This course will explore the birth of theater in ancient Greece through its transformation in the Roman Empire. While studying the history and architecture of the theater, we will look into its philosophical, mythic and literary origins. Classical plays will be read and performed in ancient theaters led by a team of specialists in acting, theater, and philosophy. Lectures on various aspects of theater and antiquity will be held followed by discussions. Part of the trip will take place at the sea as we visit theaters by boat. Our trip starts in Aspendos in southern Turkey and ends in Epidaurus in Greece.

The Cults of the Ancient Greek and Roman World

In this course we will visit the temples of ancient Greece and Rome and study the myths and cults associated with the divinities of this world. Both the Titanic and the Olympain orders of the Greek world will be considered. The trip starts in Turkey, moves on to Greece, and ends in Rome to observe her cults. What place did these cults and divinities have in the cultures of antiquity? How were they played out in the everyday life of the people? These are some of the questions we will pose in this philomobile class as we read ancient and contemporary literature on the subject.

The Architecture of Greek and Roman Temples

This course entails a close study of architecture of temples of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.We start in Aphrodisias in Turkey and end our journey in Rome. We will study the design of temples in relation to the cults associated with them, the use of space in antiquity, the place of the temple in the city and city planning, the development of column, the frieze and other aspects of ancient architecture. The architecture of the ancient world will be presented within the context of its other, closely related aspects such as plastic arts, myths and cults, science and techne.

This course aims to trace the journey of Odysesy back home to Ithaca from Troy as we read Homer's Odysesy. Our philomobile route starts in Troy, Turkey, where we will start reading Iliad. As we read these two works, we will also study the older world of Mycanea and Homer's Ionian world. Our trip ends in Rome afterexperiencing a piece of Odysesy's adventures.

This course is designed for reading ancient Greek poetry in translation in the cities of the poets. Epic, lyric and dramatic poetry will be studied as we read from such poets as Homer, Hesiod, Archilochus, Sappho, Pindar and the tragedians. Our journey starts in Ionia, western Turkey, and the Ionian islands of Greece such as Chios, moves to Lesbos and ends in Athens after several stops in different parts of mainland Greece.

We will inquire into the culture of contest of the ancient Greek world. This culture of contest is prefigured in Homer's Iliad, in the funeral games, and manifests itself in the Olympic games which were instituted in 772 B.C. in Olympia. Agon does not only pertain to the actual contests, but is a way of life and is emblamatic of that period of Greek world-order. As we read from poets, tragedians, historians, and philosophers of antiquity, we will try to understand the dynamics of the agonal world-order. Our journey starts in Ionia, western Turkey, and ends in Olympia, Greece. We will tangentially touch upon the contests in the Roman world.