THIS CLASS IS NOW FULL.
INSTRUCTOR: Mary Francis Pickett (For teacher bio, please see Here)
EMAIL: MaryP@empowered.academy
TIME: Full Year Tuesdays 11:00-11:45am CT
SUGGESTED AGE RANGE: 10+
Course Description:
Plutarch, a Roman writer, set the standard for the biographical arts. His works were standard reading for hundreds of years. Shakespeare used them as a primary source for some of his historical plays, and references to Plutarch’s lives abound in the writings of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America.
Plutarch’s Lives are paired biographies of the lives of famous men – one Greek and one Roman figure. In this class we will read about two of the greatest orators in the Western tradition – Cicero and Demosthenes. We’ll see what Plutarch has to say about their abilities as orators and how their character is exhibited by their actions throughout their lives.
Required Resource:
- Plutarch’s Life of Cicero
- Plutarch’s Life of Demosthenes
- The North translation is recommended. Online typed text and study guides are available for free at Ambleside Online.
https://www.amblesideonline.org/PlutarchSch.shtml
Additional reading, if any, will be provided as downloadable PDFs and will be relatively short.
Additional Information:
We will read the text in class and discuss. Assignments outside of class will be limited to researching background information, short reading assignments (5 – 10 minutes) or questions to consider.