The Fall Quarter of "Making of the Western Mind" is devoted to the Greeks, the Jews, the early Christians, and the Romans. These four cultures provide the foundation stones of Western Civilization. And all four cultures merge together in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine publishes he "Edict of Toleration" in 313, which finally allows the practice of public worship by the formerly prohibited Christians. The story of these four cultures and how they evolved in the period from 2000 B.C. to the Edict of Toleration in 313 is our story during these first ten weeks of our class.
Week 1: "The Western Tradition" Thursday October 7, 2010
What is Tradition?
What is the Western Tradition?
An Idea?
A Political reality?
A Cultural reality?
What is the state of the Western Tradition today?
What is the state of the teaching of the Western Tradition?
What is happening in the world today as the Western Tradition confronts other traditions?
What does the current confrontation with militant Islam mean to the Western Tradition?
Looking back on "The Making of the Western Mind" over the last ten years
European Critics of the Western Tradition
Claude Levi-Strauss(1908-2009 )
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Paul De Man (1919-1983)
Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
Edward Said (1935-2003)
Triumph of the European Critics in American Universities in the 1970s
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke, U. of Chicago, Stanford, UCBRECOMMENDED READING:
This is a wonderful book. David Denby went back to Columbia where he had been an undergraduate many years before, and did the Humanities course sequence again and wrote this fascinating record of his experiences with the students and their reactions to the great books. It will serve you all as a delightful parallel experience to our own class. As you read and discuss the books in our class you can read about the undergraduates at Columbia and their reactions to the same books. But let me suggest the following: wait until AFTER we have read and discussed a book before reading the section in Denby on the same material. Otherwise your reaction will be constantly predetermined by the Denby reaction and the ideas he presents.
MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
Week 2: "Israel" Thursday October 14, 2010
Israel, the land, the people, the history.
The Old Testament:
Genesis: Adam, Abraham, Isaac.REQUIRED READING:
The book of Genesis in the Old Testament. (any edition)
RECOMMENDED READING:
Our text this week is the first book of the Hebrew Bible. The scholarship on the Bible is massive and difficult for the ordinary student. But some understanding of how the Bible was formed is absolutely essential and therefore I am happy to recommend to you all a wonderful book. It is called Who Wrote the Bible? and it is written by Professor Richard Elliott Friedman, of the University of California at San Diego (HarperCollins paperback, ISBN 0060630353). Prof. Friedman has written an important book about an important subject that is a pleasure to read: it is elegant and informative. It will change the way you think about the Hebrew Bible.
MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
Week 3: "Greece, Homer and the Hero" Thursday October 21, 2010
What is Greece?
The land, the light, the people.REQUIRED READING:
Homer, Iliad, Book I
(Xerox provided)RECOMMENDED READING:
Amazon:
This groundbreaking English version by Robert Fagles is the most important recent translation of Homer's great epic poem. The verse translation has been hailed by scholars as the new standard, providing an Iliad that delights modern sensibility and aesthetic without sacrificing the grandeur and particular genius of Homer's own style and language. The Iliad is one of the two great epics of Homer, and is typically described as one of the greatest war stories of all time, but to say the Iliad is a war story does not begin to describe the emotional sweep of its action and characters: Achilles, Helen, Hector, and other heroes of Greek myth and history in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy.
Edith Hamilton graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1894 and went on to the University of Munich to do graduate work where she was the first woman to be admitted. She came home to become the Head Mistress of her her own alma mater, Bryn Mawr, a position she held for twenty-five years and then at age 63 began writing about the Greeks. The Greek Way was first published in 1930 and had a phenomenal success and seventy years later it is still in print. For thirty years she wrote about the Greeks and in 1957 after becoming one of the most beloved figures in the field of Greek studies she was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Athens in an emotional ceremony that took place in the theater at the foot of the Acropolis. Her book on Mythology is the best I know.
MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
Week 4: "Greece, Sophocles, and Athens" Thursday October 28, 2010
Athens and the Golden Age.
Athens: 450 B.C. Pericles, Sophocles.REQUIRED READING:
Week 5: "Greece and Alexander" Thursday November 4, 2010
Alexander the Great.
King Philip and Macedon.
Alexander and Aristotle.
A worldwide empire.REQUIRED READING:
No required reading.
RECOMMENDED READING:
There are two excellent books about Alexander both in print. The Renault book is more of an essay about Alexander and the literature about Alexander. The Green book is considered the masterpiece of the world's leading expert on Alexander. The Renault book is written by someone who adores Alexander; the Green book is written by someone who is cooler and more academic. Both books are excellent and well worth reading.
MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
MARY RENAULT
The best introduction to ancient Greece that I know is the historical fiction of Mary Renault:Mary Renault (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander.
Historical novels:
The Last of the Wine (1956) — set in Athens during the Peloponnesian War; the narrator is a student of Socrates.
The King Must Die (1958) — the mythical Theseus up to his father's death.
The Bull from the Sea (1962) — the remainder of Theseus' life.
The Mask of Apollo (1966) — an actor at the time of Plato and Dionysius the Younger (brief appearance by Alexander near the end of the book).
Fire from Heaven (1969) — Alexander the Great from the age of four up to his father's death.
The Persian Boy (1972) — from Bagoas's perspective; Alexander the Great after the conquest of Persia.
The Praise Singer (1978) — the poet Simonides of Ceos Funeral Games (1981) — Alexander's successors
Week 6: "Greek Philosophy from the Origins to Aristotle" Thurs Nov. 11, 2010
Greek Philosophy and Science
Why Was Greece Unique?
Aristotle, Euclid, and Ptolemy.
"The Power of Abstraction."REQUIRED READING:
Aristotle, The Categories (Xerox provided).
Euclid, The Elements (Xerox provided).
Ptolemy, The Geography (Xerox provided).SLIDES:
Greece: Delphi, Olympia, Epidauros, Athens, Troy, Ephesus.
Week 7: "Rome and Julius Caesar" Thursday November 18, 2010
History of Rome.
Caesar and Europe; Caesar and Cicero.REQUIRED READING:
RECOMMENDED READING:
About Julius Caesar, the best biography available is the recent, well done biography by Christian Meier, Caesar (paperback edition, 528 pages, February 1997, HarperCollins, ISBN: 046500895X). It is a big book but up to date and a great introduction to this extraordinary person.
MATERIAL ON THE WEBSITE:
SLIDES:
Rome: the Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon.
Thanksgiving Week November 22-26, 2010
Thanksgiving Vacation
No class meetings week of Nov 22-26, Thanksgiving week. Students have stated they prefer having the week off. Many are traveling for the holidays. So no classes during Thanksgiving Week.
Week 8: "Rome and Cicero" Thursday December 2, 2010
Rome, Cicero, and the Republic. Cicero and Julius Caesar.
REQUIRED READING:
In this collection of Cicero's works read:
1) The excellent introduction by Michael Grant.
2) Part One (Section 2) "Selection from His Correspondence"
3) Part One (Section 3)"The Second Philippic"
RECOMMENDED READING:
We are very lucky to have a paperback edition of the wonderful new biography of Cicero available to us for our class this Fall. The Everitt biography is the first new biography of Cicero in many years and it is the best I have ever read. It is a total pleasure and if you find Cicero to be as interesting as I do then you will want to own the Everitt book.
MATERIAL ON THE WEBSITE:
Week 9: "Jesus According to Luke" - Thursday December 9, 2010
Jesus of Nazareth according to the writer Luke. Who was Jesus? Who was Luke?
REQUIRED READING:
BE SURE IT IS THIS EDITION! There are other imprints of the New Jerusalem Bible, some with both Old and New Testament, some softcover, some hardcover, and also one called a Reader's Edition.
RECOMMENDED READING:
In our second week of study when we were reading Genesis, I recommended Richard Friedman's book Who Wrote the Bible? Now this week when we come to Christianity we need another book to give us some background on both the Old and New Testaments. And I have just the book for you: Jeffery Sheler, Is the Bible True?(ISBN 0-06-067542-X, paperback,$15.00). Sheler is the religion writer for US News. Over the years he has covered all the latest debates in the world of Biblical criticism, and two years ago he wrote this wonderful summary of all he has learned over the last years. It is a total pleasure to read. It is clear and well organized and provides the best survey available in the complex world of New Testament criticism (He also provides a good summary of the issues raised in Friedman's book.)
MORE RECOMMENDED READING: HISTORICAL FICTION
Here are two wonderful novels that tell about the world of early Christianity. Both deal with Luke and the Taylor Caldwell novel, Dear and Glorious Physician, is the best possible way to come to know the whole world of Luke and Paul, other than reading Luke and Acts. You will love these books if you are a fan of historical fiction.
MATERIAL ON THE WEB:
Week 10: "Christianity and Paul" Thursday December 16, 2010
Christianity in the First Century.
The Spread of Christianity and the work of Paul.
Paul and Peter in Rome.REQUIRED READING:
The Acts of the Apostles in The New Jerusalem Bible.
RECOMMENDED READING:
We are very fortunate to have a fine biography of Paul recently published by Oxford University Press. It is very good: succinct and helpful with maps that are just what we want.
MATERIAL ON THE WEBSITE:
Outline of the Acts of the Apostles
SLIDES:
Christians in Greece and Rome.
Christmas Vacation - December 18, 2010 to Jan 2, 2011
Vacation
No class during weeks of Dec 20 (Mon), Dec 27 (Mon)
Winter Quarter begins Thursday Jan 6, 2011.
