Classics (CLAS) 309

Overview

CLAS 309 provides a comprehensive introduction to the history and culture of Ancient Greece from the archaic period through the Persian and Peloponnesian wars to the Hellenistic era. The course utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon the work of historians, classical scholars, political scientists, philosophers, and literary critics.

A balance is maintained between surveying the political and social history of the period and studying the cultural and intellectual achievements of ancient Greek civilization. Thus students trace the emergence and evolution of Greek kingdoms and city-states and the rise and fall of the Athenian empire, but they also explore the best of Greek tragic and comic drama, poetry, philosophy, historiography and political theory. Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Arrian, and Polybius are among the Greek and Hellenistic authors whose writings are examined (in translation) in the course.

Outline

CLAS 309 is divided into thirteen units:

• Unit 1: The Ancient Aegean
• Unit 2: Myth, Religion and the Epic
• Unit 3: Herodotus and the Persian Wars
• Unit 4: Imperial Athens: Politics, Society and Culture
• Unit 5: Thucydides, the Second Peloponnesian War and the Decline of Athens
• Unit 6: Tragic Drama
• Unit 7: Lyric Poetry and Attic Comedy
• Unit 8: Early Greek Philosophy: The Presocratics and Socrates
• Unit 9: Plato
• Unit 10: Aristotle
• Unit 11: Alexander's Empire and the Hellenistic Kingdoms
• Unit 12: Hellenistic Culture: Literature, Historiography and Art
• Unit 13: Hellenistic Philosophy, Religion and Science

Evaluation

To receive credit for CLAS 309, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent or better on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

The textbook The Penguin History of Greece, by A. R. Burn, is out of print, so it is no longer included in your course package. In its place, an electronic textbook, Thomas R. Martin's Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Yale University Press, 2010), has been assigned and is available to students through the AU library. Your course package includes an announcement that indicates which readings from Martin to substitute for the readings assigned from Burns by the Study Guide.

Other Materials

The course materials include a student manual, four study guides, and a reading file.

Challenge for Credit Course Overview

The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.

Full information for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Policy
• Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Procedures

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the CLAS 309 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on the examination.

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form