Welcome to CC200 The Classical World skidmore /classics/courses/ 2012spring / cc200 /

1. Welcome to CC200 The Classical Worldwww.skidmore.edu/classics/courses/2012spring/cc200/

2. What is a “classic”? How do we recognize it? • “classic(al)” genres stand the test of time • classical music • classic rock • literature – “The Harvard Classics” • “classic” invention and creationclassic iPod, classic cars, classic homes, classic movies

3. Some definitions from Wikipedia • Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times • Classic rock … features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the 1970s … [that] appeal[s] mainly to adults, rather than teenagers (despite this, many classic rock acts consistently attract new generations of fans). • The Harvard Classics … is a 51-volume anthology of classic works from world literature, compiled and edited by Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot …. [To Eliot,] a liberal education could be obtained by spending 15 minutes a day reading from a collection of books that could fit on a five-foot shelf. • A classic car is an older car; the exact meaning is variable. The Classic Car Club of America maintains that a car must be between 20 and 40 years old to be a classic [but also defines it as] a "fine" or "distinctive" automobile, either American or foreign built, produced between 1925 and 1948.

4. CC200: Classical WorldWhat is Classics? • T.S. Eliot, “What is a Classic?” (lecture, Fordham University, 1945): a classic … • has survived the ravages of history • retains its original greatness and significance • must have something to say to each generation of audiences • must be open to reinterpretation and reinvention • What do we mean by the “Classical World”? Are there “classics” within Classics? Why do we prioritize some works from antiquity?

5. CC200: What is the Classical World? • Classics or Classical Studies, the initial field of study in the humanities: • languages, literature, history, art, archaeology, philosophy and other aspects of the ancient Mediterranean ca. 1000 BCE to ca. 500 CE. • “Classics" < Latin • classis: “rank, “level”; classicus, or "belonging to the highest class of citizens,” implying superiority, authority, durability • Greeks classified literary works as (un)worthy of inclusion in a canon(“carpenter’s measuring stick”) Scholars at the world’s first great Library of Alexandria labelled writers whose works were deemed worthy of inclusion the οἱ ἐκριθέντες (hoi ekrithentes) or “the included,” and whom the Romans then called classici

6. The foundation of the Classical World - Greek and Latin language- ἡ ἑλληνικὴ γλώσσα (hēhellênikêglōssa)- lingua Latina “I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat” - Sir Winston Churchill, Roving Commission: My Early Life (1930)

7. Periodization of the Classical World

8. Geography of the Classical World Republican Age and Augustan Age Homeric AgePericlean Age Rome Troy Ithaca Athens Sparta

9. Sources for the Classical World

10. Syllabus for the Classical World

11. CC200: Classical WorldCommunity • What is community to us? • groups of individuals with similar interests • cities, states, nations; religious, political, etc., groups • social media ( ) • What was community to the Greeks? • synoikisis (συνοίκισις) – “living together, unification, an association” • What was community to the Romans? • communitas – “society, fellowship”

12. CC200: Classical World • Next class: Wednesday, 11.15am • Roundtable discussion on what classicists do, with • Prof. Michael Arnush (Univ. of Pennsylvania) • Prof. Dan Curley (Univ. of Washington) • Prof. Leslie Mechem (Univ. of Pennsylvania) • Prof. David Porter (Princeton University) • Prof. Jessica Westerhold (Univ. of Toronto) • Read: D.M. Schaps, Handbook for Classical Research (excerpts / handout)