Aristophanes) |
| Week 13: April 11 – 15 |
Plato Symposium 192c2-193d5 (Speech of Aristophanes)
Quizlet for 193 Watch “The Half of It” and discuss |
| Week 14: April 18 -22 |
Review; Senior Exam II on Wed., April 20 |
IMPORTANT DATES
(Friday): Last Day to Register for a course
(Friday):
(Friday): Exam I
March 4 (Friday): Midterm Grades are due
(Friday):
(Friday): Last Day for Withdrawing from full-semester courses (Howard)
April 20 (Wednesday): Graduating Senior Exam II
April 29 (Friday): Exam II, 2-4 PM