Admission requirements
This class can be taken in fulfilment of the requirements of both the MA and the Research MA program in Classics and Ancient Civilizations (track Classics), with differential requirements.
Admission requirements: a BA degree in Classics, obtained from a university in the Netherlands, or a comparable qualification obtained from a university outside the Netherlands. Moreover, students with an international degree have to contact the coordinator of studies to check admissibility.
If you are interested in taking this course but are not sure whether you fulfill the entry requirements, please, contact the instructor.
Description
“The problem is not scarcity, but abundance.”
“Wealth is not about possessions but about your ability to use your possessions well.”
“Money is worthless if you use it to buy alcohol or drugs.”
“Freedom is the capacity to not pursue your desires.”
We all know this type of statements. We know them as lifestyle advice, as small talk or a piece of Eastern wisdom—but we don’t think of them as economic statements. Economic statements are supposed to play a different game, to do something different: they revolve around choices in a world of scarcity, they do not aim to prescribe moral rules but rather to describe human behavior, they are instrumental in that they are not interested in your wishes and desires per se, because economics, as a science, is neutral, instrumental, descriptive. And therefore, we may think there was no such thing as economic thinking among the ancient Greeks: it is a game that they simply were incapable of playing. However, in the ancient Greek world, these statements that we just disqualified as “not economic” go to the heart of economic thinking, of reflection on the ways in which human beings interact with their natural and social environment for the provisioning of their livelihoods.
In this seminar we will build on the idea, that there was such a thing as economic reflection or economic thinking in antiquity; we simply tend to overlook it, because it often looks different from what we might expect: the basic assumptions may be different (in some sources, the big problem is abundance, not scarcity), the protagonist may be different (not the Homo Economicus as we know him, but a different, sometimes more fully-fledged understanding of human nature and human being), and the knowledge practices and epistemologies may be different, as ancient economic thought is not communicated through graphs and statistics, but through fables, metaphors and stories. What does this economics look like? How different is it really? And how can we bring ancient Greek myths, stories, philosophical analysis on economics into a critical dialogue with 21st-century questions? In a time when notions like degrowth and postgrowth economics are gaining momentum in the academic conversation and beyond, thinking and rethinking on economics can be enriched by an understanding of pregrowth economics, by alternative ways of imagining, understanding and navigating the economy. Can ancient Greek economic stories, analyses and philosophies help us to re-imagine economics in a way that is more in line with the ecological challenges of our times?
In this seminar, we will read in the original Greek some of the key examples of ancient Greek economic thinking from a broad array of text types, ranging from Homeric epic and Archaïc poetry (Hesiod, Pindar, Theognis), to historiography (Herodotus, Thucydides) and Attic comedy and tragedy, from 4th-century oratory and philosophy (Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle) to fable collections, proverbs and anecdotes. We will also engage with contemporary discussions: on donut economics (Raworth), degrowth (Hickel), postgrowth (Jackson), and limitarianism (Robeyns, Skidelsky & Skidelsky).
We will approach Greek economic thought along three main axes:
(1) Key economic concepts: what are the building blocks of economic thought? How are poverty and wealth imagined and evaluated? Was there a concept of “economic rationality”? What does “utility” mean in a Greek philosophical context? Is kerdos equivalent to “profit”? Why was the phenomenon of money associated with addiction?
(2) Anthropologies: what kind of human being is ancient Greek economics “about”? What aspects of human nature and being human, what kind of assuptions about body, soul, desire, freedom, rationality, competitiveness, are at stake? What kind of anthropologies are produced by economic reflection, how do these anthropologies shape key economic concepts?
(3) Epistemologies: what kind of knowledge is “economic knowledge”? What kind of forms of knowing and reasoning are involved, what kind of genres? Is economic knowledge a field of expertise in antiquity? How generalizable is this knowledge? Is it only descriptive or also normative? How do particular genres shape and reproduce economic thought?
While exploring the field of ancient economic thinking we also engage in critical reflection on methodology:
How can we compare ancient economic thinking with modern economic ideas and assumptions in a meaningful and academically sound way? How do we position ourselves vis-à-vis charges of anachronism? How do we make sure comparisons are generative and not just a matter of self-serving cherrypicking?
What does it mean to bring ancient material into a critical dialogue with 21st-century (economic or ecological) questions?
Research-based teaching and learning
This seminar connects to and builds on an NWO research project of T.A. van Berkel (From Homo Economicus to Political Animal: Human self-understanding in ancient Greek economic reflection 2020-2025) and an ongoing Ammodo-project (Pre-Growth Economics: Ancient Greek economics in a more than human world).
Course objectives
Knowledge and insight:
Students gain
thorough knowledge of a selection of key texts and sources on ancient Greek economic thinking
thorough knowledge of recent scholarly approaches to ancient economic thinking
insight into advanced scholarship on the history of economic thinking
knowledge of some key issues in contemporary debates in (ecological) economics and ecocriticism
Skills
(for differentiation between MA and ResMA, see below under Assessment Methods)
Students learn
to formulate a complex research question, to collect relevant materials, to analyze results, to construct arguments, to formulate conclusions (research, analysing);
to demonstrate their grasp of critical issues in recent scholarship, and to assess recent scholarly contributions by confronting them with the original source material (research, analysing);
to read and translate Greek texts into idiomatic English; to discuss the semantics of lexemes and the grammatical and discourse linguistic features of these texts (reading);
to read independently a selection of Greek and Latin texts with the help of commentaries (independent learning);
to critically assess scholarship according to the standards of academic debate (research);
to give a clear and insightful oral presentation (“mini-seminar”) on a secondary text, a theoretical concept, or a piece of theory; (oral communication, presenting, analysing);
to give a clear and well-argued oral presentation about a primary text (a source text on economic thinking), making effective use of a handout (mandatory) and other presentation devices (oral communication, presenting, analysing);
to present a well-argued and well-formulated constructive response to a presentation (oral communication, presenting);
to write a scholarly paper, which will offer a clear and well-structured presentation of original research (research, written communication);
to participate actively in discussion and debate: the student demonstrates involvement in the topic by asking well-informed and constructive questions and making contributions to the collective progress, on the basis of antecedent independent preparation (oral communication);
This research seminar contributes to the achievement of learning outcomes 4a and 4c (to give and write a clear and well-argued oral and written presentation on a research topic in accordance with academic standards) of the study programme Classics and Ancient Civilizations.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Written Examination with short open questions about and translations of Greek texts and short open questions and essay questions on secondary literature (30%)
Oral presentations (30%)
Written Paper (3000-4000 words) (30%)
Participation (10%)
The requirements for MA and ResMA students are differentiated:
The paper of an MA student will present a specific text passage with translation and (conceptual or philosophical) commentary.
The paper of a Research MA student will take the form of a scholarly article that presents the innovative and well-argued interpretation of a narrative or text passage, with a clear research question, an argument, and a conclusion.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
Please describe how the resit will be arranged. The resit may consist of the same subtests as the first opportunity, but this is not compulsory. The alternative is to combine subtests for the resit. Offering a resit is mandatory.
If the overall mark is unsatisfactory, the student can either revise the paper and / or retake the examination (after consultation with the instructor). There is no resit for the oral presentation and participation.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
A selection of Greek texts and secondary literature will be announced through Brightspace: these titles will be available through Leiden University Library.
Readings that need to be prepared before the seminar’s first meeting will be announced by December 2025.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal
Remarks
Students are expected to attend the classes regularly, to be fully prepared, and to participate actively in discussions.