Philosophy and Literature in Ancient Greece: The Ancient Quarrel Between Poetry and Philosophy

Catalog description

In this course, we will study the competing world visions of the epic and dramatic poets of ancient Greece and of the philosophers who followed them. Our investigation will be organized around Plato's claim that there is an "an ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy." Some of the topics we will consider are (1) the nature of the gods and our relation to them, (2) the character of the heroes and their significance as moral exemplars, (3) the role of the arts in education, and the related issues of representation, emotional impact, and catharsis.