Literature Humanities: Texts 1937-2018
The list includes texts designated as optional but not texts read in individual sections during free reading periods (or offered as choice earlier). The sequence of years indicated is always that of academic years regardless of the semester in which the text was read.
Of the texts below, the following were and are customarily read in excerpts: Herodotus, The Persian Wars; Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars; Plato, The Republic; Aristotle, Ethics; Old Testament; New Testament; Augustine, Confessions; Dante, Divine Comedy; Boccaccio, Decameron; Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel; Montaigne, Essays; Cervantes, Don Quixote; Spinoza, Ethics; Fielding, Tom Jones; Rousseau, Confessions; and Goethe, Faust.
During the free choice period at the end of the year, when instructors may choose a nineteenth- or twentieth-century text, and earlier when some room is left in the syllabus for additional choices, the following titles suggest the range of selections made, including the texts listed above and not read during a particular year: Conrad, Heart of Darkness; Joyce Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Morrison, Beloved; Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude; Borges, Labyrinths; Walcott, Omeros; Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; The Epic of Gilgamesh; Sappho, Poems; Mme De Lafayette, The Princess of Cleves; Voltaire, Candide; Aristophanes; the Lais of Marie de France; and Christine de Pisan's The Book of the City of Ladies.
Note that Humanities A is also known, thanks to student usage, as Literature Humanities.
| Author | Text | Academic Years |
|---|---|---|
| Anon. | HYMN TO DEMETER | 1986-2010 |
| Anon. | GILGAMESH | 2008 |
| Homer | ILIAD | 1937-2018 |
| Homer | ODYSSEY | 1956-57[S]; 1963-94; 1997-2018 |
| Sappho | POEMS | 1986-92; 2015-18 |
| Aeschylus | ORESTEIA | 1937-2018 |
| Aeschylus | PROMETHEUS BOUND | 1940-55; 1961[?]-75 |
| Herodotus | THE HISTORIES | 1938-64; 1966-70;1975-78; 1980-86; 1995-2018 |
| Sophocles | OEDIPUS THE KING | 1937-2015 |
| Sophocles | ANTIGONE | 1937-58; 1959-92 |
| Sophocles | OEDIPUS AT COLONUS | 1942-43; 1954-58; 1966-67; 1969-92 |
| Sophocles | ELECTRA | 1942-53; 1958-59 |
| Sophocles | PHILOCTETES | 1953-54; 1958-59; 1960-65; 1967-74 |
| Sophocles | AJAX | 1959-63; 1964-65 |
| Euripides | ELECTRA | 1937-54; 1958-79; 1990-92 |
| Euripides | IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS | 1937-40; 1954-55; 1960-61; 1963-64; 1966-67 |
| Euripides | MEDEA | 1937-41; 1942-45; 1948-54; 1955-58; 1959-60; 1961-63; 1982-90; 2003-15 |
| Euripides | THE TROJAN WOMEN | 1942-49; 1960-61; 1969-74 |
| Euripides | HIPPOLYTUS | 1941-48; 1951-58; 1959-75 |
| Euripides | THE BACCHAE | 1945-48; 1958-59; 1961-62; 1963-64; 1966-67; 1969-70; 1977-78; 1980-2002; 2015-18 |
| Euripides | ALCESTIS | 1954-55; 1966-67; 1969-71 |
| Euripides | HERACLES | 1962-74 |
| Euripides | ORESTES | 1969-74 |
| Thucydides | THE PELOPONNESIAN WARS | 1938-2018 |
| Aristophanes | FROGS | 1937-48; 1951-52; 1954-56; 1957-58; 1959-60; 1961-62; 1966-80; 1983-90; 2000-2002 |
| Aristophanes | CLOUDS | 1940-41; 1942-51; 1953-55; 1956-57; 1958-59; 1960-62; 1963-76; 1978-79 ; 1990-92; 2006-07 |
| Aristophanes | BIRDS | 1941-45; 1950-51; 1957-58 |
| Aristophanes | THESMOPHORIAZUSAE | 1945-47; 1948-50 |
| Aristophanes | PEACE | 1947-48 |
| Aristophanes | LYSISTRATA | 1951-52; 1953-54; 1955-57; 1958-60; 1961-62; 1963-64; 1966-79; 1982-83; 1998-2000; 2003-05; 2008-15 |
| Plato | APOLOGY | 1937-60; 1961-64; 1967-68; 1970-74; 1978-92; 2006-07 |
| Plato | SYMPOSIUM | 1937-64; 1966-2018 |
| Plato | TIMAEUS | 1969-70 |
| Plato | EUTHYPHRO | 1951-58; 1962-64; 1967-68; 1970-71 |
| Plato | PHAEDRUS | 1958-59; 1967-68; 1969-70 |
| Plato | MENO | 1959-60; 1969-70; 1971-74 |
| Plato | PROTAGORAS | 1969-70; 1971-74 |
| Plato | PHAEDO | 1960-62; 1967-68 |
| Plato | GORGIAS | 1960-61 |
| Plato | ION | 1961-62 |
| Plato | CRITO | 1962-64; 1970-71; 1978-79 |
| Plato | REPUBLIC | 1937-68; 1970-75; 1977- 9? |
| Aristotle | POETICS | 1937-69; 1972-92 |
| Aristotle | ETHICS | 1937-58; 1959-92 |
| Aristotle | PSYCHOLOGY, METAPHYSICS, STATECRAFT | 1958-59 |
| Aristotle | METAPHYSICS | 1963-65; 1977-78 |
| Aristotle | INTRODUCTION TO ARISTOTLE | 1969-70 |
| Lucretius | ON THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE | 1937-64; 1968-69; 1972-77; 1978-79 |
| Lucian | SATIRICAL SKETCHES | 1962-63 |
| Marcus Aurelius | MEDITATIONS | 1937-41 |
| Vergil | AENEID | 1937-52; 1953-2018 [F1995; S1997-2015; F2015-18] |
| Tacitus | ANNALS | 1942-44 |
| Tacitus | GERMANY | 1942-44 |
| Apuleius | GOLDEN ASS | 1963-64; 1966-70; 1972-77; 1980-81; 1983-84; 1993-98 |
| Ovid | METAMORPHOSES | 1972-79; 2009-15 |
| Ovid | THE EROTIC POEMS | 1999-2000 |
| Petronius | SATYRICON | 1969-70 [S] |
| Bible (OT) | GENESIS | 1948-49; 1954-55; 1958-72; 1973-94; 1990-2018 |
| Bible (OT) | JOB | 1940-59; 1960-68; 1971-72; 1977-78; 1990-2015 |
| Bible (OT) | JONAH | 1990-92 [F] |
| Bible (OT) | AMOS | 1953-54; 1959-62; 1964-68 |
| Bible (OT) | ECCLESIASTES | 1966-67; 1969-70 |
| Bible (OT) | EXODUS | 1956-68; 1966-68; 1982-97 [F] |
| Bible (OT) | ISAIAH | 1962-63; 1986-90 |
| Bible (OT) | HOSEA | 1967-68 |
| Bible (NT) | MATTHEW | 1948-49; 1953-55; 1957-81; 1984-90; 2000-2002 |
| Bible (NT) | LUKE | 1990-2000; 2003-2018 |
| Bible (NT) | JOHN | 1954-55; 1957-72; 1976-77; 1979-80; 1990-2018 |
| Bible (NT) | I CORINTHIANS | 1957-58; 1965-69 |
| Bible (NT) | REVELATION | 1958-59; 1964-69 |
| Bible | ROMANS | 1959-64; 1965-71; 1980-90; 1995-97 [F] |
| Bible | PROVERBS | 1969-70 |
| Bible | SONG OF SONGS | 1969-70; 1990-92 |
| Augustine | CONFESSIONS | 1937-42; 1943-2018 |
| Anon. | BEOWULF | 1974-76; 1978-80 |
| Anon. | SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT | 1973-78 |
| Anon. | THE CID | 1974-76 |
| Anon. | SONG OF ROLAND | 1974-76 |
| Anon. | HROSWITHA | 1990-92 |
| Gottfried | TRISTAN | 1981-84 |
| Gottfried | PARZIFAL | 1964-66 |
| Dante | INFERNO | 1937-2018 |
| Dante | PURGATORIO | 1945-59; 2007-2010 |
| Dante | PARADISO | 1945-49; 1957-58; 1965-66 |
| Dante | DIVINE COMEDY | 1965-66 |
| Boccaccio | DECAMERON | 1986-2011; 2015-2018 |
| Machiavelli | THE PRINCE | 1937-48 |
| Rabelais | GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL I & II | 1937-67; 1976-77 |
| Rabelais | GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUELI & III | 1967-68; 1968-69; 1971-72; 1978-86 |
| Rabelais | GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUELI & exc. from II-V | 1969-70; 1973-76 |
| Montaigne | ESSAYS | 1937-60; 1961-2018 |
| Montaigne | RAYMOND SEBOND | 1960-61 |
| Shakespeare | I HENRY IV | 1937-59; 1960-65; 1980-81 |
| Shakespeare | II HENRY IV | 1937-54; 1955-59; 1960-61 |
| Shakespeare | TWELFTH NIGHT | 1937-38; 1939-41; 1945-47 |
| Shakespeare | HAMLET | 1937-58; 1959-60; 2007-08 |
| Shakespeare | KING LEAR | 1937-2006; 2009-18 |
| Shakespeare | AS YOU LIKE IT | 1938-39; 1952-53 |
| Shakespeare | MACBETH | 1941-43 |
| Shakespeare | THE TEMPEST | 1941-43; 1949-52; 1959-62; 1974-75; 1977-78; 1982-86 |
| Shakespeare | MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING | 1943-44 |
| Shakespeare | MEASURE FOR MEASURE | 1944-45 |
| Shakespeare | TROILUS AND CRESSIDA | 1958-59 |
| Shakespeare | ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA | 1959-60; 1961-62 |
| Cervantes | DON QUIXOTE | 1937-73; 1978-86; 1990-2018 |
| Milton | PARADISE LOST | 1937-57; 1959-68; 1970-73; 2015-2018 |
| Milton | SAMSON AGONISTES | 1957-59; 1970-71; 1972-73 |
| Milton | LYCIDAS | See bottom of page |
| Spinoza | ETHICS | 1937-57; 1958-68; 1970-71; 1972-73 |
| Descartes | MEDITATIONS | 1966-68; 1980-92 |
| Molière | TARTUFFE | 1937-58; 1959-67 |
| Molière | THE PHYSICIAN IN SPITE OF HIMSELF | 1937-44; 1950-58; 1961-64 |
| Molière | THE SCHOOL OF WIVES | 1938-64 |
| Molière | THE BOURGEOIS GENTLEMAN | 1944-49 |
| Molière | THE WOULD BE INVALID | 1953-54; 1958-59 |
| Molière | THE PRECIOUS RIDICULOUS | 1958-59 |
| Mme. de Lafayette | THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES | 1986-90 |
| Swift | GULLIVER'S TRAVELS | 1937-68; 1970-73; 1982-84 |
| Fielding | TOM JONES | 1937-49 |
| Hume | DIALOGUE CONCERNING NATURAL RELIGION | 1957-58 |
| Diderot | RAMEAU'S NEPHEW | 1955-56 |
| Rousseau | CONFESSIONS | 1937-45; 1972-73; 1978-79 |
| Lessing | LAOCOON | 1945-46 |
| Voltaire | CANDIDE | 1937-52; 1953-55; 1956-8; 1959-63; 1979-80 |
| Voltaire | ZADIG AND MICROMEGAS | 1958-59 |
| Goethe | FAUST | 1937-45; 1950-58; 1959-67; 1970-72; 1978-79; 1986-2000; 2012-2015 |
| Nietzsche | BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL | 1955-56; 1958-59; 1979-80 |
| Blake | PORTABLE BLAKE | 1967-68 |
| Austen | PRIDE AND PREJUDICE | 1985-2018 |
| Stendhal | THE RED AND THE BLACK | 1972-73; 1981-82 |
| Dostoyevsky | CRIME AND PUNISHMENT | 1952-58; 1959-62; 1970-73; 1978-84; 2000-2018 |
| Dostoyevsky | THE DEVILS | 1958-59 |
| Dostoyevsky | NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND | 1962-68; 1970-73; 1978-79 |
| Shaw | MAN AND SUPERMAN | 1952-53 |
| Melville | MOBY DICK | 1972-73 |
| Adams | EDUCATION | 1955-56 |
| Kafka | THE TRIAL or METAMORPHOSIS | 1972-73 |
| Yeats | SELECTED POEMS | 1955-56 |
| Woolf | TO THE LIGHTHOUSE | 1990-2018 |
| Havel | GARDEN PARTY | 2006 |
NB: The record is not clear on this but, since some veterans insist Lycidas was read as a required text, I include it here.