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Classics Modules in Second and Final Year Arts, 2012–13

Our Second Arts and particularly Final Year Arts courses offer you a range of different modules, allowing you to focus either on language study or on visual and intellectual culture. Information on how to choose modules are given in the respective course outlines.

See the First Arts page for information on first-year modules.

The modules are grouped below into five areas. These are presented not in order of course code (which is more or less randomly assigned) but roughly in order of progression. See the course handbooks for full details (including outline reading lists).

• (A) Core Modules
• (B) Latin
• (C) Greek
• (D) Visual and Intellectual Culture
• (E) Further Options

(A) Core Modules

CCS204 Visualising antiquity

In this module we will addresses the rise of Panhellenism and city-state dynamics, from their earliest traces through to their height in Classical culture, and their legacy under Rome. Students will be introduced to the changing nature of Greek society in terms of religion, athletic display, artistic competition and the desire for peace. Archaeological sites discussed include Athens, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Olympia, Epidauros, Sikyon, the Amphiareion, Eleusis and Messene. The module is primarily an archaeological study but draws on the literary sources of (e.g.) Hesiod, Pindar, Herodotus, Thucydides, Suetonius, Pausanias, and Christian authors.

CCS201 Studies in the Ancient Imagination

This module takes an in-depth look at Imperial public art and architecture and the representation of ethnic and political realities from Augustus to Septimius Severus. The Roman conceptualisation of the fringe of empire and its portrayal at the administrative core will be investigated in terms of Roman Imperial expansion and later contraction and collapse. Artistic influence and hybrid imagery will be explored in terms of transition and flux, both geographically and ideologically, while the potency of such imagery will be explored through their legacy and exploitation under Pope Sixtus V, Napoleon and Mussolini.

Topics include the Prima Porta, the Ara Pacis and the Campus Martius complex, the Colosseum, The Arch of Titus (and the destruction of the Second Temple with reference to the Temple Mount, Masada and Herodium), Trajan’s Forum and Column, Hadrian’s Pantheon, Temple of Deified Trajan, Temple of Venus and Roma and Mausoleum, Hadrian’s architectural legacy in Greece, the equestrian statue and column of Marcus Aurelius and the Severan architectural project in Leptis Magna, amongst others.

CC316 Barbarians

This module examines the constructed images and historical realities of some of the most important non-Graeco-Roman peoples in the ancient world. The three main directions which will be followed throughout the module are: (1) an analysis of the concept of ’barbarian’ in the Classical world; (2) an examination of selected Greek and Roman sources on barbarians, especially Celts and Germani; (3) a study of these same peoples ’from within’, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence. We will investigate the role which the so-called barbarian peoples of Northern Europe played in ancient history, from the earliest documented contacts with the Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age, to the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.

CCS305 Expressions of Power in the Roman World  

(1) Archaeology of Power (O’Donoghue, Mondays)
This part of the module examines the material remains of pre-Roman Italy and the Roman Republic. It explores how élite groups expressed their authority, and above all else their status, through material displays of wealth and public benefactions. We will begin with an overview of the Etruscans; studying the architecture, temples and complex funerary monuments of aristocratic groups, and how these were employed to help maintain and establish power over sub-élite and competing groups. Moving on to the Roman Republic, we consider how the leading Romans families used similar methods to display their status. We investigate the phenomenon of the ’Roman Villa’, the patronage of monuments and public amenities and portraiture.

(2) Power and Persuasion (Kelly, Fridays)
The art of persuasive speech, and indeed script, constituted a major instrument of power in Rome and, as such, this part of the module will explore how this power was wielded and exploited by various political authorities. In the lecture series we will be examining powerful exchanges (encompassing speeches and written correspondence) between the leading men of Rome. Our investigation will begin with the great trials, speeches and letters of Cicero, followed by an excursus on the nature of patronage and poetic sub-text in Virgil and Ovid, and culminating with an examination of Pliny as either self-promoter or humble servant.

The module will introduce a range of letters, orations, poetic verse, legal prosecutions and defenses and will explore the political, educational and administrative contexts behind their delivery. The survival of the associated texts serves to mould our appreciation, and perhaps also fuel our misconceptions, of the reputations of the leading men in Rome (and the regimes under which they rose to prominence).

The module is essentially an investigation into the social history (with reference to the textual sources and complemented by artistic, architectural and archaeological evidence) pertaining to the greatest speeches and publications that shaped Roman society. 

(B) Latin

CC230/CC232 Beginning Latin Parts I and II    

These modules introduce students to Latin, one of the most important languages in the history of western civilisation. You will gradually become acquainted with the pronunciation and the grammar of the language of Rome, with the aim of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to access Latin texts in their original form. Of course no previous knowledge of Latin is expected.

CCS202/CCS203 Latin and Historical Linguistics Parts I and II

These modules complement and complete ’Beginning Latin’. In each semester one weekly class is spent consolidating the grammar formally taught in that module, while the other class presents Latin in its historical context. Primary sources such as inscriptions and manuscripts will be used to investigate the ancient Indo-European roots of Classical Latin, as well as its later transformation into the various Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, etc.).

CCS304 Explorations in the Latin Language

This is a course of language study centred on grammar consolidation and guided reading of select passages from late antique and medieval texts, designed to enable a student with (approx.) one year’s prior study of Latin to progress towards confident independent reading and understanding of the language. We will begin at the point where the beginners’ course ended last year and continue to consolidate grammar, syntax and the broader study of the language including philology and manuscript transmission. The course will closely complement and dovetail with the more literary study followed in CCS309.

CCS309 Reading Texts in Latin

Strand A
This module is intended for students starting the third semester in Latin and focuses on building confidence in reading Latin prose. It moves in parallel with the language-oriented module CCS304, Explorations in the Latin Language. Texts will be provided by the instructor and selected in light of students’ interests.

Strand B
This module is intended for students who have studied Latin for four semesters or more and is designed to help students gain more familiarity with the language of single authors. Texts are chosen each year in the light of the interests of the group. The module is taught in a combined group with the graduate module CC517/MV513 listed below.

CC320 Studies in Latin Literature

Strand A
A selection of Latin texts will be read and studied in detail with an eye to their literary and linguistic character and to the cultural background from which they emerged. Texts are chosen from year to year from the Classical, Late Antique and medieval phases of the language, selected in the light of the needs and interests of the group. This year the module will be centred on poems of Catullus and the Letters of Pliny the Younger.

Strand B
This module is intended for students who have studied Latin for four semesters or more and is designed to help students gain more familiarity with the language of single authors. Texts are chosen each year in the light of the interests of the group. The module is taught in a combined group with the graduate module CC518/MV513 listed below .

CC321 Latin Texts from Medieval Ireland and Britain

This module explores the creative and intellectual achievement of early Christian Ireland and Britain. Selected Latin texts from Insular sources will be studied in detail in the original language, focussing on historiography, theology, and verse. The texts chosen will include such authors as St Patrick, Adomnán, Columbanus and Bede, varied according to the prior knowledge and interests of the group. Close attention will be paid to the interaction of ecclesiastical learning with vernacular culture and languages. Students taking this module should already have acquired basic grammatical proficiency and independent reading skills in the Latin language. Close guided reading will, however, form a major part of class work.

Primary texts will be supplied in class.

CC517/MV315 Advanced Classical and Medieval Latin

This module will explore ancient and medieval traditions of natural philosophy through a close reading of two key Latin texts. The first half of the module (12 classes) will focus on Lucretius’ didactic poem De natura rerum (On the nature of the universe), and particularly on his analyses of natural phenomena in books 5–6. In the second half of the module we will read parallel treatments in the seventh-century Hiberno-Latin text De mirabilibus sacrae scripturae (On the miracles of sacred scripture), a work heavily influenced by Christian theology. The module will include some linguistic and palaeographical work, depending on the interests of the group.

Primary texts will be supplied in class.

CC518/MV315 Advanced Classical and Medieval Latin

This module is intended for students who have studied Latin for four semesters or more and is designed to help students gain more familiarity with the language of single authors. Texts are chosen each year in the light of the interests of the group. The module is taught in a combined group with the module CC320 listed above.

 

(C) Greek

CCS205/CCS206 Beginning Ancient Greek Parts I and II

This module is an introduction to the Ancient Greek language for complete beginners. It assumes no prior knowledge of the Greek language (or of Latin, for that matter), and will begin by introducing the Greek alphabet and its Classical pronunciation. The module aims to build confidence in reading Greek through regular and structured practice exercises. You will gain a gradual familiarity with the basics of Greek grammar in the process. The module is demanding, though rewarding, and classes are conducted in an informal and interactive manner. During the module we will also touch on the relationship of the Greek language to English and other Indo-European languages.

CCS308 Reading Ancient Greek Texts

This module is for students who have studied Greek for approximately one academic year. Our task will be to build towards full fluency by reading from Section 7 in Reading Greek and moving on to selected texts from classic authors. The level and the focus will be determined by the needs and interests of the group, but we will focus on excerpts from Homer’s Odyssey and Aristophanes’ Wasps and a selection of manageable Attic prose.

CCS310 Studies in Ancient Greek Literature

This module continues from CCS308 with more emphasis on independent reading. The texts chosen will again be determined by the particular interests of group members, but we hope to include selections from the Pseudo-Lucian and the extraordinary language of the New Testament — the only ancient Greek text to have had a direct and unmediated influence on the shaping of western European culture.

(D) Visual and Intellectual Culture

CCS207 Studies in Ancient Literature

This module explores the origins and development of Greek tragic drama, one of the key traditions in ancient literature and a major influence on the subsequent development of Western literature. A selection of plays will be studied in detail with regard to a series of central themes: the epic inheritance, family breakdown, mental instability and the concept of the inherited curse.

CC211 Early Greece

This course concentrates on Greece from the end of the Bronze Age to the Persian Wars, using a variety of artistic, archaeological and literary sources. The changing nature of society through the 'Dark Age', Geometric and Archaic periods is explored, including topics such as the emergence of the polis and hoplite warfare.

CC228 The History of the Roman Empire

This module offers a survey of the Roman Empire from Augustus to Theodoric. We will begin by exploring the rise of Augustus and the Imperial Idea, after which we will examine some of the great imperial families, such as the Flavians and Antonines. We then investigate the effect of Roman rule in the provinces. The next part of this module deals with the instability of the third century and Constantine’s transformation of the Roman world into a Christian one divided between East and West. Finally, we examine the breakup of the Roman world and the rise of the successor kingdoms. Students will be introduced to the study of primary historical sources, with a focus on biography, and learn how these can be used to construct historical arguments.  

CC227 The Oral: Research and Presentation Skills

This module will examine approaches to researching gender identities in the ancient world using a variety of literary, artistic and archaeological sources. We will begin with the persona of the Bronze Age hero in Greek thought before moving onto the roles of men and women in Classical Athenian society. Subsequently we will journey westwards and examine the seemingly peculiar gender identities of the Etruscans. Next, we will analyse how the roles of men and women change during the course of the Roman Empire. Finally, we will consider how the coming of Christianity affected the gendered ideals of Roman society in Late Antiquity. During the course of the semester you will be given a list of topics relating to the theme of gender. You should choose from the list one topic that interests you, and hold a meeting with the module co-ordinator. You will also be given a specific assignment, such as a book review or preliminary investigative assignment, which you should submit in typed form by the end of week 8 of the semester. On the basis of your research, you will put together a presentation and prepare to deliver it, as if to an audience in a class or seminar. At the very end of the semester, you will formally deliver your presentation in front of one of the staff members.

A suggested reading list will be provided for each lecture and topic.

CCS301 Representing Rome

This module explores the creation of the idea of Rome in four texts: Virgil’s account of the city’s founding, Livy’s account of the city’s early history, and two cinematic accounts of the aftermath of Marcus Aurelius’s death. In all four cases we will examine the techniques used to create the idea of Rome that proved so influential and long-lived. Part of this examination will focus on the material aspects of these texts: how the works of Virgil and Livy were transmitted to us and what effect that has for our knowledge of them, as well as the techniques used by filmmakers.

CCS307 Ireland and the Classics: The Roman inheritance in Irish Literature

In this module we will examine the reception, interpretation and transmission of Latin texts in contemporary Ireland. We will begin by taking a general look at reception theory, and then go back to the beginnings of Classical reception by exploring how the Romans appropriated the works of their Greek predecessors and refashioned them to create their own original works. After a brief examination of the history of Classical reception in Ireland from the Middle Ages to the present day, we will look at selected passages from Virgil, Horace and Ovid, and see how they have been received and refigured, through translation, imitation or allusion, by a number of modern and contemporary Irish poets.

CCS302 Classics & Continuity: From Seneca to Shakespeare

This module is a study of the reception of Classical drama in English literature, focussing on the tragedies of Seneca and their impact on those of Shakespeare. From Seneca we study Thyestes and The Madness of Hercules; from Shakespeare we study Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth. We start with an analysis of Senecan tragedy, laying particular stress on the theme of evil, evil above all in the ruler. We then proceed to look at how Shakespeare appropriates this theme. As a special case we will examine how we can only appreciate Macbeth fully through a knowledge of Seneca’s tragedy Hercules Furens. 

CCS306 Iconography: The Classical Tradition in Western Art

In this module we will study the creation and re-creation of images from Classical mythology and ancient history in western art and architecture across the whole sweep of Western cultural history, from Antiquity to modern times. We will focus on three diverse moments with a particular emphasis on the reception of the tradition in Italy: (I) Greek vase painting and Roman Imperial Art; (II) Italian Renaissance painting, c. 1450-1550 AD; (III) Mussolini’s Italy (1922-1939). Independent research will be central to your work on this module, and towards the end of the module each student will prepare a PowerPoint presentation and deliver it to a live audience of other class members.

(E) Further Options

CCS303.II Special Research Project in Classics (restricted entry)

This module is designed for advanced third-year students who wish to pursue independent research during the final undergraduate year. Each student project is supervised by a member of staff, so students interested in pursing such projects should talk with potential supervisors at the earliest opportunity, ideally at the end of the Second Year. In any case, a written proposal for the project is due on the last day of September.1 This proposal must be agreed with the supervisor and should include an outline of the proposed project, as well as preliminary annotated bibliography. The form of the project is open, but it should represent the equivalent of a 7,000 word essay and should be submitted in time for the summer examination session. Normally, not more than four students will take this module in any year. 

SG217 A Field of Gods and Men: Ancient myths of the Celts

The medieval Celtic peoples left us a wide range of texts recording traditional stories and legends which have a background in the ancient mythology of the Celts, some of which are introduced in the first-year module SG116. This second-year module uncovers more of the detail in these texts, looking at the ways in which the medieval Irish and Welsh received and represented these tales of pre-Christian gods. The module also takes account of the material that we have from ancient times themselves, in the inscriptions and iconography of the early Celts of Britain and Continental Europe, and introduces the student to the ways such sources cast light on the belief systems of the Celts in early history and prehistory. The quote ’A field of gods and men’ is a translation of a phrase on a Celtic inscription from northern Italy of the first century BC, and indicates a place where, it seems, gods and men would be linked in some way through ritual practices.

Further details from Dr Clodagh Downey in Gaeilge (clodagh.downeynuigalway.ie).

PI213 Ancient Philosophy

AThis course will introduce students to Greek philosophy through a discussion of a number of key themes. These will include the distinction between the one and the many, questions of being and becoming, justice, happiness and the good life. We begin with the Pre-Socratics, devote several weeks to Plato and Aristotle, and conclude with a discussion of the Hellenistic schools of Scepticism, Cynicism and Stoicism.

Further details from Dr Nick Tosh in Philosophy (nick.toshnuigalway.ie).

SG322 The Cultural Impact of Christianity on the Celtic World

This module will examine some of the cultural consequences of the coming of Christianity to medieval Ireland and Wales, especially in the area of reading and writing. Among the topics covered will be the early history of Christianity in Ireland and Wales, the earliest writings from the Celtic-speaking world, religious literature in Irish and Latin, the contribution of the Irish to Christianity and learning abroad, and the impact of Christianity and the new learning on Irish vernacular culture.

Further details from Dr Clodagh Downey in Gaeilge (clodagh.downeynuigalway.ie).

    

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