GRK339. Birds
Spring 2007
Prof. Wareh
Prof. Wareh's Course Pages > Greek 339: Comedy
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GRK339. Birds
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| Perseus-generated vocabulary list (showing the 938 vocab items that account for 83% of all the words in Birds: in other words, these 938 words, though just 30% of the play's total vocab, are used are used approximately 8,940 times in a work of 10,750 words!) | |
| Large lexicon via Harvard (Betacode)
author abbreviations |
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| Large lexicon via Perseus (eta=e^, omega=o^): | |
| Smyth § | Search the English text of Dunbar's commentary Google Book Search: |
| Older commentaries on Birds: scholia, Merry 1904, Rogers 1906 | |
| Research: L'Année philologique, Schaffer catalog, online journals | |
| complete guide to online Classics resources | |
Each week's A assignment is to prepare the Greek text as carefully as possible. You will be expected to come to class having attempted a grammatical explanation of everything in the assignment, and ready to ask specific questions about points you have not understood completely. We will go over these texts carefully in class, beginning and ending with a dramatic reading in which you will try to show your understanding of the original text (directly, without the aid of notes or any translation you have written out). Our in-class review of these texts will focus on the nuances of Aristophanes' language—this is our chance to discover how the Classical Athenians really talked and what they really talked about! The quizzes and the final exam will expect you to have parsing-level understanding of the Greek of A passages (not a translation).
You are expected to read each B assignment in Greek, though you will not be directly quizzed or examined on the grammar. For our B meetings, we will work on questions that require us to think about the interpretation and staging of the drama. These questions will send us just as much into the original Greek text; they are meant to be questions you couldn't answer by just reading a translation, and in cases they may be as detailed as "Why is Pisetaerus using X tense or mood? What would the difference have been if he had said Y in Greek instead?" But the questions will also rise to the level of requiring original interpretations or synthesis of secondary readings.
Reading Birds extensively and carefully in Greek—and rereading as much as possible until you are understanding the unannotated original as smoothly and naturally as possible—is your highest priority as a student in this course. The quizzes and final exam will include sight-translation of unseen passages from Aristophanes' other plays; the only good preparation for this is reading the Greek of Birds as carefully as possible (in addition to reading the Four Plays by Aristophanes for fun, of course). The sight-translation will be a regular enough exercise to give me a good sense of how well you are improving your command of Aristophanes' Greek, and so your eventual achievement in it will count for a significant part of your final grade.
| Quizzes | 40% |
| B assignments | 25% |
| Daily preparation & participation | 15% |
| Final exam | 20% |
Attendance is mandatory. Regular, punctual attendance and completion of all assignments are the minimal requirements for passing this course. Any arrangements for absences or missed work must be agreed to in advance.
Office Hours. My scheduled office hours (Humanities 214A) are M 9:15-10:15, Th 2:30-3:30. In addition, please email or call me to make an appointment, which can usually be arranged on short notice. I also encourage you to email me as often as you like to ask questions about Greek or to run your ideas by me.
Academic Honor Code. All work submitted for this course must be your own. You may work with others in preparing assignments. If you ever have any question about the propriety of collaboration, please consult with me.
Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code. The Academic Honor System of Union College is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility to:
A full statement of Union's Academic Honor Code may be found in the Student Handbook (see pp. 27ff. = pp. 13ff. of 76 in this PDF). See also Union's statement on plagiarism.
Disabilities. It is Union College policy to make accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you have any disability or special concern, please let me know what your needs are in order that they may be accommodated. All discussions will remain confidential to the extent permissible by law.
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations must also: