Classics 240 - Ancient Environmental Thought

What are the roots of environmental thought in classical antiquity? In the midst of climate change, threats of extinction, biotechnology, and advances in genetics, understanding Ancient Greek and Roman ideas about plants, animals, and human beings has renewed stakes. In this course, we will survey attitudes of Greeks and Romans towards evolution, sustainability, ecology, technology, the causes of disease, animal mind, and animal ethics. Our survey of ancient environmental thought will begin with ideas of nature in the Homer epics and extend all the way down to the encyclopedist Pliny the Elder in the early Roman Empire. We will ask not only what Ancient Greeks and Romans thought about nature, but also whether knowing what they thought might help us better understand the human place in nature now.

Three class hours per week. Fall semester. Assistant Professor Hutchins.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Readings, in-class exams, written work.