Socrates and Athens
(Classics 491)
Spring 2000
Objectives
• To understand the religious, political, legal, and philosophical factors at work in the trial of Socrates at Athens in 399 BC.• To study the philosophical portraits of Socrates in Plato and Xenophon.
• To study and evaluate our three different sources for the historical Socrates: Plato, Xenophon, and Aristophanes.
• To study and evaluate select bits of classical scholarship on these issues.
Format
This class will be at least two-thirds discussion. I will lecture only rarely, and most often after Spring Break, when the cultural background I can provide will be most valuable. (Socrates, of course, never lectured&endash;not that I am any Socrates.) This means that the day to day quality of the class will depend on your contributions to class. I will ask questions and, on occasion, answer them, but will try not to dominate the conversation, even if this means allowing the occasional awkward silence. A teacher can hurt or even wreck a discussion class (most often by never shutting up), and a teacher can make the conversation better, but no teacher can guarantee a good discussion class: that is up to you all. Keep in mind that the most helpful sort of participation is often a response to another student, whether it be agreement, respectful disagreement, request for clarification, etc. Original questions, insights, etc., are of course welcome and expected, but our conversations will best flourish if as many of you as possible speak with each other, not only with me.
A corollary: If you do not like discussion classes you will probably not like this one. Don't say you weren't warned.
Texts
Xenophon: Conversations of Socrates. Robin Waterfield, ed. Penguin.Plato: Complete Works. John M. Cooper, ed. Hackett.
Aristophanes I: Clouds, Wasps, Birds. Peter Meineck, trans. Hackett.
Those of you wishing to use other versions of Plato or Xenophon may do so, though any inconvenience is yours to handle. Other versions of Aristophanes are not recommended, as the translations will vary greatly.
Grading
1 close commentary paper: 3-5 pages. 10%
Early in the semester I will ask you to write a brief paper on a small section of one of the Platonic dialogues we will read. Depending on the nature of the section you choose, you will comment on and analyze the argument, drama, relevance for Socrates' trial, etc. More on this soon.
1 ten minute oral report on Platonic/Socratic scholarship. 10%
Before Spring Break each student will give an oral report on a scholarly article on Plato or Xenophon's Socrates. I will suggest articles, though you are free to choose one of your own (after clearing it with me). Reports should aim at clearly summarizing the major argument of the article; ideally some analysis of the persuasiveness of the article would accompany this summary. All reports must be accompanied by a one page handout giving the full article reference, outlining your conclusions, giving key passages from the article or primary texts, etc.
1 Aristophanic paper: 5 pages. 10%
After Spring Break you will be asked to write a paper on Aristophanes. Possible topics will include the question of whether or not Aristophanes' Socrates is meant to represent the historical Socrates. If you are feeling creative, you may write a comic scene in which Socrates and/or his accusers appear.
1 prosecution or defense speech: 5 pages. 10%
On the day of the final exam you will be asked to turn in a speech either for the prosecution or the defense. The speech should focus on one of the charges against Socrates, though you may drag in what may appear to be extraneous matter (just as the real speakers may have). Any of you dead-set against this sort of creative approach may write a straight "brief" on one of the charges.
Draft papers
You all are welcome to rewrite one or both of your first two papers (there will not be time to rewrite the third). I will give you ample comments on the original paper; you may turn in a revised draft within two weeks from the time I return the first version of your paper. Your revised grade will be the average of the grade for your original version and the second, revised version.
1 Midterm: 15%
This will be made up of a few short answer and rather more essay type questions. A number of questions will take off from passages from the texts we have read and ask you to summarize the argument, compare it to other texts, comment on the characters involved, etc. More on this exam close to exam time.
1 Final exam: 25%
The final exam will be on the trial of Socrates, and thus mainly on the work we do after Spring Break (although evidence from the texts read before break will still be necessary). It will consist largely of essay questions on aspects of the trial, with a few shorter questions on the scholarship we will have encountered by that point. More later.
Participation 20%
• Discussion leaders
Two student discussion leaders will be assigned (in advance) for most class meetings. Each will be expected to come up with at least three questions for discussion. Such questions should be real questions designed to initiate discussion, not little statements about what was interesting in the reading. Other students, of course, are also welcome&endash;and expected&endash;to come up with questions of their own.
• Silent students
Some students are by nature more comfortable speaking in class than others&endash;much as some students do not test well, or have extra trouble with papers. I am hesitant to heavily mark off those who do not speak out of shyness, or because class air time is already filled by others. But participation is the bulk of the work you will do for most of the semester (at least of the work I will see, your reading at home not being visible to me), and the students who carry the conversation deserve a reward. I will on occasion break class into groups to facilitate wider participation, and the discussion leader scheme is also designed to spread out the talking. If you are having trouble speaking in class, please feel free to discuss the reasons with me. I will, should it become apparent to me, or should other students raise this problem with me, privately caution students who sometimes speak too much, not leaving room for others. But it is ultimately your responsibility to participate, both for your own sake (those actively participating learn more, on the whole) and for the sake of the entire class, which will benefit from a wide range of participants.
• Participation grading and attendance
I will assign participation grades roughly as follows:
B: Quality participation in most classes
C: Little participation save when required (as leader or for oral report)
D: Poor participation even when required
You cannot participate if you are not in class, and your absence makes your continued contributions to class more difficult, as you will have missed out on previous conversations. I will therefore mark off for absences as follows. Each student will be eligible for two excused absences, providing they inform me by the following class why they had to miss class. For these absences I will accept any reasonable excuse (a bad cold will do, though oversleeping would not), and require no written evidence. After these two "sick days" I will tighten the line, requiring written confirmation of a serious problem. Your class participation grade will be marked off 5% for each unexcused absence. I will give you an indication of how you are doing in participation when I turn back your first paper (and, less precisely, at any other time you may wish). Note that a C in participation (a 75) makes an A in the class difficult but not impossible: you would need to average a 94 on your other work.
Graduate student notes
In lieu of the final "speech" paper, graduate students shall write a short (7-10 page) research paper on some aspect of Socrates' trial. This will be worth 20% of their final grade. I will hold graduate student written work to a somewhat higher standard than I will expect of undergraduates. I will also expect graduate students to defer to undergraduates, to some extent, in class discussions, though I will welcome their participation as well.
Assignments
Underlined assignments come from a course pack which will be available shortly.
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Xenophon: Apology |
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(Dr. J. at conference) |
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12:50-2:50 |
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