SYLLABUS FOR E240 WORLD LITERATURE TO 400 CE
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2004

*2023 Note. Most hyperlinks and information have been removed from this archival version of the course, leaving mainly the reading schedule.

COURSE INFORMATION. English 240. Tu/Th 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. Beckman 203. Instructor: Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office hours: Tu/Th 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. in Cyber Café. Email: e240_at_ajdrake.com. Course satisfies General Education Requirements, first in a series (240, 242, 244). Catalog: “World masterpieces from the beginning to the fall of Rome, 476 A.D.” Units (3).

REQUIRED TEXTS AT CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE

King James Bible. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. ISBN: 0192835254.

Bhagavad-Gita. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. New York: Three Rivers, 2000. ISBN: 0609810340.

Sappho. Poems. Trans. Mary Barnard. UC Press, 1999. ISBN: 0520223128.

Aeschylus. The Complete Greek Tragedies: Aeschylus II. Eds. Richmond Lattimore and David Grene. 2nd Edition. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN: 0226307948.

Sophocles. Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1984. ISBN: 0140444254.

Euripides. The Complete Greek Tragedies: Euripides 1: Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus. Eds. Richmond Lattimore and David Grene. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1983. ISBN: 0226307808.

West, Thomas and Grace. Four Texts on Socrates. Rev. ed. Ithaca: Cornell, 1998. ISBN: 0801485746.

Seneca. The Tragedies, Volume 1: The Trojan Women, Thyestes. Eds. Slavitt and Bovie. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1992. 080184309X.

Apuleius. The Golden Ass. Trans. Robert Graves. Noonday Press, 1998. ISBN: 0374505322.

Augustine. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998 (reprint). ISBN: 0192833723.

OPTIONAL RESOURCES

Classics Sites: Didaskalia | Perseus | Diotima | Forum | Homeric Singing

Guides: Nietzsche’s Greeks | Mucius Scaevola | Lucretia

QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALS

*2023 Note. Visitors may download the following questions in PDF format: WORLD ANCIENT LITERATURE.

Bible | Gita | Sappho | Aeschylus | Sophocles | Euripides | Aristophanes | Plato

SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED

WEEK 1

Tu. 02/03. Course Introduction.

Th. 02/05. King James Bible: Job.

WEEK 2

Tu. 02/10. King James Bible: Job, begin discussing The Gospel According to Saint Matthew.

Th. 02/12. King James Bible: The Gospel According to Saint Matthew.

WEEK 3

Tu. 02/17. Bhagavad-Gita. (first half)

Th. 02/19. Bhagavad-Gita. (second half)

WEEK 4

Tu. 02/24. Sappho. Poems.

Th. 02/26. Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound.

WEEK 5

Tu. 03/02. Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound.

Th. 03/04. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex.

WEEK 6

Tu. 03/09. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex.

Th. 03/11. Sophocles. Oedipus at Colonus.

WEEK 7

Tu. 03/16. Euripides. Medea.

Th. 03/18. Euripides. Medea.

WEEK 8

Tu. 03/23. Aristophanes. Clouds.

Th. 03/25. Aristophanes. Clouds.

WEEK 9

Tu. 03/30. Plato. Apology of Socrates.

Th. 04/01. Plato. Crito.

WEEK 10

Tu. 04/06. Spring break–no class.

Th. 04/08. Spring break–no class.

WEEK 11

Tu. 04/13. Lucretius. On the Nature of the Universe.

Th. 04/15. Lucretius. On the Nature of the Universe.

WEEK 12

Tu. 04/20. Seneca. The Trojan Women.

Th. 04/22. Seneca. Thyestes.

WEEK 13

Tu. 04/27. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. (first third)

Th. 04/29. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. (second third)

WEEK 14

Tu. 05/06. Apuleius. The Golden Ass. (final third)

Th. 05/08. Augustine. Confessions, Books 1-3.

WEEK 15

Tu. 05/13. Augustine. Confessions, Books 4-6.

Th. 05/15. Augustine. Confessions, Books 7-9.

FINALS WEEK

Th. 05/20. 8:00 – 10:30 a.m.