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Visions of the Good Life in Ancient Greece
| Semester and Year | FA 2012 |
| Course Number | IDSEM-UG1708 |
| Section | 001 |
| Instructor | James Bourke |
| Days | Mon,Wed |
| Time | 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM |
| Units | 4.0 |
| Level | U |
| Foundation Requirement | PREMOD |
Description
How should one live? What is the best life? The thinkers of Ancient Greece contemplated these questions in different ways, and their responses have powerfully influenced subsequent political and social philosophies. In this course, we will examine four ways in which the Greeks thought about and articulated the idea of the good life—the heroic, which understands the good life as striving for distinction and lasting fame through great deeds; the tragic, which sees the pursuit of happiness as fraught with conflict, ambiguity, and finitude; the philosophical, which prizes contemplation and the quest for truth; and the political, which emphasizes the contribution of collective life to individual happiness. Texts will include Homer’s Iliad , selected plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Plato’s Republic , and Aristotle’s Politics . We will explore the visions of the good life these texts present, their possible points of overlap, the internal tensions that complicate them, and their continuing relevance and impact on modern ethical and political ideals.
Syllabus
Course Type
Interdisciplinary Seminars (IDSEM-UG)
