Ancient Greek Ruins at Paestum

The Carleton Classics Department offers courses in the histories, cultures, and literatures of Ancient Greece and Rome, for which no knowledge of the ancient languages is required. We also offer courses in Ancient Greek and Latin languages, with the aim of enabling students to read ancient authors in their original language as soon as possible.

Ancient Greek Ruins at Paestum

About Classics

Courses in the Department of Classics cover numerous aspects of the ancient Greco-Roman world. Our courses focus on the study of Greek and Latin literary, historical, and philosophical texts, as well as evidence from material remains such as art, architecture, and the archaeological remains of daily life, as well as public and private inscriptions. Courses in the languages (Latin and Greek) are designed to provide students with a thorough introduction to the language and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. Courses taught entirely with readings in English (Classics courses) include those centered around literary genres, Greek and Roman history, and topics such as gender and archaeology. Completion of the Greek and Latin sequences, 101, 102, 103, and 204, fulfills the college language requirement.

Requirements for the Classics Major

Major Requirements – 75 Total Credits

Core Courses – Required 18 credits

18 credits in Greek (GRK) and/or Latin (LATN) above the 102 level. This may include courses designated CLAS-F (and in some cases HIST-F). Please note that 101 and 102 do NOT count toward the 30 additional credits below unless they are in a second classical language.

Classical Civilization Courses – Required 18 credits

One course from each of the three groups below.

Historical Analysis – (6 credits)

  • CLAS 145: Ancient Greek Religion (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 226: 49 BC in Real Time: Outbreak of Roman Civil War (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 227: Athens, Sparta, and Persia (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 229: The Collapse of the Roman Republic
  • CLAS 230: Hellenistic Greek History
  • CLAS 240: Rome: From Village to Superpower (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 131: Saints and Society in Late Antiquity (not offered 2025-26)

Archaeological Analysis – (6 credits)

  • ARCN 222: Experimental Archaeology and Experiential History and Lab
  • ARTH 120: Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt and West Asia
  • CLAS 123: Greek Archaeology and Art (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 124: Roman Archaeology and Art (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 200: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture

Literary Analysis – (6 credits)

  • CLAS 111: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture Program: Myth and Reception
  • CLAS 112: The Epic in Classical Antiquity: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts
  • CLAS 116: Greek Drama in Performance
  • CLAS 121: Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes
  • CLAS 133: A Day in the Life of Classical Athens
  • CLAS 214: Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity (not offered 2025-26)
  • GRK 221: Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes by Sophocles (not offered 2025-26)
  • GRK 255: Euripides’ Alcestis (not offered 2025-26)
  • LATN 232: Roman Republic in Code Red: Sallust to the Rescue

Senior Seminar Course – Required 6 credits

Required to be taken in the senior year.

  • CLAS 384: Food and Foodways of the Ancient Mediterranean (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 386: Classical Myth: Theory, Function, Afterlife
  • CLAS 387: Expectasne Patronum? Magical Practice in the Greco-Roman World (not offered 2025-26)

Additional Elective Courses – Required 30 credits

Additional elective courses in the general area of Classical Civilization (CLAS), Latin (LATN), or Greek (GRK), two of which must be at the 200 level or above.

  • Up to 12 of these credits may be from a related department (History, Philosophy, Art History, Archaeology, Political Science, Religion), subject to adviser approval.
  • 300-level Seminar courses, if taken before the senior year, may count toward these 30 additional credits.

Senior Integrative Exercise – Required 3 credits

Additional Departmental Notes

The College language requirement may be satisfied by completion with a grade of at least C- in any of the Greek or Latin languages numbered 204 or above.

The Classics Departments of Carleton College and St. Olaf College cooperate in a program under which students of either college may elect certain courses on the other campus. This option is especially appropriate for upper level language courses not offered at Carleton. Carleton students should register for St. Olaf courses through the inter-registration process.

The Minor in Archaeology will interest many students who are attracted to ancient civilization.

Minors in the Classics Department

The Classics Department offers three Minors in addition to the Classics Major. Per the College‘s guidelines on minors, students who declare a Classics Major are not allowed also to declare a Minor in the department. For a course to count toward a minor, a grade of C- or better must be earned. These courses cannot be taken on an elective S/Cr/NC basis. The department may make exceptions if appropriate.

Requirements for the Classics Minor

Minor Requirements – 42 Total Credits

The Classics Minor is intended for students who wish to gain broad exposure to the study of the ancient Mediterranean world without required coursework in Greek and/or Latin. To earn a Classics Minor students must complete 42 total credits as described below:

Classical Civilization Courses – Required 18 credits

One course from each of the three groups below.

Historical Analysis – (6 credits)

  • CLAS 145: Ancient Greek Religion (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 226: 49 BC in Real Time: Outbreak of Roman Civil War (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 227: Athens, Sparta, and Persia (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 229: The Collapse of the Roman Republic
  • CLAS 230: Hellenistic Greek History
  • CLAS 240: Rome: From Village to Superpower (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 131: Saints and Society in Late Antiquity (not offered 2025-26)

Archaeological Analysis – (6 credits)

  • ARCN 222: Experimental Archaeology and Experiential History and Lab
  • ARTH 120: Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt and West Asia
  • CLAS 123: Greek Archaeology and Art (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 124: Roman Archaeology and Art (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 200: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture

Literary Analysis – (6 credits)

  • CLAS 111: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture Program: Myth and Reception
  • CLAS 112: The Epic in Classical Antiquity: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts
  • CLAS 116: Greek Drama in Performance
  • CLAS 121: Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes
  • CLAS 133: A Day in the Life of Classical Athens
  • CLAS 214: Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity (not offered 2025-26)
  • GRK 221: Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes by Sophocles (not offered 2025-26)
  • GRK 255: Euripides’ Alcestis (not offered 2025-26)
  • LATN 232: Roman Republic in Code Red: Sallust to the Rescue

Additional Elective Courses – Required 18 credits

Courses in the general area of Classical Civilization (CLAS); Latin (LATN) or Greek (GRK) at any level may also count toward the Classics Minor. Up to 12 of the 18 credits may be from a related department (History, Philosophy, Art History, Archaeology, Political Science, Religion), subject to department chair’s approval.


300-level Classics Seminar Course – Required 6 credits

  • CLAS 384: Food and Foodways of the Ancient Mediterranean (not offered 2025-26)
  • CLAS 386: Classical Myth: Theory, Function, Afterlife
  • CLAS 387: Expectasne Patronum? Magical Practice in the Greco-Roman World (not offered 2025-26)

Requirements for the Greek Minor

Minor Requirements – 42 Total Credits

The Greek Minor is intended for students who wish to deepen their understanding of the language and develop a fuller context for the literature and culture of the classical period. Students wishing to earn a Greek Minor must complete 42 credits of coursework as described below.

Greek Language Courses – Required 18 credits

Courses in the Greek language (GRK) at the 200 level or above.

Additional Elective Courses – Required 18 credits

Courses in upper-level Greek (GRK), Latin (LATN) at any level, or Classics (CLAS). Up to 12 of the 18 credits may be from a related department (History, Philosophy, Art History, Archaeology, Political Science, Religion), subject to department chair’s approval.

300-level Classics Seminar Course – Required 6 credits

  • CLAS 386: Classical Myth: Theory, Function, Afterlife
  • CLAS 387: Expectasne Patronum? Magical Practice in the Greco-Roman World (not offered 2025-26)

Requirements for the Latin Minor

Minor Requirements – 42 Total Credits

The Latin Minor is intended for students who wish to deepen their understanding of the language and develop a fuller context for the literature and culture of the classical period. Students wishing to earn a Latin Minor must complete 42 credits of coursework as described below.

Latin Language Courses – Required 18 credits

Courses in the Latin language (LATN) at the 200 level or above.

Additional Elective Courses – Required 18 credits

Courses in upper-level Latin (LATN), Greek (GRK) at any level, or Classics (CLAS). Up to 12 of the 18 credits may be from a related department (History, Philosophy, Art History, Archaeology, Political Science, Religion), subject to department chair’s approval.

300-level Classics Seminar Course – Required 6 credits

  • CLAS 386: Classical Myth: Theory, Function, Afterlife
  • CLAS 387: Expectasne Patronum? Magical Practice in the Greco-Roman World (not offered 2025-26)

Classics Courses

(These courses do not presume knowledge of Greek or Latin)

  • CLAS 100.01 Greek Myth in Antiquity and Today

    Entertaining, horrifying, thought-provoking – Greek myths have exercised a powerful fascination continuously from the ancient world to our own times. Recent years have seen a proliferation of modern re-tellings and adaptations of these stories: novels, television series, film, music, theater, video games, and more. This class will focus on a selection of these modern works along with some of the ancient material they are based on. We will explore what functions myth may have fulfilled for people in ancient Greek culture, as well as what meanings they can hold for us.

  • CLAS 111 Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture Program: Myth and Reception

    This course aims to familiarize students with important Greek mythological stories and figures as represented in Greek literature and art. During the course students will be introduced to select methods of studying and interpreting myths and will explore how myths helped the Greeks organize their understanding of the world and approach issues and problems that affected the lives of individuals and communities. Students will study the way in which myths have been received, interpreted, re-imagined, and rendered into artwork, theatrical performances, opera, and dance pieces in modern times and will discuss their relevance today.

  • CLAS 112 The Epic in Classical Antiquity: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts

    It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the early Greek epics for the classical world and the western literary tradition that emerged from that world. This course will study closely both the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as Hesiod’s Theogony, and then consider a range of works that draw upon these epics for their creator’s own purposes, including Virgil’s own epic, the Aeneid. By exploring the reception and influence of ancient epic, we will develop an appreciation for intertextuality and the dynamics of reading in general as it applies to generations of readers, including our own.

  • CLAS 116 Greek Drama in Performance

    What is drama? When and where were the first systematic theatrical performances put on? What can Athenian tragedies and comedies teach us about the classical world and today’s societies? This course will explore the always-relevant world of Ancient Greek theater, its history and development, through the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. We will decode the structure and content of Greek tragedies and comedies, ponder their place in the Athenian society and the modern world, and investigate the role of both ancient and contemporary productions in addressing critical questions on the construction and performance of individual and communal identities.

  • CLAS 121 Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes

    Among Greek heroes, Achilles or Odysseus easily come to mind, while Philoctetes remains largely unknown. However, the story of this hero, who was abandoned by his comrades on the island of Lemnos at the eve of the Trojan War due to his foul-smelling wound, is one of resilience, rebirth and salvation. Through his complicated journey between betrayal and friendship, we will explore works from both Greek epic and tragedy, understanding how ancient myth can help us navigate conversations in the present times, from the burden of toxic masculinity to the importance of mental health.

  • CLAS 123 Greek Archaeology and Art

    This course explores the archaeology and art of the Ancient Greek world. Beginning with prehistory, we will track the development of the material culture of Ancient Greece through the Classical and Hellenistic periods, and conclude by discussing aspects of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires that followed. We will focus throughout on aspects of archaeological practice, material culture and text, art and society, long-term social change, and the role of the past in the present.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 124 Roman Archaeology and Art

    The material worlds of the ancient Romans loom large in our cultural imagination. From the architecture of the state to visual narratives of propaganda, Roman influence is ubiquitous in monuments across the West. But what were the origins of these artistic trends? What makes a monument characteristically ‘Roman’? And how has this material culture been interpreted and understood over time? This course explores the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient Romans both in the city of Rome and across the Empire, and considers the ways in which Roman trends have also influenced modern cultures.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 130 The Greek and Latin Roots of English

    We speak it every day on campus, and it is the second most common language on the planet, but where did English come from? While its basic grammar is Germanic, much of its vocabulary—probably around 60 percent—comes from Greek and Latin. This course explores the varied and fascinating contributions that these two languages have made to English, focusing on the basic building blocks of words—bases, prefixes, and suffixes—while also considering the many routes the Classical languages have taken to enter modern English. This course is suitable for students of science, linguistics, and literature, as well as language lovers generally.

  • CLAS 133 A Day in the Life of Classical Athens

    The course will allow us to explore different facets of Athens, the most famous city of Greece, during the Classical Era (5th century BCE), the time of Socrates and of the Parthenon: from tragedy to philosophy, from art to history, we will pretend to be a citizen living in Athens and see how it differs from our own modern experience.

  • CLAS 145 Ancient Greek Religion

    Greek religion played a crucial role in how the ancient Greeks understood the world around them. Mythology and cosmology shaped their understanding of how the world worked, while the ritual of sacrifice formed the basis of the social fabric underpinning all aspects of Greek society. In this course we will learn about Greece’s polytheistic belief system–its gods and religious rites–as well as examining how religion shaped the daily lives of ordinary Greeks, often in surprising ways. We will read the works of ancient authors such as Homer and Hesiod, study the archaeological remains of sacred sites, inscriptions, and curse tablets, as well as engage with experimental archaeology.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 200 Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture

    This course provides a long-term view of the history, landscape, and material culture of Greece, from prehistory to the present day. While the monuments of ancient Greece are cultural touchstones, Greece has a remarkably diverse past, occupying a borderland between continents, empires, and cultures, both ancient and modern. Classroom study and on-site learning examine the wide range of sources that inform us about the Greek past (texts, archaeology, the environment), and focus especially on the stories told by places and things. Site visits in Athens and on trips throughout Greece highlight the importance of local and regional contexts in the “big histories” of the eastern Mediterranean.

  • CLAS 214 Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity

    In both ancient Greece and Rome, gender (along with class and citizenship status) largely determined what people did, where they spent their time, and how they related to others. This course will examine the ways in which Greek and Roman societies defined gender categories, and how they used them to think about larger social, political, and religious issues. Primary readings from Greek and Roman epic, lyric, and drama, as well as ancient historical, philosophical, and medical writers; in addition we will explore a range of secondary work on the topic from the perspectives of Classics and Gender Studies.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 226 49 BC in Real Time: Outbreak of Roman Civil War

    We will follow the collapse of the Roman Republic into civil war through study of day-by-day accounts of the events from Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon river to march on Rome on January 10th through to the final evacuation of the Roman army to Greece in early March and the dispersal of the Senate to different military camps. This is one of the only periods from the ancient Mediterranean world for which we have enough data to study so closely, and we will explore letters, historical accounts, autobiography, poetry, and archaeological remains to better understand these consequential three months.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 227 Athens, Sparta, and Persia

    Forged in the crucible of wars fought between cultures with diametrically opposed views on politics and society, the fifth century BC witnessed arts, philosophy, and science all flourish in thrilling new ways. The two radically different Greek states of Athens and Sparta first teamed up to defeat the invading Persian empire. While this shocking victory spurred their respective cultures to new heights, their political aspirations drove them to turn on each other and fight a series of wars over control of Greece–all the while with Persia waiting in the wings. We will study these events against the backdrop of the political, intellectual, and cultural achievements of Athens, Sparta and Persia, drawing on the rich body of literature and material culture from this period.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 229 The Collapse of the Roman Republic

    The class will investigate the factors that led a Republican government that had lasted for 700 years to fall apart, leading to twenty years of civil war that only ended with the rise of a totalitarian dictatorship. We will look at the economic, social, military, and religious factors that played key roles in this dynamic political period. We will also trace the rise and influence of Roman warlords, politicians, and personalities and how they changed Roman politics and society. We will study many of the greatest characters in Roman history, as well as the lives of everyday Romans in this turbulent time.

  • CLAS 230 Hellenistic Greek History

    Alexander the Great united the Greek states by force before waging a ten-year campaign that brought Greek influence all the way to India. In the aftermath of Alexander’s death, his generals divided the world into kingdoms that presided over an extraordinary flourishing of arts and science over the next 300 years. However, this period also saw these kingdoms continuously strive for domination over one another until they were in turn dominated by Rome. This class will explore one of the most exciting periods in ancient history, a time of great cultural achievements, larger than life characters, and devastating conflicts.

  • CLAS 240 Rome: From Village to Superpower

    This class will investigate how Rome rose from a humble village of outcasts and refugees to become the preeminent power in the entire Mediterranean. We will trace Rome’s political evolution from kings to the Republic, alongside their gradual takeover of the Italian peninsula. We will study how Rome then swiftly overpowered what had been the most powerful kingdoms in the Mediterranean and established themselves as dominant. Who were these Romans and what were their political, military, religious, and social systems that enabled them to accomplish so much? What critical events shaped their development and ultimately led to total political control of the Mediterranean world?

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 384 Food and Foodways of the Ancient Mediterranean

    We need food to live, but food also plays a crucial cultural, social, and economic role in our lives. As such, the study of food and foodways offers a cornucopia of approaches and insights into the lives of ancient peoples. This seminar will explore what, why, and how food was consumed, produced, traded, and thought about in the ancient Mediterranean world. We will study archaeological and literary sources of ancient evidence alongside modern scholarship and theoretical frameworks. Topics in the second half of the course will be driven by student interests as they develop their own research and present it at the department Symposium.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 386 Classical Myth: Theory, Function, Afterlife

    Stories of gods, heroes and monsters were a pervasive part of life in ancient Greece and Rome, integrated into landscape, the built environment and cultural practice from ritual worship to informal storytelling, and they have retained their power to fascinate through subsequent eras. This seminar will investigate the roles myth played in the ancient world, drawing on literary, historical and archaeological evidence, as well as the most prominent theoretical frameworks for interpreting myths, and some examples of modern adaptations. Topics in the second half of the course will be driven by student interests as they develop their own research and present it at the department Symposium.

    • Fall 2025
    • 6
    • No Exploration

    • Student has completed any of the following course(s): Two Classics (CLAS) courses with a grade of C- or better.
    • CL: 300 level CLAS 300 Level Seminar
    • Clara Hardy 🏫 👤

  • CLAS 387 Expectasne Patronum? Magical Practice in the Greco-Roman World

    Although it often goes unnoticed in our appreciation of the classical world and its cultural practices, magic was a ubiquitous part of everyday life. From love charms, curses, and healing spells, to divination, alchemy and astronomy, everyone had to engage with magic and its potential to influence events. This course will serve as an introduction to the beliefs and the practices of magic in antiquity, as well as the scholarship that documents and theorizes them. Topics in the second half of the course will be driven by student interests as they develop research projects to present at the department Symposium.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CLAS 400 Senior Research Project

    From topics developed in Classics 384, 385, 386, or 387, departmental majors will expand and refine their research into articles to be submitted to a journal of professional style, accepted and edited by the group into a presentable volume.

Greek Courses

These courses all involve acquiring or using ancient Greek

  • GRK 101 Elementary Greek

    From the triceratops (“three-horned-face”) to the antarctic (“opposite-the-bear-constellation”), ancient Greek has left traces in our language, literature (epic, tragedy, comedy), ways of organizing knowledge (philosophy, history, physics), and society (democracy, oligarchy, autocracy). It gives access to original texts from ancient Greece, early Christianity, and the Byzantine Empire, not to mention modern scientific terminology. In Greek 101 students will develop knowledge of basic vocabulary and grammar, and will begin reading short passages of prose and poetry. The class will meet five days a week.

  • GRK 102.02 Intermediate Greek

    Study of essential forms and grammar, with reading of original, unadapted passages.

  • GRK 102.08 Greece at a Crossroads: Intermediate Greek

    Study of essential forms and grammar, with reading of original, unadapted passages.

  • GRK 103 Greek Prose

    Selected prose readings. The course will emphasize review of grammar and include Greek composition.

  • GRK 204 Intermediate Greek Prose and Poetry

    The goal for Intermediate Greek Prose and Poetry is to gain experience in the three major modes of Greek expression most often encountered “in the wild”—prose, poetry, and inscriptions—while exploring the notion of happiness and the good life. By combining all three modes into this one course, we hope both to create a suitable closure to the language sequence and to provide a reasonable foundation for further exploration of Greek literature and culture.

  • GRK 221 Meeting an Anti-Hero: Philoctetes by Sophocles

    Philoctetes is the Greek hero you would not expect to meet, but the one we deserve in the present times. Betrayed by his comrades and abandoned in all solitude on a deserted island, will he be able to return to his life and regain his heroic fame? Let's find it out together, while reading one of the most underrated plays of Greek theater (but no less interesting), the Philoctetes by Sophocles.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • GRK 230 Greece at a Crossroads: Homer: The Odyssey

    Homer is perhaps the foundational poet of the western canon, and his work has been justly admired since its emergence out of the oral tradition of bardic recitation in the eighth century BCE. This course will sample key events and passages from the Odyssey, exploring the fascinating linguistic and metrical features of the epic dialect, as well as the major thematic elements of this timeless story of homecoming.

  • GRK 240 Xenophon’s Oeconomicus

    While ostensibly a dialogue about how to manage one’s household (oikos), Xenophon’s Oeconomicus pr ovides valuable insights into the ideology of land-ownership in classical Greece. In this class, we will read significant portions of Xenophon’s Oeconomicus in Greek as well as other texts, in English and Greek, that explore household economics. Throughout, we will consider what Xenophon’s text reveals about perceptions of gender roles within the home, notions of citizenship, the role of education, and the institution of slavery in the ancient world. Students will also work together to produce a student commentary of the text.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • GRK 255 Euripides’ Alcestis

    What would you do if a god offered you the chance to escape the allotted day of your death? The catch: someone has to die in your place. Whom would you ask? This earliest of Euripides’ plays is also one of the hardest to pin down. Is it a tragedy? A comedy? We know it was performed in the place of a satyr play in the tragic competition of 438 BCE, but what are we to make of it? Students will continue to hone their Greek language skills, while also sharpening their understanding of meter and philological analysis.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • GRK 285 Weekly Greek

    This course is intended for students who have completed Greek 204 (or equivalent) and wish to maintain and deepen their language skills. Students will meet weekly to review prepared passages, as well as reading at sight. Actual reading content will be determined prior to the start of term by the instructor in consultation with the students who have enrolled. There will be brief, periodic assessments of language comprehension throughout the term.

Latin Courses

These courses all involve acquiring or using Latin

  • LATN 101 Elementary Latin

    While many claims are made about the benefits of learning Latin, here’s what we know for sure: it’s a beautiful language, both intensely precise and rigorous, as well as poetically expressive and inviting. Spoken by millions in the ancient world and kept continuously “alive” up to the present, Latin provides a window onto an intellectual and cultural landscape that is both foreign and familiar to modern students. This beginning course will develop necessary vocabulary, forms, and grammar that allows students to begin reading short passages of unadulterated prose and poetry from the ancient Roman world right from the start.

  • LATN 102 Intermediate Latin

    Continuation of essential forms and grammar.

  • LATN 103 Introduction to Latin Prose and Poetry

    This course completes the formal textbook introduction to the morphology and syntax of Latin. The focus will be on consolidating and applying grammatical concepts learned throughout the Latin sequence to the reading of extended selections of authentic Roman prose and poetry.

  • LATN 204 Intermediate Latin Prose and Poetry

    What are the “rules” of friendship? Would you do anything for a friend? Anything? The ancient Romans were no strangers to the often paradoxical demands of friendship and love. The goal for Intermediate Latin Prose and Poetry is to gain experience in the three major modes of Latin expression most often encountered “in the wild”—prose, poetry, and inscriptions—while exploring the notion of friendship. By combining all three modes into this one course, we hope both to create a suitable closure to the language sequence and to provide a reasonable foundation for further exploration of Roman literature and culture.

  • LATN 232 Roman Republic in Code Red: Sallust to the Rescue

    The Roman Republic is in a deep crisis and there seems to be no coming back from it. Is there any recipe for salvation? Sallust tackles the challenge and offers his own interpretation on how to navigate these chaotic and tormented times. Will his advice be valuable even in the present time? We will find out together.

  • LATN 235 The Bacchanalian Affair

    In 186 BC stories of wild and debauched secret religious rites being celebrated under cover of night sparked panic in Rome, which led to a brutal state suppression of the cult. Was this a crackdown on impious behavior or political oppression? Over the course of the term we will translate three sources of evidence to determine what actually happened: the Roman historian Livy’s scintillating and outrageous account of this conspiracy; works by the Roman comedic playwright Plautus that might have shaped Livy’s storytelling; and the Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus, a detailed inscription found in southern Italy discussing the new laws Rome passed to suppress the cult.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • LATN 237 Amor, Furor, Ira: The Epics of Vergil and Ovid

    Two superlative Latin poets; two radically different epic poems. In this course we will read selections from the Aeneid and the Metamorphoses, focusing in particular on each poet's depiction of powerful emotions and their consequences. 

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • LATN 240 The Tortured Poets: Love Poetry from Catullus to Taylor Swift

    Poetry has always offered people a way to express their feelings and connect to their emotions, especially those related to love. From the thrill of new romance to the pain of heartbreak, poets find a haven in their art to declare their conflicting feelings and explore the ecstasy of mutual love or the torture of unrequited love. In this course, we will focus on Roman love/elegiac poetry (poems by Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid) in their original language and cultural context, while exploring themes and tropes that define the genre and still inspire modern love poetry and songs.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • LATN 243 Medieval Latin

    This course offers students an introduction to post-classical Latin (250-1450) through readings in prose and poetry drawn from a variety of genres and periods. Students will also gain experience with medieval Latin paleography and codicology through occasional workshops in Special Collections.

  • LATN 255 Biography, History, and Empire in Tacitus’ Agricola

    How is it possible to be a good person in a morally deficient system? Part biography, part history, part eulogy, and part invective against Roman Emperor Domitian, Tacitus’ Agricola charts the life and military accomplishments of the author’s father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, in modern-day Britain. In conversation with other readings in English, we will engage closely with the style and language of the text in Latin as we explore the constraints and possibilities of genre, and Tacitus’ understanding of geography and ethnicity.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • LATN 285.02 Weekly Latin

    This course is intended for students who have completed Latin 204 (or equivalent) and wish to maintain and deepen their language skills. Students will meet weekly to review prepared passages, as well as reading at sight. Actual reading content will be determined prior to the start of term by the instructor in consultation with the students who have enrolled. There will be brief, periodic assessments of language comprehension throughout the term.

  • LATN 285.08 Greece at a Crossroads: Weekly Latin

    This course is intended for students who have completed Latin 204 (or equivalent) and wish to maintain and deepen their language skills. Students will meet weekly to review prepared passages, as well as reading at sight. Actual reading content will be determined prior to the start of term by the instructor in consultation with the students who have enrolled. There will be brief, periodic assessments of language comprehension throughout the term.