Andrew Wolpert
Associate Professor of Classics
Office: 125B Dauer Hall
Tel: 352-273-3702
Fax: 352-846-0297 wolpert@ufl.edu
Mailing Address 125 Dauer Hall
Department of Classics
University of Florida
Post Office Box 117435
Gainesville, FL 32611-7435 Spring office hours
Wed 2-4 PM
GRW 6930
SPECIAL TOPIC ON ALCIBIADES
Wednesday, Period 9-11
Spring 2010
Texts
Required
Kagan, Donald. 2004. The
Peloponnesian War. New York: Penguin.
Munn, Mark. 2003. The
School of History: Athens in the Age of Socrates. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Vickers, Michael. 2008. Sophocles
and
Alcibiades:
Athenian
in
Ancient
Greek
Literature. Cornell:
University of Cornell Press.
Wohl, Victoria. 2002. Love
Among
the
Ruins:
The
Erotics
of
Democracy
in
Classical
Athens.
Princeton: University of Princeton
Recommended
Ober, Josiah. 2001. Political
Dissent
in
Democratic
Athens. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Course Description
A preeminent political figure of
classical Athens during some of its most turbulent times, Alcibiades
was a lightning rod for the policies that he advocated, the lifestyle
he lived, and the manner in which he pursued his political
ambition. Using Alcibiades as a focal point, this course
considers the political, social, and cultural changes that Athens faced
during the late fifth century, with particular attention to the
Profanation of the Mysteries, the Sicilian Expedition, the rule of the
Four Hundred, and the Athenian surrender to Sparta.
Course Requirements
Class Participation (15%) based on
participation in weekly discussions. No unexcused absences.
Presentations (15%). Each
student will present to the class his/her findings from work on the
term paper.
One Term Paper (70%), approximately 5,000-6,000, not
including
footnotes and bibliography
Abstract and Bibliography, due March 24 (5% reduction of
grade on
term paper if not handed in at the start of class; 2.5%
reduction if assignment is incomplete)
Outline due March 31 (5% reduction of
grade on
term paper if not handed in at the start of class; 2.5%
reduction if assignment is incomplete)
First Draft, due April 14 (10% reduction of grade on
term paper if first draft is not handed in at the start of class; 5%
reduction if first draft is incomplete)
Final Draft, due April 28
Schedule
Part 1: Alcibiades in History
January 6
Kagan, Peloponnesian War
(be sure to have read and be ready to discuss this work for our first
class on January 6)
January 13
Munn, School of Hellas,
Chapters
1-8
January 27
Ellis, Alcibiades
(will be circulated)
Bloedow, Edmund, "Alcibiades 'Brilliant' or
'Intelligent'?" Historia 41
(1992) 139-57 (availble on JSTOR, Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4436234
February 3
Furley, Andokides and
the Herms: A Study of Crisis in Fifth-Century Athenian Religion,
introduction, chapters 1-3, 5-6(will
be
circulated)
Murray, "The Affair of the Mysteries: Democracy and the
Drinking Group," in Sympotica: A
Symposium on the Symposion, edited by O. Murray(will be circulated)
McGlew, "Politics on the Margins: The Athenian
'Hetaireiai' in 415 B.C." Historia 48 (1999) 1–22
(available on JSTOR)
Gagné, "Mystery
Inquisitors:
Performance,
Authority,
and
Sacrilege
at
Eleusis"
CA
28 (1999) 211–47 (available on
JSTOR)
Todd, "Revisiting the Herms and the Mysteries," in Law, Rhetoric, and Comedy in Classical
Athens, edited by D.L. Cairns, and R.A. Knox (will be circulated)
Part 2: Alcibiades in the
Greek Imaginary
February 10
Forde, The Ambition to
Rule: Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in Thucydides
(will be circulated)
Ober, Political Dissent
in Democratic Athens, chapter 2e
February 17
Gribble, Alcibiades and
Athens (will be circulated)
February 24
Russell, Plutarch,
chapters
6-7
(will
be
circulated)
Halliwell, "Traditional Greek Conceptions of Character,"
in Characterization and
Individuality in Greek Literature, edited by C. Pelling (will be
circulated)
De Blois et al., eds., The
Statesman
in
Plutarch's
Works, 157–78 (will be circulated)
Pelling, "How Far would they Go? Plutarch on Nicias and
Alcibiades," in Literary Texts and
the Historian (will be circulated)
---------- , "Is Death the End? Closure in Plutarch's Lives," in Classical Closure: Reading the End
in Greek and Latin Literature, edited by F. Dunn et al. (will be
circulated)
March 3
Vickers, Sophocles
and
Alcibiades
March 17
Wohl, Love
Among
the
Ruins: The Erotics of Democracy in Classical Athens
Shapiro, "Alcibiades: the Politics of Personal Style," in Art in Athens during the Peloponnesian War,
edited
by
O.
Palagia
(will
be
circulated)
Part 3: Paper
March 24
Abstract and Bibliography due
Group workshop
March 31
Outline due
Individual meetings
April 7
Presentations
April 14
Presentations
First draft due
April 21
Presentations
Grading Scale
A = 90-100%
A- = 87-89.9%
B+ = 84-86.9%
B = 80-83.9%
B- = 77-79.9%
C+ = 74-76.9%
C = 70-73.9%
C- = 67-69.9%
D+ = 64-66.9%
D = 60-63.9%
D- = 57-59.9%
E < 57%
Policies
Students are expected to complete all requirements on the
specified dates and will not be granted an alternate date unless they
have an acceptable reason for their absence as specified in the
graduate catalog, fulfill the conditions described therein, and
provide timely notification. See Graduate
Catalog.
Students are required to be honest in their coursework. Any
act of academic dishonesty will be reported to Student Judicial
Affairs, and may result in failure of the assignement in question
and/or the course. See Honor Code.
Students seeking special accomommodations, need to submit
such requests to the Disability Resource Center prior to the deadline
of the scheduled requirement, and preferably as early in the Semester
as possible. For further information, see the Disability Resource Center.
Students facing difficulties completing the course or who
are in need of counseling or urgent help may call the on-campus
counseling center: 352-392-1575, or the student mental health center:
352-392-1171.