Course Description
The first of a year-long sequence, HUM 111 is a reading course in ancient and classical civilization. We will read a number of texts that are considered essential in the study of civilization and its later development. The course will delve into a broad selection of topics, beginning with the idea of civilization itself: what is civilization, what values do we place upon it, and how can we study it? Since Humanities 111 deals with the ancient world per se, we will then move on to texts produced in the ancient civilizations of the Near East and the Mediterranean. We will study literary texts that ancient societies produced in order to give shape to their thoughts on the nature of human existence, ranging from the important genre of heroic epic, to drama and philosophy.
As we read these different texts, a few central questions and ideas will demand our attention. Among these, we might mention: “How does the ancient individual situate himself or herself in the external contexts which make life either meaningful or meaningless?” These include his or her natural world and the forces of nature themselves as well as the culture in which he or she lives. These questionstrouble Gilgamesh, Achilles, Antigone, Plato and Freud; thus, they will be of central importance in many of the texts we will read together and each text will have different points to make about them.
In addition to the question of the individual and society, another interesting topic of study in HUM 111 is the founding and reformation of a “tradition”. This is a point that is most clearly seen when studying the texts from the ancient Greco-Roman world. Homer’s poetry, even to the ancient Greeks themselves, was perceived as the first and defining moment of their culture. This vision of a culture, we will see, is then carried forward, modified and reacted to in later works. As a culture progresses, it sees itself as going beyond the limitations of the traditional, and “new” forms of social organization and expression emerge. How such a tradition is built up over time, how and in what ways it is modified as time passes, are also issues we will be able to trace, both in the texts of this course and in Humanities 112.
The course has a few central objectives, and it may be of use to comment on these from the outset.
First: it will be essential that you read the texts we have selected, not in short excerpts, or through the filter of some paraphrase, but rather to read them attentively for yourselves: to learn to evaluate them and appreciate them on their own terms, and to discuss their significance intelligently with your classmates and your instructor. Thus this course demands from you the employment of certain skills: careful reading, critical thinking, and intelligent expression (both verbal and written). Your own active engagement with these texts is thus key to your success in this course.
Second: you will be reading, perhaps for the first time, works that have for better or worse been given the label of “classics”. These texts and the ideas they contain have influenced generations of thinkers throughout the centuries. They are, in short, worth reading, and are an essential part of any university student’s program of study. By reading them and following the connections between them, CCI students can build a clearer understanding of how and why the modern world developed.
Third: reading of major thinkers and discussion of challenging questions goes beyond providing a merely professional training. The skills you will develop by thinking, talking and writing about the materials in this course are crucial for a successful career in any field and, more importantly, for a more thoughtful and a more fulfilling life. Hopefully, your work in this course will help you deal critically, effectively, and creatively with the cultural, political, ethical, social and economic issues that you will confront in your own lives.
Readings may include:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents
Homer, The Iliad
Sophocles, Three Theban Plays
Plato, The Republic
A course reader of other shorter works and critical essays.