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On Political science: free reading group for intermediate and advanced speakers of Ancient Greek

📅 Class Schedule:

  • Schedule: Saturdays from 18:00 to 19:30 CET
  • Duration: October 5 – December 14
  • Participants: Maximum of 8
  • Organizers: Rogelio Toledo & Pietro Biello

Class Format: We will meet Saturdays for an hour and a half to discuss selected original passages from Ancient authors (see list below), all in Ancient Greek. Classes will be recorded and uploaded to my YouTube channel, making them accessible to everyone. Learning is a social activity, and we often learn best by observing others. I also believe in the importance of making spoken Ancient Greek as accessible as possible for everyone.

You can watch here a similar reading group that was organized not long ago on Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations.

How to Join: If you are interested in participating, please send an email in Ancient Greek by September 1st. Briefly introduce yourself and explain why you would like to join. A short interview in Ancient Greek over Zoom may follow. Commitment to attend at least 9 of the 11 sessions is required.

Texts:

  • Pericles’ Speech in Thucydides II 36-40
  • Plato’s Republic 473 c-e
  • Aristotle’s Political Theory
    • 1252a, 11252a – 1253a, 39
    • 1274b, 39 – 1275b, 21
    • 1279a, 22 – 1279b, 10
    • 1281a, 11 – 1281b, 38
  • Polybius’ cycle of political constitutions and the advantage of the Roman constitution
    • VI 3-9 
    • VI11-18
  • Aeschylus’ Suppliants
    • 325-335, 340-347, 365-386, 397-401
    • 625-709
  • Sophocles’ Antigone
    • 162-191, 655-680
    • 718-739, 1348-1353
    • 441-443, 446-490, 497-525
  • Euripides’ Suppliants
    • 223-245, 337-358, 479-527

If there’s time, we will read some excerpts either from Isocrates, Demosthenes, or Plutarch.

Texts Preparation: For those who want a copy of the texts we will be reading, prepared à la Ørberg, in order to follow the recordings on YouTube better, I kindly ask for a donation to one of the following news outlets or organizations:

 info@rogerusbyzantinus.com