SYLLABUS
8/26/2009 - Greetings! Sarah, Margaret, and Brandon, Here is the revised schedule of readings, as we discussed at our first meeting. I'll have a modest hand-out on the weekly "mini-essay" ready for class on Monday.
-- Monday 8/31: READ: 1. SWDS = Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea (Anchor Books): 1) the boxed 2-paragraph statement on "The Hinges of History" + the series' titles; 2) the Dedication; 3) the 2 poem-quotations from Homer and W. B. Yeats; 4) Contents; 5) INTRODUCTION = pages 3 + 5-14; 6) just glance at Glossary: 267-274; 7) Notes & Sources for the INTRODUCTION: 275-276; 8) Chronology: 285-287; 9) Acknowledgements: 288-289.
2. Meditations = Marcus Aurelius' philosophical, spiritual, and personal reflections, called Meditations - The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions - J. Needleman & J.P. Piazza, translators): 1) pages ix-xvi: Introduction by J.N. + 2) xvii-xxx: Historical Intro by J.P.P. + 3) just glance at the Glossary & Further Reading: 97-110.
4. Phaedo = Plato's Socratic dialogue Phaedo (Oxford World Classics - David Gallop, translator): 1) vii-xxiii: Introduction + 2) just glance at Explanatory Notes & the helpful Index: 80-105.
-- M 9/14 - SWDS: 17-upper34: Ch. I - The Warrior + Phaedo: 1-13
-- M 9/21 - SWDS: mid34-49: Ch. I - The Warrior + Phaedo: 14-mid27
-- M 9/28 - SWDS: 53-mid69: Ch. II - The Wanderer + Phaedo: mid27-lower41
-- M 10/5 - SWDS: mid69-75: Ch. II - the Wanderer + 79-lower85: Ch. III - The Poet + Phaedo: bottom41-mid56
-- M 10/12 - SWDS: lower85-100: Ch. III - The Poet + Phaedo: mid56-top67
-- M 10/19 - SWDS: 103-lower119: Ch. IV - The Politician and the Playwright + Phaedo: 67-79
-- M 10/26 - SWDS: bottom119-136: Ch. IV - The Politician and the Playwright + Meditations: 1-14
-- M 11/2 - SWDS: 139-lower164: Ch. V - The Philosopher + Meditations: lower14-lower31
-- M 11/9 - SWDS: bottom164-192: Ch. V - The Philosopher + Meditations: bottom31-48
-- M 11/16 - SWDS: 195-214: Ch. VI - The Artist + Meditations: 49-66
-- M 11/23 - SWDS: lower214-228: Ch. VI - The Artist + Meditations: 67-79
-- M 11/30 - SWDS: 231-upper247: Ch. VII - Greco-Roman meets Judeo-Christian + Meditations 81-95
-- M 12/7 - SWDS: upper247-264; Ch. VII - Greco-Roman meets Judeo-Christian + REPORTS on research-papers