History of Classical Literature  A comprehensive overview of the major literary, historical, and philosophical works of Greece and Rome. Greek authors studied include Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. Roman authors include Lucretius, Cicero, Livy, Vergil, Petronius, and Tacitus. Required of senior majors in Classics/Classical Studies and open to all interested students with some background in Greek and Roman literature, history, or philosophy.

Greek Tragedy A survey of selected tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, exploring the relation between tragedy and political freedom and empire in fifth century B.C. Athens. The course examines the tragic poets' use of traditional Greek myths to question not only the wisdom of contemporary Athenian imperialism but also traditional Greek views on relations between the sexes; between the family and the city; between man's presumed dignity and his belief in gods. Mythical and historical background is supplied through additional readings from Homer and Thucydides. The course asks how the tragedians managed to raise publicly, in the most solemn religious settings, the kind of questions for which Socrates was later put to death. The course culminates in a reading of Aristotle's Poetics.

Readings in Greek Literature II Readings in major authors. Students should have had some formal study of Greek and should consult with the instructor during the first week of classes to determine whether or not the class is at the appropriate level.

Greek and Roman Epic Poetry Would Achilles and Hector have risked their lives and sacred honor had they understood human life and the Olympian gods as Homer portrays them in the Iliad? Why do those gods decide to withdraw from men altogether following the Trojan War, and why is Odysseus the man Athena chooses to help her carry out that project? And why, according to the Roman poet Vergil, do these gods command Aeneas, a defeated Trojan, to found an Italian town that will ultimately conquer the Greek cities that conquered Troy, replacing the Greek polis with a universal empire that will end all wars of human freedom? Through close study of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Vergil's Aeneid, we explore how the epic tradition helped shape Greece and Rome, and define their contributions to European civilization.

History of Classical Literature  A comprehensive overview of the major literary, historical, and philosophical works of Greece and Rome. Greek authors studied include Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. Roman authors include Lucretius, Cicero, Livy, Vergil, Petronius, and Tacitus. Required of senior majors in Classics/Classical Studies (see CLAS 0701 below) and open to all interested students with some background in Greek and Roman literature, history, or philosophy.

History of Classical Literature  A comprehensive overview of the major literary, historical, and philosophical works of Greece and Rome. Greek authors studied include Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. Roman authors include Lucretius, Cicero, Livy, Vergil, Petronius, and Tacitus. Required of senior majors in Classics/Classical Studies (see CLAS 0701) and open to all interested students with some background in Greek and Roman literature, history, or philosophy.

Readings in Latin Literature II: Vergil’s Aeneid* Readings in major authors.

Euripides and Athens Was the tragic genius of Euripides (480?-406 BC) corrupted by the atheistic rationalism of the sophists and the philosophy of Socrates (470-399 BC), as their Athenian contemporary, the comic poet Aristophanes, alleged? Nietzsche makes that view the basis of his attack on Socrates in The Birth of Tragedy (1872). Or, was Euripides in fact "the most tragic of the poets," as Aristotle argued in his Poetics, written during the half century after Euripides' death in 406 BC? In this course we discuss twelve of Euripides' extant plays in the context of 5th c. BC Greek political and intellectual history, with the help of Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and some modern critics.

Beginning Greek I This course is a rapid and intensive introduction to classical Greek for beginners. The aim of the course is to prepare students to read the major authors of Greek literature. In addition to a systematic study of grammar and syntax, we will also read excerpts from a variety of ancient authors.

Intermediate Greek Readings in majors authors.

Advanced Readings in Greek Literature II: Greek Cosmology–Hesiod and Plato Readings in major authors.

Marc Witkin

Reviews and ratings for Marc Witkin at Middlebury College.Marc Witkin teaches Hist of Class Lit: Gen Exam Hist of Class Lit, Greek Tragedy, Readings in Greek Lit II and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Marc Witkin good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This class is great if you genuinely care about the topic. Marc Witkin is very passionate about the topic and is very accessible if you have questions or need help with anything. If you put in the work you will be successful in the class. 

I really did not enjoy this class. The readings were confusing and the teaching style (lecture -based) did not help with clarifying the material. Maybe I just did not understand the material but overall it was very confusing and hard to navigate.

The class is very lecture heavy but in the lectures he seems to go off topic but honestly everything he says is calculated to help you understand the complex topics of the material. It's a lot of reading but I didn't read a single book and just paid attention to the lectures and you get everything you need. He's a little monotone but he really cares about the topics you're learning about and the questions he poses are really fun and thought provoking.