In this course you will learn: Why women have been blamed for everything; what Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed really did and said; what the ancient Greeks thought about happiness, virtue, and race; how Athens and Sparta formed very different empires, fought the Persians, and then destroyed each other; why you really SHOULD be thinking about the Roman (Republic and) Empire ALL THE TIME; why the Romans persecuted Christians; how Christians eventually adopted & transformed Classical culture and philosophy; how Rome’s “fall” led to new medieval cultures in Greece, Germany, and the Middle East; and how the increased knowledge and questioning of Classical authors and texts in the Italian Renaissance led to new ways of seeing politics, religion, and gender relations; inspired exploration of the world beyond Europe; gave birth to the scientific revolution; renewed prejudice and intolerance; and helped justify empire, colonialism, and misogyny. Much of the modern world, for better or worse, is built on Western Civilization. Each week we will explore as a large group in lectures and debate in small tutorials key authors, events, and problems in European history and thought.
Topics (by week) & main Authors/Writings discussed in lectures & debated in tutorials:
- Hebrew & Greek Creation Stories: Why women are blamed for all our problems (Genesis/Exodus; Hesiod)
- The Greeks & Empires: Why the Persians were so powerful, the Spartans so tough, & the Athenians so culturally & politically enlightened yet such abusers of power (Herodotus; Thucydides)
- Greek Thought: Why Socrates had to die; Plato should not have gone spelunking; & Aristotle taught us how to be happy, politically smart, & sexist racist imperialists. (Plato/ Aristotle)
- Rome: Why you SHOULD ALWAYS be thinking about the Roman (Republic &) Empire (Cicero/ Lucretius; Tacitus/Seneca)
- Christianity: What Jesus actually said & why the Romans hated Christians (New Testament; Augustine)
- Civilizations after Rome: How Rome became Greek & Islam was born (The Koran; Al-Ghazzali)
- Medieval Cultures: Why monks whipped themselves; holy people killed other holy people; & students partied in University (Benedict; Thomas Aquinas; Maimonides)
- Late Medieval Crises: Why Popes snubbed rulers; friars danced naked & kissed lepers’ sores; women defended Eve; & Plague changed everything (Francis; Christine de Pizan; Isotta Nogarola)
- The Renaissance: How a new knowledge of the past & approach to Classical Antiquity changed the way we think (Petrarch; Valla; Pico della Mirandola; Machiavelli)
- The Reformation & Witch hunts: How the Renaissance reformed Christianity & re-discovered the evil in women (Erasmus; Luther; Calvin: The Hammer of Witches)
- Exploration & Innovation: What the Ancients got wrong. Or, why the equator won’t kill you, dead bodies are fun to play with, & laxatives may not be the ONLY cure (Columbus; Amerigo Vespucci; Thomas More; Montaigne)
- The Scientific Revolution: What the Stars and Magical Potions really taught us . . . & maybe we earthlings aren’t as important as we thought (Galileo; Francis Bacon; Newton)
