BA Classics

Imagining ‘other’ worlds and ‘perfect’ societies is one of the many activities that links our modern world to antiquity. This course considers some of the many ‘utopias’ developed by ancient authors, from ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ in Aristophanes’ comedy, to Plato’s ‘Republic’, to Lucian’s account of life on the moon. We will consider why these authors and philosophers chose to imagine other worlds and how they expected their ideas to affect this world. We will also look at the influence of ancient utopian thinking on modern political thought and make comparisons with utopian ideas found in cultures beyond Greece and Rome.

• to introduce students to the nature and purpose of utopian thinking
• to introduce students to the wide range of utopian thinking found in ancient Greece and other cultures
• to introduce students to a representative comparative sample of texts written by Greek and other authors
• to encourage students to reflect on the influence of ancient utopian thinking on modern political and literary thought
• to enable students to discuss political and cultural alternatives with confidence and critical insight

By the end of this course unit, students will

• have read and discussed a wide range of examples of utopian thought from ancient Greece and other cultures and read, and discussed a selection of specific texts in further detail
• have analysed and reflected on the variety and complexity of purpose and presentation of utopian thought
• have critically evaluated a variety of examples of ‘utopia’, learning to positively evaluate ideas that they find disagreeable
• have come to understand and evaluate the influence of ancient utopian thinking on modern thought

By the end of this course unit, students will

• have developed their ability to critically evaluate political and cultural alternatives and to discuss texts in detail
• have developed their ability to compare and contrast different political and utopian suggestions and to evaluate and consider challenging and sometimes disagreeable ideas
• have learned to discuss and evaluate suggestions with which they disagree
• have developed their ability to evaluate the influence of the ancient world and its reception in modern political thinking and literature

By the end of this course units, students will

• have improved their ability to produce written summaries of their analysis
• have improved their ability to participate in robust, critical discussion of ideas
• have improved their ability to engage with material unfamiliar to them from across a range of genres
• have developed their ability to produce poster presentations, condensing complex ideas into accessible summaries

By the end of this course units, students will

• have improved their ability to produce written summaries of analyses of texts and ideas
• have improved their confidence in participating in group discussions
• have improved their ability to adapt to a wide range of unfamiliar ideas and recognize connections between them

Resit assessment

• Plato Republic, Laws, Timaeus-Critias
• Lucian True History
• Homer Odyssey
• Aristophanes Birds
• Utopias in Ancient Thought (2021) edited by P. Destrée, J. Opsomer, and G. Roskam
• The Concept of Utopia (1990) R. Levitas