Some Ancient Luminaries
aka leading lights in this course

Most of the people whose lives and/or works loom large in this course are listed below in roughly chronological order. Names in bold are writers on our syllabus. This list is intended mainly to help you see the place of ancient humanism in human history and track our progress through the term.

Archaic Background: Greek Poetry, Thought, and Law

Homer (700s): Ionian epic poet in oral tradition; Iliad and Odyssey
Hesiod (700s): mainland didactic poet in oral tradition; Theogony and Works and Days
Thales (c. 640-560): pioneering Ionian sage, mathematician, astronomer (no writings)
Solon (c. 630-550): Athenian statesman, lawmaker, poet (fragments of verse survive)
Pythagoras (c.560-c.490): Ionian sage, teacher, mathematician; emigrated to S Italy (no writings)

Greek Enlightenment: Classical Athens and Beyond

Aeschylus (c. 525-455): Athenian tragedian; Oresteia 458, Prometheus c. 455
Sophocles (496-406): Athenian tragedian; Antigone 440, Oedipus 425, Oedipus at Colonus 406
Pericles (c. 495-429): Athenian statesman, orator, general; "Funeral Oration" 431
Protagoras (c. 490-c. 420): pioneering Ionian sophist, lawmaker; Truth and On Gods 440s
Herodotus (c. 485-c. 420): pioneering Ionian historian, ethnographer; Persian Wars 420s
Hippocrates (c. 480-c. 420): pioneering Ionian physician; established school of medicine
Euripides (480s-406): Athenian tragedian; Medea 431, Hippolytus 428, Bacchae 406
Socrates (469-399): Athenian citizen, philosopher (wrote nothing)
Phidias (c. 470-425): Athenian sculptor; Parthenon sculptures 440s, Olympian Zeus 430s
Polyclitus (c. 460-410): Peloponnesian sculptor; "Doryphoros" & Canon c.430
Thucydides (c. 460-c. 400): Athenian general, historian; Peloponnesian War 420s-400
Aristophanes (c. 455-c. 385): Athenian playwright: "Old Comedy"; Clouds 423, Lysistrata 411
Alcibiades (450-404): Athenian general, politician, traitor
Plato (428-347): Athenian philosopher, teacher; Apology 390s, Symposium 380, Republic 370s
Praxiteles (c. 400-330): Athenian sculptor; "Aphrodite of Cnidos" c.360
Aristotle (384-322): philosopher from Macedonia, lived in Athens; Ethics, Politics c.330
Alexander the Great (356-323): Macedonian king, united Greeks, conquered Persian empire etc.
Menander (c. 345-292): Athenian playwright: "New Comedy"; Grouch 316, Brothers c. 310

Roman Renaissance: Late Republic and Augustan Age

Q. Ennius (239-169): S Italian immigrant, poet and dramatist; Annals 180s (historical epic)
T.M. Plautus (c.240-c.180): central Italian comic playwright; Major Blowhard 205
M.P. Cato the Censor (234-149): Roman general, statesman, moralist; Agriculture 160, Origins 150s
P. Terence Afer (c. 200-150s): Carthaginian captive, comic playwright; Brothers 160
P.C. Scipio Africanus (185-129): Roman general, statesman, patron of Greek culture
G. Laelius (c. 190-120s): Roman Senator, patron of Greek philosophy
L.L. Crassus (140-91): Roman Senator, orator, statesman; influenced Cicero
M.T. Cicero (106-43): Roman statesman, orator, philosopher; Republic 55, Orator 52, etc.
G. Julius Caesar (100-44): Roman general, statesman, historian; Gallic War 50s, Civil War 45
M.P. Cato (95-46): Roman Senator, Stoic, staunch Republican; suicide when defeated by Caesar
G.V. Catullus (85-55): N Italian Roman poet (Verona)
P. Virgil Maro (70-19): N Italian Roman poet (Mantua); Eclogues 38, Georgics 29, Aeneid 19
Q. Horace Flaccus (65-8): S Italian Roman poet; Satires 30s, Odes 1-3 20s, Epistles
Vitruvius (1C BC): Roman architect, engineer; On Architecture c. 30
G. Octavian Caesar Augustus (63-14CE): Roman noble, Princeps; patron of culture
T. Livy (59-17CE): N Italian Roman historian; massive history of Rome "from its foundation"