Civilizing the Barbarians

Civilizing the Barbarians was a course at A9.com covering different aspects of western civilization: its history, literature, history, philosophy, art, music, etc., starting with Homer and Plato, and ending with Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. Classes were separated into a 45 minute lecture (without interruptions), followed by 30 minutes of discussion.

Videos on YouTube

Table of Contents

• Handouts
• Recommended Translations
• Film and TV
• Short Canon
• Acknowledgements

Handouts

• Lecture 13
  • Confession at the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost)
  • Abridged Hexateuch
  • Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Masaccio

Recommended Translations

• Mahabharata, by Vyasa
  • The Mahabharata. Translated by John D. Smith.
    Penguin Classics, 2009.
  
  
• Bhagavad Gita
  • The Bhagawad Gita According to Gandhi. By Mohandas K. Gandhi.
    North Atlantic Books, 2009.
  
  
• Iliad, by Homer
  • The Iliad. Translated by Rodney Merrill.
    University of Michigan Press, 2009.
  
  
• Odyssey, by Homer
  • The Odyssey. Translated by Rodney Merrill.
    University of Michigan Press, 2002.
  
  
• Oresteia, by Aeschylus
  • Aeschylus II: The Oresteia. Translated by Richmond Lattimore.
    Edited by David Grene. University Of Chicago Press, Third Edition, 2013.
  
  
• Parallel Lives, by Plutarch
  • Plutarch's Lives, Dryden Edition. Volume 1 and Volume 2.
    Edited by Arthur Hugh Clough. Modern Library Classics, 2001.
  
  
• Histories, by Herodotus
  • The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Translated by Andrea L. Purvis.
    Edited by Robert B. Strassler. Anchor Books, 2009.
  
  
• History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides
  • The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. Translated by Richard Crawley.
    Edited by Robert B. Strassler. Free Press, 1998.
  
  
• Plato
  • Plato: Complete Works.
    Edited by John M. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson. Hackett Publishing Co., 1997.
  • The Dialogues of Plato, Volume 2: The Symposium. Translated by R. E. Allen.
    Yale University Press, 1993.
  • Dialogues mentioned in the lectures:
    • Gorgias: On justice (against Callicles)
    • Apology, Crito, Phaedo: Trial, imprisonment, and death of Socrates
    • Symposium: On love
  
  
• Xenophon on Socrates
  • Xenophon: Memorabilia, Oeconomicus, Symposium, Apology. Translated by E. C. Marchant and O. J. Todd.
    Revised by Jeffrey Henderson. Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 2013.
  
  
• Elements, by Euclid
  • The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Vol. 1: Books 1-2. Translated by Sir Thomas L. Heath.
    Dover Publications, 2nd edition, 1956.
  • The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Vol. 2: Books 3-9. Translated by Sir Thomas L. Heath.
    Dover Publications, 2nd edition, 1956.
  • The Thirteen Books of the Elements, Vol. 3: Books 10-13. Translated by Sir Thomas L. Heath.
    Dover Publications, 2nd edition, 2010.
  • Everyone must work through at least Book 1.
  
  
• The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, by Suetonius
  • The Twelve Caesars. Translated by Robert Graves.
    Edited by James B. Rives. Penguin Classics, Revised edition, 2007.
  • For a nice hardcover version of the original Robert Graves translation, search for the "Folio Society" edition.
  
  
• Letters from a Stoic, by Seneca
  • Letters from a Stoic. Translated by Robin Campbell.
    Penguin Classics, 1969.
  
  
• Archimedes
  • The Works of Archimedes. Translated by Sir Thomas Heath.
    Dover Publications, 2013.
  
  
• Histories, by Tacitus
  • The Histories. Translated by Kenneth Wellesley.
    Penguin Classics, 2009.
  
  
• The Jewish War, by Josephus
  • The Jewish War. Translated by G. A. Williamson.
    Revised by Mary Smallwood. Penguin Classics, 1984.
  
  
• The Bible
  • The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version, Expanded Edition.
    Edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Herbert G. May. Oxford University Press, Revised Standard edition, 1977.
  
  
• Confessions, by Saint Augustine
  • Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick.
    Oxford World's Classics, 2009.
  
  

Film and TV

• The Trojan Women. Produced and directed by Michael Cacoyannis. 1971.
  • Starring Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas.
  • Based on the play by Euripides, translated by Edith Hamilton.
  
  
• I, Claudius. Directed by Herbert Wise. BBC, 1976.
  • Starring Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, John Hurt.
  • Written by Jack Pulman. Adapted from Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius the God.
  
  

The Short Canon

• Homer
  • The Iliad
  • The Odyssey
  
  
• Plutarch
  • Parallel Lives
  
  
• Plato
  • Symposium: On love
  • Apology, Crito, Phaedo: Trial, imprisonment, and death of Socrates
  • Gorgias: On justice
  • Republic
  
  
• Euclid
  • The Elements
  
  
• Bible
  • Old Testament
    • Genesis
    • Exodus
    • Samuel 1 and 2
    • Kings 1 and 2
    • Jonah
  • New Testament
    • Luke
    • Acts
  
  
• Shakespeare
  

Acknowledgments

Paramjit Oberoi created this Page. Michael Hembrador recorded and edited the videos.