PS 833: Topics in Ancient Political Thought
Athenian Democracy and its Critics
Department of Political Science
University of Wisconsin, Madison
John Zumbrunnen
Office: 322D North Hall
Office phone: 262-5701
E-mail: zumbrunnen@wisc.edu
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 10:00-11:30
& by appointment
Course Description
In this graduate seminar, we will consider the Athenian democracy of the 5th century B.C. and its relevance to
contemporary thinking about democracy. Since no systematic defense of Athenian democracy survives from classical
Greece, we will by necessity engage with a variety of ancient critics of democracy (or, perhaps more accurately, with
those thinkers who are, rightly or wrongly, generally taken to be critics of democracy). These include, of course, the
Greek philosophers but also the Greek historians and poets. We finish the term with examples of contemporary work
that aims in a variety of ways to bring ancient Athenian democracy into conversation with contemporary democratic
theory.
Course Materials
The following materials are available for purchase at the University Bookstore. Please buy these editions so that we may
all be on the same page during our discussions.
Aeschylus, The Oresteia, translated by Fagles (Penguin, 1984)
Aristophanes, The Complete Plays, translated by Roche (NAL Trade, 2005)
Aristotle, The Politics and the Constitution of Athens, translated by Everson (Cambridge, 1996)
Peter Euben, Corrupting Youth (Princeton, 2003)
M. I. Finley, Democracy Ancient and Modern (Rutgers, 20??)
Josiah Ober, Democracy and Knowledge (Princeton, 2008)
Plato, Gorgias, translated by Hamilton (Penguin, 2004)
Arlene Saxonhouse, Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens (Cambridge, 2008)
Leo Strauss, The City and Man (Chicago, XX)
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, translated by Crawley (Modern Library, 1982)
Course Requirements
Everyone is expected to come to each seminar session having read the assigned material carefully and well-prepared to
discuss it. To help facilitate our discussions, each week each of you will circulate two discussion questions to the class
vial the class e-mail list. Questions must be submitted by 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning. In addition, you will write two
short essays (5-7 pages), one on Thucydides, one on Aristophanes. Finally, you will write a research paper in which you
critically assess the relevance of a particular ancient text to contemporary democratic theory
Participation
Short Essays
Research Paper
20%
40%
40%
Reading Schedule
Jan 25
Josiah Ober, “What the Ancient Greeks Can Tell Us About Democracy”
Elizabeth Markovits, “Birthrights: Freedom, Responsibility, and Democratic Comportment
in Aeschylus’ Oresteia”
Aeschylus, Oresteia
Feb 1
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Books 1-2
Feb 8
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Books 3-5
Feb 15
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Books 6-8
Friday, Feb 19: Thucydides Paper Due
Feb 22
Aristophanes, Acharnians, Knights, Wasps
Mar 1
Aristophanes, Clouds, Frogs, Birds
Mar 8
Aristophanes, Lysistrata, Assemblywomen, Wealth
Friday, Mar 12: Aristophanes Paper Due
Mar 15
Plato, Gorgias and Apology
Mar 22
Aristotle, Politics
SPRING BREAK
April 5
Strauss, The City and Man
April 12
Finley, Democracy Ancient and Modern
April 19
Arlene Saxonhouse, Free Speech and Democracy in Ancient Athens
April 26
Peter Euben, Corrupting Youth
May 4
Josiah Ober, Democracy and Knowledge
Monday, May 11: Research Paper Due