9:30-10:45  TR	BH 221


The Odyssey of Homer, tr. Richmond Lattimore (HarperCollins Perennial
Classics) ISBN 0060931957

The Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle, intr. Edward P.J. Corbett
(McGraw-Hill) ISBN 0075546027

Augustine, Confessions, tr. R.S. Pine-Coffin (Penguin Classics) ISBN
014044114X

Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Vol. 1: Inferno, tr. Mark Musa
(Penguin Classics) ISBN 0140444416

Martin Luther, Selections from His Writings, ed. John Dillenberger
(Anchor) ISBN 0385098766

Thomas More, Utopia, tr. Paul Turner (Penguin Classics) ISBN
0140441654

Galileo Galilei, Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, tr. Stillman
Drake (Anchor) ISBN 0385092393

Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, ed. Paul Turner (Oxford World's
Classics) ISBN 0192833774

What is it that makes all of these "great books" great, and rewards
the effort required to read them? They are all famous, of course,
among the most famous of Western culture. But after that, generalizing
becomes more difficult. Some of them were strikingly original,
pioneering, and even revolutionary when they were written. Others
summarized accepted wisdom of their respective ages. Some had a strong
and immediate impact, while others outlasted centuries of obscurity to
be rediscovered by later generations. In some of them it is the power
of the author's personality, or of his moral conviction, or his faith,
that reaches out to us most strongly. In others it is the artistry or
the quality of imagination, and still others the power and rigor of
thought.

In fact, most have many sides to their excellence. Each of them can
also be seen to represent an important point in the three- to
four-thousand-year-long evolution of Western ideas and culture. At the
same time, all of these books deal with ideas, values, and experiences
that concern human beings and human society as urgently today, at the
beginning of a new millenium, as they did when they were written. All
of these qualities, all of these broad and lasting kinds of
distinction, make these books worth reading--and even rereading.

It's undeniable, though, that these books together make up only a
minute sampling from the abundance of Western culture. The most recent
books we will read date from the seventeenth century, when the United
States was still a colony ruled by the King of England. Only one of
the books was written originally in English, Gulliver's Travels by
Jonathan Swift. The other books on our list were written in Greek
(Homer and Aristotle), Latin (Augustine and More), German (Luther),
and Italian (Dante and Galileo). Moreover, these books are quite
diverse, and not a single one of them is related to all the others in
an obvious way. I have tried to give the books some measure of
continuity by choosing mostly books by clear-sighted, resolute writers
who are concerned with the spiritual, moral, and intellectual
organization of human affairs. Each of them describes or documents a
quest or journey of discovery, whether its destination is outward or
inward, geographical or personal, intellectual or imaginative,
scientific or spiritual. Probably the most important continuity
running through these books is the basic one of universally shared
concerns, on the one hand, and of the historical traditions by which
later writers either accepted, rejected, or developed (but in almost
all cases knew!) what earlier writers had written.

To sample the continuing presence of these books--of their images and
ideas, strategies and truths--we will also view a set of recent films:
Broadcast News, Field of Dreams, Pleasantville, The Return of Martin
Guerre (French), and possibly one or two others, along with one
segment of a recent public television documentary on early
Christianity. Discussions of the films will round off discussions of
the books. Homework will consist mainly of close reading of the
assigned texts with the aid of translators' or editors' introductions
and notes. Brief background readings will also be recommended,
although these will not be required. Each book (or specified part of
it) should be read in advance of the class session for which it is
assigned. Since virtually all of these books yield more meaning, and
are more interesting and enjoyable, the second time through, a second
reading is an even more helpful form of class preparation than the
first reading.

Our class time is reserved mainly for exchange of views about and
critical discussion of the books (and films, too). The value of these
discussions depends just as much on the open-mindedness,
thoughtfulness, and energy of your participation in them as it does on
my own efforts at guidance and critical control. This is why you are
asked to prepare for class with the intention of taking an active part
in the discussions.  Graded work will include short (and easy) content
quizzes on the assigned books, no tests unless the class votes to have
them, and several short papers on suggested or individually developed
topics. Class activities may also include visits to the Lilly Library,
the IU Art Museum, and the campus observatory.