Suggested for all majors in Classics or Ancient Studies who have not completed their college 'capstone' experience in another major, or who are not satisfying this requirement by means of a Senior Honors Thesis in Classics, Greek, or Latin, or in some other way. A structured research assignment or independent project under the supervision of one of the department's faculty is required. Prerequisites: Senior standing and permission of the Chair of the Department.

This seminar will start from one big question: Were the ancient Greeks and Romans white? We will examine this question -- and the questions that spring from it -- from two angles. First, using literary and archaeological evidence and informed by modern critical race theory, we will investigate how people living in the ancient Mediterranean understood difference: between themselves and others as well as among their own citizens. Did they have a concept of race at all? If not, how did they theorize difference? Second, we will study how and why the modern race system in the United States uses antiquity and racializes the premodern past. Students will write several short responses to sources over the semester and complete a research paper on a topic of their choice.

In this course, we will read substantial passages from the works attributed to Hesiod, an archaic period Greek poet whose style and subject matter are often contrasted to Homer, and whose influence on Greek literary culture was second only to Homer's. Hesiod's two major poems, "Theogony" and "Works and Days" form important evidence for the Greek rhapsodic tradition, and the mythological content and compressed styles of these mini-epics strongly influenced later Hellenistic Greek and Roman poets. Through discussion of readings from recent scholarship, we will consider topics including the authorship and dating of the Hesiodic corpus, Hesiod's Near-Eastern influences, oral poetics, mythography, genre studies, and narratology. Preparation of substantial Greek reading assignments will be supplemented with frequent practice of scansion (both written and oral) and the parallel development of sight translation skills. Students will be responsible for the development of a portfolio consisting of written translations, creative and interpretive mini-projects, a commentary, and an original research project.

This course examines the role of women in Athenian drama. You will read English translations of the works of the three major tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and their near contemporary, the comedian Aristophanes. Direct engagement with ancient texts will encourage you to develop your own interpretations of, and written responses to, the political, social, and ethical manipulation that these mythological women were compelled to endure, and the subtle ways in which they appear to exercise power themselves. Selected scholarly articles and book chapters will help you contextualize these ancient dramas in their culture of origin. Because such issues continue to preoccupy both sexes today, you will see how Greek tragedy addresses perennial historical and cultural concerns through the examination of adaptations of Greek tragedies ranging from Seneca in ancient Rome to Spike Lee's Chi-raq. Your final research paper will encourage you to consider how a specific female character from antiquity is transformed for a 'modern' dramatic audience.

An overview of the literature of the Roman imperial period, for graduate students. We will read substantial excerpts from major texts and authors beginning with the Augustan era and extending at least two centuries. By encountering a range of genres and styles, students will develop important reading strategies, cover a substantial amount of the graduate Latin Reading Lists, learn about the history and contexts of literary production in the empire, and become confident users of the relevant bibliography and research tools. PREREQ: GRADUATE STANDING IN CLASSICS, OR IN ANOTHER DEPARTMENT WITH PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR.

In this course, we will read selections from the monumental and multifaceted "Metamorphoses of Ovid," which was composed before the poet´s exile from Rome in 8 CE. Supplementary readings from Ovid's elegiac verse will give us a fuller picture of the poet's career and cultural context. Substantial daily Latin readings will be supplemented with practice of scansion, additional readings from related ancient works, and readings from modern scholarship on the poem. There will be regular translation quizzes, a final exam, student presentations, and a final research and writing project. Prerequisites: Latin 3171, Latin 3181 (or equivalent, and sophomore standing or above.

Who would write satire while the world was falling apart? For one, a young Horace, who was many years away from presiding over the Roman poetic scene as author of the famed Odes. From 36 to 30 BCE, Horace was watching the republic disintegrate and his own prospects hang in the balance; in this climate, he chose to enter the poetic scene with the hexameter Sermones ("Chats"). With striking energy, learning, and talent, Horace playfully explores human character flaws, the ethics of free speech and satire, and poetic and social competition in Rome; he also throws in personal revelations, fables, gastronomical lectures, sexual gossip, and fart jokes. Together, we will read most of the eighteen Sermones in Latin. We will discuss them from our own perspectives while also learning from scholars who examine their poetic, ethical, and political commentary. Assessments will include short translation-and-commentary tests, stints leading discussion of passages or articles, and at least one paper project utilizing research skills. Senior Classics majors may choose to use this course as a capstone experience by completing additional work (consult the instructor at the beginning of the semester). PREREQS: LATIN 3171 and LATIN 3181 (OR EQUIVALENT) AND SOPHOMORE STANDING OR ABOVE.

Who would write satire while the world was falling apart? For one, a young Horace, who was many years away from presiding over the Roman poetic scene as author of the famed Odes. From 36 to 30 BCE, Horace was watching the republic disintegrate and his own prospects hang in the balance; in this climate, he chose to enter the poetic scene with the hexameter Sermones ("Chats"). With striking energy, learning, and talent, Horace playfully explores human character flaws, the ethics of free speech and satire, and poetic and social competition in Rome; he also throws in personal revelations, fables, gastronomical lectures, sexual gossip, and fart jokes. Together, we will read most of the eighteen Sermones in Latin. We will discuss them from our own perspectives while also learning from scholars who examine their poetic, ethical, and political commentary. Assessments will include short translation-and-commentary tests, stints leading discussion of passages or articles, and at least one paper project utilizing research skills. Senior Classics majors may choose to use this course as a capstone experience by completing additional work (consult the instructor at the beginning of the semester). PREREQS: LATIN 3171 and LATIN 3181 (OR EQUIVALENT) AND SOPHOMORE STANDING OR ABOVE.

This course examines the Epigrams of Martial and the Satires of Juvenal in their context (Rome and the Roman world of the 80s-120s CE). Near- contemporaries and acquaintances, these two poets have had a massive impact on modern perceptions of the state of Rome under Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian. The world they represent is actually as much a poetic world full of dramas and fictions as it is a real place. From our readings of the poets and from sources on their work and times, we will gain an understanding of their literary agendas. Topics of discussion and research will include imperial politics, the poetic career and literary tradition, Roman public spaces, amicitia and its rituals, private life, and sexual behavior. We will relentlessly practice accurate and clear Latin translation and scansion of the meters used by the epigrammatist and satirist, and every student will conduct and present original research. PREREQ: Graduate student status in Classics, or permission of the instructor.

In 1943 the Nazi SS stormed the Italian Villa Fontedamo in search of a book: the "Germania" of the ancient Roman historian Tacitus. Storming the villa was just one example of a quest Germans had been undertaking since the Renaissance: to find German national identity with the help of Ancient Greece and Rome. In this course, we will study the impact that Greece and Rome had on German national identity starting in the 16th century, when a group of poet-scholars transformed ancient Roman texts into central components of German national identity. We will trace it through the Enlightenment in the 17th-18th centuries and the age of imperialism in the 19th century , ending with how the Nazis reinterpreted the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome as a justification for fascism and violent nationalism. We will debate extensively and write in detail about questions of authority, identity, tolerance, and intolerance. Our goals are to understand classical culture's potential for use and abuse, and to develop tools for historical thought and insight that help us understand the past and present.

In this course, we will read substantial passages from the works attributed to Hesiod, an archaic period Greek poet whose style and subject matter are often contrasted to Homer, and whose influence on Greek literary culture was second only to Homer's. Hesiod's two major poems, "Theogony" and "Works and Days" form important evidence for the Greek rhapsodic tradition, and the mythological content and compressed styles of these mini-epics strongly influenced later Hellenistic Greek and Roman poets. Through discussion of readings from recent scholarship, we will consider topics including the authorship and dating of the Hesiodic corpus, Hesiod's Near-Eastern influences, oral poetics, mythography, genre studies, and narratology. Preparation of substantial Greek reading assignments will be supplemented with frequent practice of scansion (both written and oral) and the parallel development of sight translation skills. Students will be responsible for the development of a portfolio consisting of written translations, creative and interpretive mini-projects, a commentary, and an original research project.

This course code will allow WashU students to earn credits for training in archaeology through fieldwork at archaeological digs and field schools. We define archaeological training broadly as encompassing at least two of the following: (a) work in the trenches, (b) photographing, cataloguing, and/or curating findings, (c) conducting lab work, (d) assisting the director(s) in other fieldwork-related tasks, such as project management and logistics, research and publication (scholarly and/or public-facing), and digital content creation.