CLAS106 PO

From the rage-filled rivalries of Homer's heroes to the Hellenistic game of thrones launched by Alexander the Great, vigorous debates about the character and consequences of (good) leadership were a prominent feature of ancient Greek literature and politics (ca. 750-300 B.C.). Here, through close reading and discussion of battlefield harangues and Assembly deliberations, of despotic tyranny and democratic nudging, we will explore together the contours of these ancient Greek conversations as leadership evolved and eventually began to be theorized. Our seminar readings will include both modern scholarship and ancient sources, the latter drawn primarily from Homer's Iliad, from the historiographies of Herodotus and Thucydides, and from the writings of the fourth-century scholar-warrior Xenophon (including his Socratic Memorabilia, his campaign memoir Anabasis, and his Cyropaedia, an extended meditation on the ideal leader). Letter grade only.

PO Area 1 Requirement, Classics, History