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Semester 2

Early Greek Philosophy (GREE10014)

Subject

Greek

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed at least 3 courses in Classics (at least 2 of which must be in Ancient Greek) at grade B or above for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course offers a survey of early Greek philosophy through readings in Greek and in translation.

Course Description

A survey of Early Greek Philosophy, starting from the Homeric and Hesiodic background, down to the early Atomists, including an introduction to early Greek cosmological speculation and the early history of the problem of knowledge. We will also consider the relation between philosophical content and literary form. Readings will be in Greek with additional material in translation. The syllabus will be approximately as follows (the course booklet will be authoritative): Week 1: intro; The Homeric and Hesiodic world-view; Week 2: The Ionians: Thales, Anaximander; Week 3: Anaximenes; Xenophanes; Week 4: Pythagoras and early Pythagoreanism; Heraclitus 1; Week 5: Heraclitus 2; Parmenides 1; Week 6: Parmenides 2; Anaxagoras 1; Week 7: Anaxagoras 2; Zeno; Week 8: Empedocles 1; Empedocles 2; Week 9: Philolaus and fifth-century Pythagoreanism; Melissus; Week 10: The Atomists: Leucippus and Democritus 1 and 2; Week 11: Diogenes of Apollonia; recap: Aristotle on the Presocratics. Instruction in Greek will be given in the form of separate language tutorials.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 30%, Coursework 70%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

This course CANNOT be taken alongside Early Greek Philosophy in Translation (CLTR10008), Greek 2A (GREE08007) or Greek 2B (GREE08008). Unless you are nominated on a Classics or HCA exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in two 3rd year Classics courses each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a third course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the extremely limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course