Ancient Greek historians associated the ruins of Bronze Age cities with the legends of the Trojan War, the lost city of Atlantis, and the labyrinth of the Minotaur. This course takes a more archaeological approach, combing the ruins for evidence that allow us to reconstruct complex societies that integrated contributions from diverse participants, including enslaved people and foreigners, as well as heroic adventurers. We will investigate the role of African and Asian cultures in early Greek state formation and collapse, technologies of art and writing, and religious traditions featuring a mother goddess. The course requires no background and offers an introduction to archaeological analysis as well as the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean.

Achilles' heel, the Trojan Horse, Pandora's Box, an Oedipal complex, a Herculean task-themes and figures from classical mythology continue to play an important role in our everyday life. We will read the original tales of classical heroes and heroines as depicted by Homer, the Greek tragedians, Vergil, Ovid, and others. Why do these stories continue to engage, entertain, and even shock us? What is the nature and power of myth? Readings from ancient sources in English translation.

Ancient Athens is celebrated as the birthplace of democracy, but participation was limited to a small selection of the city's population: property-holding males. How did the city engage female members of the citizen class, foreign residents, and enslaved people? And how do the political dynamics of this single city compare to those of neighbors such as Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes? This course examines status and identity within and among city-states, including the ancient definitions of ethnicity that informed alliances and rivalries across the Greek world. Our study of material culture and images, alongside written sources, will enable us to understand a broader spectrum of difference and diversity within ancient Greek societies.

This course will engage with the politics and culture of classical Athens to pose questions about democracy and its contests in other times, places, and disciplines. Reading narratives that represent or embody aspects of the evolution of Athenian democracy, including Herodotus’ Histories, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian Wars, comedies, tragedies, and Plato’s philosophy, we will explore themes that facilitated the rise and fall of Athenian democracy with attention to the problems that plagued it, such as educational innovation, economic factors, immigration and gender, class, and the threat of tyranny. Together we will develop questions about the capacity and limitations of democracy that we will pose to outside scholars, including Wellesley professors whose research is relevant as well as marquis visiting lecturers asking them to elaborate how these themes and conflicts play out in other contexts.

Roman chariot races and gladiatorial combat were not just entertainment for the masses, just as the ancient Olympic games were much more than sporting events. Athletic competitions, theatrical performances, and militaristic parades were all public enactments of political and religious ideology. This course examines the spectacle of competitive performances and rituals of power that helped shape ancient Greek and Roman society. Students will investigate ancient writings alongside art-historical and archaeological evidence to consider how social values and identities were constructed through these shared experiences. We will also consider how the modern performances of ancient texts, the Olympic Games, and cinematic representations have emphasized the splendor, drama, and gore of antiquity.

The mythic tales of gods and heroes featured in the epic poems, sacred hymns, and tragic theatre of Greece and Rome were also present in material form as votive statues, on painted vessels, and in architectural decoration. This course will focus on the interplay between textual and visual representations of Olympian deities like Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon; legendary figures such as Heracles, Theseus, and the heroes of the Trojan War; and the infamous women of myth: Helen, Clytemnestra, and Medea. We will analyze how visions of the heroic age-replete with legendary battles, divine seductions, and exotic monsters-provided ancient societies with new opportunities to create a shared history, foster ethnic and civic identity, and transmit ideological values about age and gender.

Antigone in Ferguson, Medea from Mexico, Trojan Women in Syria – why do contemporary playwrights and filmmakers keep returning to ancient Greek tragedy?  This class will combine discussion of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in their original fifth-century BCE context with analysis of their afterlife on the contemporary stage and screen. How do contemporary, cross-cultural re-imaginings of ancient Greek plays like Antigone, Medea and the Trojan Women, unsettle our familiar readings of Athenian drama?  How do these age-old plays create a productive space for questions about politics, community and power that continue to preoccupy us today?  

Every story is a travel story, and this class introduces students to the theme of travel as it appears in a range of literary texts from Homer's Odyssey to Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Toni Morrison's novel Home. We will focus on the ways that mobility, transience, and unsettledness function in these works both to confirm and challenge our ideas of home, identity (both personal and cultural), and the possibilities of return.

Do notions of gender change over time? In this course, we will explore how gender was constructed in antiquity and how it functioned as an organizational principle. Through close readings of selections from Greek and Roman epics, lyric poetry and drama, as well as philosophical and historical texts, we will analyze representations of sex and gender exploring how power was shaped through these depictions.

We tend to place epic and lyric poetry at opposite ends of the spectrum: epic poetry is musty, monumental, and masculine while lyric poems are fresh, exquisite, and feminine. This class will read and discuss the works of those contemporary lyric poets who reach across this divide to embrace Homeric epic -- revising these ancient poems for modern times, for different audiences, in new forms. The class will read the Iliad and Odyssey together with the works of contemporary poets (e.g., Anne Carson, Louise Gluck, Alice Oswald, Adrienne Rich, Derek Walcott) to explore the nature of this contrapuntal conversation about poetic form across time and genre. All readings will be in English.

Through daily visits to archaeological sites and museums, this intensive travel course will explore the complexities of cultural exchange in the ancient Mediterranean world. We will assess first-hand the different forms of evidence for history and ask how ancient literary works, inscriptions, artifacts, and buildings can work together to help us understand ancient places and how they were perceived in the past. We will also consider how the challenging topics of ancient empires, colonization, and long-distance trade are currently being presented to the public, and how heritage programs sponsored by local governments, UNESCO, and private enterprises are changing how residents and visitors access sites and museums.

Not offered in 2026-2027.

War is undoubtedly bad. But human beings have always practiced war. Indeed, war preceded history itself by tens of thousands of years-if by history we mean the written inquiry into the past. But what causes wars? How have wars been justified historically? How are wars won and lost? What are their effects? In this class, we examine a series of case studies in warfare, including the Trojan War, the Peloponnesian War, and the Roman Punic Wars. We will read classic accounts of warfare and theoretical literature about tactics, strategy, and logistics, and also will analyze how war is represented in other media, such as art and film.

The founders of Western civilization were not monotheists. Rather, from 1750 B.C.E. until 500 C.E., the ancient Greeks and Romans sacrificed daily to a pantheon of immortal gods and goddesses who were expected to help mortals achieve their earthly goals. How did this system of belief develop? Why did it capture the imaginations of so many millions for more than 2,000 years? What impact did the religion of the Greeks and Romans have upon the other religions of the Mediterranean, including Judaism and Christianity? Why did the religion of the Greeks and Romans ultimately disappear?

Ancient Rome’s economy was pre-industrial but highly developed and sophisticated. We will study fundamental large-scale questions such as the labor force with both free and slave labor, raw materials acquisition, start-up capital, transportation by land and sea, state involvement in the economy, banking, production methods, marketing, and retail trade. We will also study how individual businesses and trades operated, such as restaurants, furniture making, agriculture, pottery production, construction, stonework, lodging, sex work, handcrafts, textile and clothing production, dry-cleaning, and professional services (e.g., medicine, education). What modern models and approaches, including behavioral economics, help us understand ancient Roman businesses? Possible projects include case studies, hands-on activities (for example, creating ancient-style papyrus sheets, grinding grain, and making thread from wool), and development of business plans.

Ancient Athens is celebrated as the birthplace of democracy, but participation was limited to a small selection of the city's population: property-holding males. How did the city engage female members of the citizen class, foreign residents, and enslaved people? And how do the political dynamics of this single city compare to those of neighbors such as Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes? This course examines status and identity within and among city-states, including the ancient definitions of ethnicity that informed alliances and rivalries across the Greek world. Our archaeological approach will enable us to position written sources alongside material evidence to understand a broader spectrum of difference and diversity within ancient Greek societies.

Roman chariot races and gladiatorial combat were not just entertainment for the masses, just as the ancient Olympic games were much more than sporting events. Athletic competitions, theatrical performances, and militaristic parades were all public enactments of political and religious ideology. This course examines the spectacle of competitive performances and rituals of power that helped shape ancient Greek and Roman society. Students will investigate ancient writings alongside art-historical and archaeological evidence to consider how social values and identities were constructed through these shared experiences. We will also consider how the modern performances of ancient texts, the Olympic Games, and cinematic representations have emphasized the splendor, drama, and gore of antiquity.

Do notions of gender change over time? In this course, we will explore how gender was constructed in antiquity and how it functioned as an organizational principle. Through close readings of selections from Greek and Roman epics, lyric poetry and drama, as well as philosophical and historical texts, we will analyze representations of sex and gender exploring how power was shaped through these depictions.

War is undoubtedly bad. But human beings have always practiced war. Indeed, war preceded history itself by tens of thousands of years-if by history we mean the written inquiry into the past. But what causes wars? How have wars been justified historically? How are wars won and lost? What are their effects? In this class, we examine a series of case studies in warfare, including the Trojan War, the Peloponnesian War, and the Roman Punic Wars. We will read classic accounts of warfare, theoretical literature about tactics, strategy, and logistics, and also will analyze how war is represented in other media, such as art and film.

The founders of Western civilization were not monotheists. Rather, from 1750 B.C.E. until 500 C.E., the ancient Greeks and Romans sacrificed daily to a pantheon of immortal gods and goddesses who were expected to help mortals to achieve their earthly goals. How did this system of belief develop? Why did it capture the imaginations of so many millions for over 2,000 years? What impact did the religion of the Greeks and Romans have upon the other religions of the Mediterranean, including Judaism and Christianity? Why did the religion of the Greeks and Romans ultimately disappear?

Greek 101 and 102 will teach you all you need to know to learn to read Plato, Sappho, Sophocles, and Herodotus in their original language, with no previous knowledge required. While learning Greek, you will also learn another amazing language at the same time: English. Students who study Greek also learn English grammar and vocabulary with a level of detail and clarity that you must experience to believe. Students interested in math and the sciences will excel at Greek and benefit enormously from the vocabulary you learn, since 90% of scientific vocabulary comes from classical languages.  In Greek 101, you will learn how to pronounce ancient Greek, and we will cover more than half of Greek grammar, so by the end of the year, you will be reading Attic Greek.

Greek 102 builds on what you learned in Greek 101 in the fall (see the description of Greek 101 for details) and completes your introduction to the ancient Greek language.  In the last month or so, we’ll turn from the textbook to reading excerpts from actual Greek authors like Lysias, Euripides and Sappho. Steady review throughout the term will reinforce what you learned in the fall at the same time you’re learning new material.  A single year can take you from knowing no Greek at all to being able to read texts that shaped the western literary, philosophical, and political traditions.  Studying Greek will also strengthen your English vocabulary, improve your command of English grammar, and enhance your writing skills.

Study of a selected work from Classical Athenian literature, such as a dialogue of Plato or a tragedy of Euripides. Supplementary reading in English translation from other Greek works to illuminate the text in its literary and cultural context.

Study of selected books in Greek from Homer's Iliad or Odyssey with emphasis on the oral style of early epic; further reading in Homer in translation; the historical background of the period.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright Euripides. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

In this course students will read selections from Herodotus' Histories. We will consider the text in light of the historiographical and literary traditions, with a view toward understanding Herodotus' innovations and inheritance. This course may be taken as either 206 or, with additional assignments, 306.

Study of selected books in Greek from Homer's Iliad or Odyssey with emphasis on the oral style of early epic. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of the Homeric poems in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the epics and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright Euripides. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright, Sophocles. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional readings of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

With its emphasis on politics, ritual, and marriage, early Greek comedy revels in bodily humor and exults in taking down the political and social elite, thus giving us access to perspectives including those of women and enslaved people that are not usually depicted in other genres. Close readings of Aristophanes’ Greek plays combined with analysis of both primary and secondary sources. Texts will be considered in their broader social, political, and literary contexts.

In this course students will read selections from Herodotus' Histories. We will consider the text in light of the historiographical and literary traditions, with a view toward understanding Herodotus' innovations and inheritance.

In a single year that assumes you have not studied Latin before, Latin 101 and 102 will teach you how to read major Latin works in their original language, substantially increase your English vocabulary (thousands of English words come ultimately from Latin), improve your writing skills in English, enhance your command of English grammar, and either build on your knowledge of Spanish, French, or Italian if you’ve already studied one of them or help you learn them if you haven’t (they are called “Romance” languages because they come from Latin, the language of the Romans).  You’ll learn how to pronounce Latin out loud so you know how it sounds and you’ll acquire a reading knowledge, but we will not converse in Latin.  Latin 101 covers roughly half of the year’s material, and by the end of the semester you’ll be able to read simple stories. 

Latin 102 builds on what you learned in Latin 101 in the fall (see the description of Latin 101 for details) and covers the rest of Latin.  In the last month or so, we’ll turn from the textbook to reading actual ancient and medieval Latin texts, such as love poems, letters, and myths.  Steady review throughout the term will reinforce what you learned in the fall at the same time you’re learning new material.  A single year can take you from knowing no Latin at all to being able to read texts that shaped the western literary, philosophical, and political traditions.  Studying Latin will also strengthen your English vocabulary, improve your command of English grammar, and enhance your writing skills.

In conjunction with a thorough review of Latin grammar, we will make the transition to Latin literature and Roman culture. Selections in Latin may include Catullus (poetry), Ovid and the other love elegists, the emperor Augustus' The Deeds of the Divine Augustus, Perpetua (one of the earliest known women Latin authors) and the anonymous novella, The Story of Apollonius King of Tyre. Topics to be studied might include social status and identity (What defined you? Might your status/identity change, whether for better or worse?); Rome's relation to Greece, which Rome conquered but which long dominated Roman culture; or the nature and function of literature in Roman life.

Vergil wrote his epic poem the Aeneid as the origin story for Rome, as Aeneas escapes the fall of Troy and eventually reaches Italy, where he establishes what will lead to Rome.  Vergil wrote this foundational story of Rome at a time of political upheaval and new beginnings, at the start of the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who won the civil wars that ended the Roman Republic.  The epic responds to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but also to Augustus and his new vision of Rome.  We'll study the Aeneid as what became the Roman national epic and as an exploration of Roman values and what it meant to be Roman.  Class sessions will focus on understanding both the Latin and broader questions of duty, love, patriotism, and responsibility through discussion, writing, recitation, Roman coins from Wellesley's collections, and even drawing. 

In this course, we will study three literary genres—Roman comedy, historiography, and elegy - each with its own characteristic view of women, from comedy’s scolding wives and young lovers, to history’s villains and heroines, to elegy’s mistresses. Taking into account authorial perspective, context, language, and style, we will identify how male authors in different genres construct woman as the imagined “other” in society. From Plautus to Ovid, we examine the ways a literary genre reflects cultural perceptions of women and gender in Roman society from Republic to Empire.

Latin literature flourished in the Imperial period, even though it is referred to as "Silver" instead of "Golden" Latin Literature. We'll explore various authors and genres, which may include Seneca (philosophy and drama), Tacitus (history), Pliny (letters), Juvenal (satire), and Martial (epigrams). We'll also examine the impact of rhetoric and the emperor himself on the writing of Latin prose and poetry.

Romans based their history in myth and made their history into myths. This course includes reading from major authors such as Livy, Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Propertius, and Tacitus, focusing on historical myths such as Romulus and Remus, the Rape of the Sabine Women, Tarquinius Superbus, and Hercules and Cacus. We will then examine how later Romans reworked those myths to serve current political purposes and how they transformed historical events into powerful myths.

Petronius' Satyricon and Apuleius' The Golden Ass are two novels from ancient Rome, filled with characters from all walks of life, from aristocrats to professors to poets to former slaves to robbers to ghosts and werewolves and even a human in a donkey's body who returns to his original form and becomes a priest of the Egyptian goddess Isis. Their wild and sometimes preposterous plots range from magic spells and love triangles to an outlandish dinner party to the tale of Cupid and Psyche, the ancestor of the Beauty and the Beast. We'll look at the novel as a literary genre and its relationship to satire, epic, and comedy; its potential audiences in the ancient world; the language of the characters; the real life behind the narratives; and the reception of the Roman novel in modern literature and film, such as Fellini Satyricon.

Ovid is among the most notorious and playful Roman poets, a figure who enjoyed literary success at a young age only to be later exiled by the emperor Augustus before finishing his epic poem The Metamorphoses. In this advanced Latin course, students will study Ovid in his cultural and literary context by reading selections from his works such as the Ars Amatoria, Amores, Met., and Fasti. Students will also learn about the metric conventions and stylistic features of Ovid's poetry. Possible course themes may include gender and sexuality, Roman and Greek myth, or Ovid’s Rome.