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CLASSICS 3903G/ARTHUM 3391F:

USES OF THE BODY IN DEMOCRATIC ATHENS Prof. A. Suksi

IMPORTANT NOTE: this course outline is subject to changes before the course begins. This course will be offered online.

Wine-cooler, ca 510 BCE, with Hoplites on Dolphins. Metropolitan Museum of Art

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-in-a-bek), Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-no-show-nee), Lūnaapéewak (Len-ahpay- wuk) and Attawandaron (Add-a-won-da-run) peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. This land continues to be home to diverse Indigenous peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom we recognize as contemporary stewards of the land and vital contributors of our society. COURSE DESCRIPTION In this course we will explore the uses and representations of human bodies in the culture of democratic Athens in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. We will consider questions like: How was the vulnerability of the body foundational to Athenian political and philosophical discourses? How was the body used as a performative medium for cultural expression both on-stage and off? How did Athenian culture make use of the human body in the political, social, rhetorical, military,

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ritual and artistic contexts of democratic Athens? Readings will include selections from Athenian tragedy, comedy, rhetoric, and philosophy, as well as some modern theoretical approaches to cultures of the body. Our discussions of the body in democratic Athens will found our reflections on how human bodies are engaged with our own current cultural contexts.

TIME AND PLACE: Tuesdays 1:30-3:30 pm and Thursdays 1:30-2:30 pm. Online. COURSE OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES After successfully completing this course, students are expected to be able to: 1. Identify many of the ways that the culture of democratic Athens made use of human bodies. 2. Discuss the reciprocal relationships between Athenian culture and the bodies of its inhabitants, including citizens and slaves, gendered bodies, foreigners and native-born, allies and enemies, healthy and diseased, dead and living. 3. Interpret the ancient evidence about Athenian bodies, and explain the limitations of that evidence. 4. Articulate the ways in which Athenian culture was embodied, and to compare similar processes in other cultures, such as our own. 5. Analyze a selection of cultural products from democratic Athens, including painting and sculpture, theatre, and philosophical and rhetorical texts. 6. Apply some theoretical approaches to the discussion of how bodies were implicated in theatre, sport, ritual, war, politics, and sexuality. 7. Develop a research question, design a method of approach to that question, and produce a presentation of the results of that research in a medium of the student’s choice. After completing this course, students will have developed the following transferable skills and abilities: 1. Historical perspective: An understanding that the cultural, political and social phenomena of any time and place need to be understood within the cultural contexts of which they are a part. 2. Critical thinking: the ability to analyze, evaluate and offer a coherent interpretation of available evidence. 3. Communication skills: the ability to express your thoughts clearly and concisely, both in writing and orally. 4. Collaboration: the ability to contribute to shared work on a collaborative discussion or project. 5. Time management: the ability to plan available time and to organize work so that it can be completed with care by a given deadline. 6. Research skills: the ability to identify an interesting and viable research question, to develop a method of research for arriving at an answer to that question, and to document the research and its results in a medium that can be communicated with others.

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YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Prof. Aara Suksi (she, her) e-mail: asuksi@uwo.ca Dept. of Classical Studies (Lawson 3205) My office: Lawson 3225 Office Hours: TBA I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics. Currently, I am serving as Associate Director of SASAH.

I came to Western in 2001, having completed my PhD in Classics at the University of Toronto. I have also worked at the University of Alberta. I teach courses in Greek language and literature at all levels. My research is in the field of Greek literature, especially Homer, Greek Drama, and the Ancient Greek Novel.

PRIMARY TEXTS

Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound Sophocles. Philoctetes Sophocles. Antigone Selections from Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Selections from Greek oratorical texts Aristophanes. Women of the Thesmophoria Aristophanes. Lysistrata Plato, Phaedo Plato, Symposium

All of these, as well as a selection of additional secondary readings, will be made available online on the course OWL site. EVALUATION (This evaluation structure is subject to minor changes before the course begins in January)

1. Proposal for a research project, with annotated Bibliography 10% Due Thursday February 11. See more below.

2. 3 Short reflection papers, due February 4, March 4, and March 25. 30% Students will write three short (750 word) papers, each one offering a focused analysis of a particular aspect of an Athenian cultural product (a text, image, performance, ritual, etc), and its representation of the human body. The reflection papers will not require that you do extra

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research, but should rather offer an organized critical response demonstrating attentiveness to the material, coherent thinking, and carefully crafted writing.

3. Research Project due Thursday April 1 20% See more information below.

4. Preparation and Participation 20% Students are expected to participate each week in online class discussion of the assigned course materials. Weekly discussion questions will be posted on OWL. Students should be ready to share thoughtful and informed responses to these questions, and to share others that arise for them as they engage with the course materials.

5. Final Exam (take-home) 20% The final exam will consist of three parts: 1. Brief identification of selected key terms. What is it and why is it important for our understanding of the course material? 2. Commentary on items selected from the course content. These might be passages from the text or images. You will identify the item, and then comment on it as fully as possible. Students will be expected to apply their knowledge of the assigned materials as well as of key concepts covered in the course. 3. An essay question. You will have a choice of three topics, all of which will require a focused comparative analysis of the material studied in the course. Your essay should be organized and it should demonstrate your knowledge of the materials and concepts covered in the course.

IMPORTANT GRADING POLICIES

1. Western Policy on Academic Consideration for Absences https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf Students seeking academic accommodation for any missed tests, exams and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must either complete a Self-Reported Absence Form (provided the conditions for submission are met) or apply to the Office of the Dean of their home faculty and provide documentation. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION CANNOT BE GRANTED BY THE INSTRUCTOR OR DEPARTMENT. In addition to completing a Self-Reported Absence Form or applying to the Office of the Dean of their home faculty, students seeking academic accommodation must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or Student Medical Certificate, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence. 2. Please do not ask to do extra work to make up for a disappointing grade.

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COLLABORATION AND INDIVIDUAL WORK Your learning experience will be enhanced by group discussion, sharing findings with your colleagues, and asking questions of your instructors and your classmates. It’s a good strategy to create study groups, to test each other on course materials, and to support each other throughout the course. At the same time, it is important that you be aware that you are expected to complete all tests, exams, and submitted written assignments as your own original work. These they are to be completed by yourself and in your own words. You should discuss ideas, quiz each other on facts, and learn from each other. You SHOULD NOT take each other’s words and original ideas and present them as your own in a paper or on a test or exam. This would be considered plagiarism and is an academic offence on the part of all who are involved. If you have any questions about what does and does not constitute an academic offence, please discuss this with me. Also see the Academic Handbook section on scholastic offences: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf WEBSITE and COMMUNICATION This course has an OWL site. I will use the site to post announcements, all assigned course materials, PowerPoint slides from lectures, grades, and links of interest. If there is anything you would like added to the site please don’t hesitate to let me know. To communicate with me please use my email address, rather than the mail function in OWL, and please use your own uwo email address in any correspondence. This will prevent your message from getting blocked by spam filters. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY As the instructor of this course, I own the copyright to the PowerPoint Presentations that are uploaded to the OWL course site. You may download these to your own computer for the purpose of your own individual study, but you may not share them with anyone else. You may not submit them for sharing on any other web-site or forum. TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

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Week Topic Reading Assignment and Due dates Week 1 Jan. 5 & 7

Introduction: the contexts of democratic Athens Choruses, armies, assemblies, sport, gender, citizenship, slavery.

Be sure to read everything on the course syllabus very carefully and make a note of test dates and due dates.

Week 2 Jan. 12 & 14

Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound; The City Dionysia, divine bodies, corporal punishment.

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound

Week 3 Jan. 19 & 21

Gendered bodies, reproduction, bodies in geographic space.

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound

Week 4 Jan. 26 & 28

The body in pain; fear and pity Sophocles, Philoctetes

Week 5 Feb. 2 & 4

Bodies in war, dead bodies, funeral and marriage rituals.

Sophocles, Antigone Pericles’ funeral oration First Reflection Paper due Feb. 4

Week 6 Feb. 9 & 11

The hero’s body Athletic bodies Female bodies as trophies

Sophocles, Women of Trachis Selections from Pindar’s epinicians Research Proposal due Feb. 11

Feb. 16 & 18 Study break

Week 7 Feb 23 & 25

Contagious bodies; miasma Thucydides’ description of the plague Sophocles, Oedipus the King

Week 8 Mar. 2 & 4

Comic bodies: obscenity genre and gender.

Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae Second Reflection Paper due Mar. 4

Week 10 Mar. 9 & 11

Transgressive bodies Aristophanes’ Lysistrata

Week 11 Mar. 16 & 18

The philosopher’s body Soul and body

Plato’s Phaedo

Week 12 Mar. 23 & 25

The male body and cultural reproduction Plato’s Symposium Third Reflection Paper due Mar. 25

Week 13 Mar. 30 & Apr. 1

Alcibiades; the disordered body

Plato’s Symposium Research Project due Apr. 1.

NOTE FROM THE DEAN OF ARTS and HUMANITIES: You are responsible for ensuring that you have successfully completed all course prerequisites and that you have not taken an antirequisite course. Lack of prerequisites may not be used as basis of appeal. If you are not eligible for a course, you may be removed from it at any time, and you will receive no adjustment to your fees. These decisions cannot be appealed.

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PLAGIARISM and other Academic Offences: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage of text from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence (see Scholastic Offence Policy in the Western Academic Calendar). POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf [downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/medicalform.pdf Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must apply to the Office of the Dean of their home faculty and provide documentation. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION CANNOT BE GRANTED BY THE INSTRUCTOR OR DEPARTMENT. WESTERN ACCESSIBILITY POLICY. Western has many services and programs that support the personal, physical, social and academic needs of students with disabilities. For more information and links to these services: http://accessibility.uwo.ca/ WESTERN SUPPORT SERVICES: Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health @ Western http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help. RESEARCH PROJECT (due Thursday April 1, 2021)

Projects submitted after April 1 will be penalized at the rate of 3% per day, including weekends.

Length Essays should be 2000-2500 words (approx. 8-10 pages in length), excluding footnotes and bibliography. Projects submitted in a different form, such as creative work, should be comparable to the essay in terms of time and effort required to complete them, should be clearly related to course material, and should respond to a defined research question. Formatting For essays, either MLA or Chicago Style is acceptable, but the formatting must be consistent. If you are uncertain of the styles, handouts are available at the Weldon Library, or at http://www.lib.uwo.ca/services/styleguides.html. For other kinds of projects, students should consult with me about the format. Consultation By Feb. 11, students must submit an initial proposal, including: 1. A tentative title for your project

2. The principal question you will address in your research. This question should be well defined and should be designed to lead to a thesis statement in the final draft of your essay, or to a

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creative response in your project. 3. Your research method (how will you investigate your topic?) What evidence will you look at?

How will you interpret or analyze it? What scholarship will be helpful to you? 4. A provisional bibliography: try for a minimum of 5 scholarly sources, including books (not textbooks) and academic journal articles. Do not use websites unless you have checked them with me first. Evaluation of the Essay Please also see the grading rubric below. Content, including analysis and argument: 40% Spelling and Grammar: 10% Writing style, including structure: 20% Research, including use of sources: 30% Projects submitted in a different format will be evaluated on the basis of the research done, the care taken with the conception and production of the project, and its relevance as a response to the course materials. Plagiarism Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper and full referencing such as in footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence (see Scholastic Offence Policy above and in the Western Academic Calendar). All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity to the commercial plagiarism detection software under licence to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between the University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com). DEPT. OF CLASSICAL STUDIES GRADING CRITERIA FOR HONOURS-LEVEL ESSAYS N.B. these are meant only as general guidelines for instructor and student, specific criteria may vary depending on the assignment and course (e.g. 3000 vs 4000-level). 90 – 100 / A+ (Outstanding) Writing strongly demonstrates: i) significant originality and high degree of critical engagement with primary sources and secondary scholarly literature, ii) sophisticated synthesis and analysis of theoretical and conceptual dimensions of topic, iii) all major primary and secondary sources have been consulted, iv) prescribed format of paper including proper citation of sources is rigorously followed; mature prose style free of grammatical error. 80 – 89 / A (Excellent)

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Writing clearly demonstrates: i) originality and high degree of critical engagement with primary sources (written or material) and the secondary scholarly literature, ii) writing is perceptive and probing in its conceptual analysis, iii) topic is focused, logically organized, and thesis effectively presented and argued, iv) majority of primary and secondary sources have been consulted, v) prescribed format of paper including proper citation of sources is followed; well developed prose style virtually free of grammatical error. 75 – 79 / B+ (Very Good) Writing demonstrates: i) above average analysis, critical thinking, and independent thought, ii) topic is addressed in reasonable depth and/or breadth, thesis is well presented and clearly argued, iii) representative selection of primary and secondary sources have been consulted, iv) prescribed format of paper including proper citation of sources is followed; good intelligible prose style relatively free of grammatical error. 70 – 74 / B (Good) Writing demonstrates: i) satisfactory attempt at analysis and critical thinking; arguments supported by reasonable evidence, ii) topic has been addressed in some depth and/or breadth, iii) somewhat limited selection of primary and secondary sources have been consulted, iv) text is generally well written; some problems with grammar and prose style. 60 – 69 / C (Competent) Writing demonstrates: i) only adequate engagement with the topic, ii) limited depth and/or breadth in conceptualization and discussion of topic, iii) insufficient number of primary and/or secondary sources has been consulted, iv) paper has numerous problems of organization, clarity of argument, and grammar. 50 – 59 / D (Poor) Writing demonstrates: i) inadequate engagement with topic, ii) factual errors regarding primary sources and lack of understanding of secondary literature, iii) few of key primary and secondary sources have been consulted, iv) prose style is difficult to follow, improper format for paper, incorrect citation of sources, many grammatical errors. Below 50 / F (Unacceptable) Writing demonstrates: i) failure to comprehend the topic, ii) topic is not clear, text is disorganized and/or unintelligible, iii) few or no relevant primary and/or secondary sources have been consulted, iv) writing skills do not meet the minimum university entrance-level standards. 0 (No Grade due to plagiarism)