Ancient Utopias/Imaginary Places

Catalog description

Literary depictions of idealized imaginary societies already had a long tradition when Thomas More produced his Utopia in 1516. This course explores the ancient Greco-Roman utopian tradition, examining both literary depictions of mythological or fantastic utopias (or dystopias), including representations of societies remote in time ("the Golden Age") or place (e.g., Homer's Phaeacia), and works that critique contemporary values or attempt to describe idealized possible societies (e.g., Plato's Republic ). These Greco-Roman depictions in turn provided the foundation for the utopian (and dystopian) tradition as it continued through the Medieval age and into modernity, and we will also follow that tradition.