PHL 404 Love and Friendship in the Ancient World (3 credits)

This course explores a number of descriptions of love and friendship found in works of literature and philosophy from ancient Greece and Rome. Two topics in particular will be studied in these words on love and friendship. The first is the connection between friendship, justice, and politics that is asserted in a number of ancient works. The second is the presentation of erotic love as a form of divine madness that can be both dangerous and beneficial. Some authors to be read include Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Catullus.