Course Objective: The course objective is to familiarize students with the great ideas contained in the original works by the greatest ancient Greeks, chronologically, beginning with the works of Homer, which are seminal to classical and Western civilization (see course syllabus for specific titles studied). Authors of the works studied this year include: Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Euripedes, Sophocles, Aesop, Herodotus, Plutarch, Thucydides, the Pre-Socratics [Thales, Anaximenes, Anamimander, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Melissus, Zeno, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, Hippocrates and Euclid.

Great Books of the Ancient Greeks I First Semester		Great Books of the Ancient Greeks II Second Semester
Weekly Readings		Weekly Readings
Before the first class read the article The Great Conversation, Theogony by Hesiod and Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (we will send you links to these).
Week 1 Hour 1: Intro to the Great Books & Socratic Discussion, and The Great Conversation article by Robert Hutchins and/or Mortimer AdlerHour 2: Theogony – Hesiod; Prometheus Bound – Aeschylus		Week 18 Peloponnesian War* -Thucydides
Week 2 The Iliad – Homer		Week 19 Peloponnesian War* -Thucydides
Week 3 The Iliad – Homer		Week 20 Fragments* – Presocratic Philosophers
Week 4 The Odyssey – Homer		Week 21 Ion, Meno – Plato
Week 5 The Odyssey – Homer		Week 22 Gorgias – Plato
Week 6 Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides – Aeschylus		Week 23 Republic* – Plato
Week 7 Trojan Women, Alcestis – Euripedes		Week 24 Republic* – Plato
Week 8 Aesop’s Fables* –Aesop		Week 25 Symposium – Plato
Week 9 Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus –Sophocles		Week 26 Apology, Euthyphro – Plato
Week 10 Antigone – Sophocles, Hippolytus – Euripides		Week 27 Crito, Phaedo – Plato
Week 11 Histories* – Herodotus		Week 28 Poetics, On the Heavens*, On the Soul* – Aristotle
Week 12 Histories* – Herodotus		Week 29 Ethics*, Metaphysics* -Aristotle
Week 13 Thanksgiving week – No classes on Thurs. and Friday		Week 30 Spring Break
Week 14 Histories* – Herodotus		Week 31 Aristides, Alexander -Plutarch
Week 15 Lycurgus, Solon, Pericles, Alcibiades -Plutarch		Week 32 The Oath, On Ancient Medicine, On Airs, Waters, Places – Hippocrates
Week 16 Medea, Bacchae – Euripedes		Week 33 Elements*, Euclid
Week 17 Oral Exams		Week 34 Oral Exams *Selections Only