The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome in Modern Civilization

The civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome provide a “distant mirror” to modern world culture. In our own daily lives we are often confronted with reflections of the past, especially the roots of many of our own beliefs, values, modes of thinking, and attitudes. Were Plato, Thucydides, Caesar, or Pliny alive today, each one might find aspects of our urban spaces, political rhetoric, and modes of entertainment hauntingly familiar. Likewise, they might easily recognize their legacy in modern examples of empire, colonialism, genocide, and responses to catastrophes. In the main course of this Honors FIG, students will be challenged to explore connections between classical antiquity and the present day. Cultural resources on the UW-Madison campus will serve as a microcosm for understanding and interpreting reflections of classical antiquity in world culture. The themes of the FIG seminar will reappear in ILS 203 as students explore the development of literature and the arts in the ancient and medieval world, including Akhnaton’s Egypt, Homer’s Troy, Virgil’s Rome, and Dante’s Florence. A course in Elementary Latin rounds out this exploration of the ancient world.