CSLC 205 Comedy Philosophy Romance: Hellenistic Literature

From romantic comedy to science fiction, the Hellenistic Age of Ancient Greece - the time following the global conquests of Alexander the Great - saw the invention of many of the literary genres most familiar to us today. In this course, we shall examine the meaning of these genres, both for the societies that invented them and our own: from romantic comedy to science fiction, biography to anecdote, heart-wringing elegy to the zippy one-liner, among others. Due attention will be paid to the historic context of the literature (the life of Alexander the Great will feature largely in this class) and its intellectual backgrounds (especially as represented in the works of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and Epicureans).