Announcements

Notes and reminders about the Birds essay (due Nov. 16)

26 October 2026

Here are a few reminders on the Birds essay, which is due on Monday, Nov. 16. (Note: this is a revised deadline.)

The starting point I’d like you to bear in mind is that this essay is about making an argument and supporting that argument with evidence—in this case, three specific moments from Birds that demonstrate and illustrate your argument concerning what Birds tells us about fifth-century Athens.

Comparing two works. For this essay you need to compare Birds to another ancient Greek work. Which one depends on which prompt you are answering. This also means that you need to carve out time to read through and consider how best to use the other work as well as a separate chunk of time to plan and write the essay.

The goal for this essay to make an argument about fifth-century Athens using just these two pieces of primary source evidence. You don’t need anything else but the two primary sources.

Structure. In your introduction, make sure you have a clear thesis statement—what you intend to show in the paper. Try to develop a concrete, specific thesis statement that lines up with and responds directly to one of the prompts.

In the main body of your essay, focus on three specific moments from Birds that support your thesis. You should have three sections, one for each moment in Birds you’re discussing. In each section, talk about the moment from Birds, then a similar or contrasting moment in your other work, then discuss what this evidence tells us. When discussing both works, be specific and concrete.

I talk about the structure in the Structure Musts video (on the Essay Musts page).

Evidence and cites. A major rule of thumb for writing about history (and for academic work in general, but especially history) is that all assertions must be supported by evidence, and all evidence must be cited. When you describe events from Birds and the other work (whether it’s in quotes, a paraphrase, or just describing specific ideas present in the story), you need to provide a citation—a footnote or parenthetical cite that gives your source (the book version of Birds and the other work you are using) plus a page number. You also need a bibliography listing the versions used of both works. For more on this, see the Evidence Musts video on the Essay musts page, and the bibliography and footnotes pages in the Citation Center on the course website.

Requirements for all papers. Make sure to fully review the requirements for all papers (on the Essay Musts page of the course website) before completing and uploading your essay. Also review the prompt for the Essay you’ve chosen to make sure you answered what it’s looking for.

Any questions at all, please come to me. I’m really looking forward to hearing your insights on Birds and what it has to tell us about fifth-century Athens.

Link to Essays page

Welcome to Week 9!

25 October 2026

This week we’re exploring the city of Athens itself, and we’re also looking at the very thing we’re engaged in thanks in part to the Greeks—education, both formal and communal.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. How do you think the Athenians thought about education and the role it played? How does sophistry—the ability to argue successfully regardless of truth or merit—become a thing in Athens, which is otherwise so devoted to the cultural ideal? Why can’t anyone agree on right and wrong?

A particularly important idea, relevant to both the cultural turbulence in Athens and the conflicts in Birds, is the debate between nomos and physis. What does this philosophical controversy relate to, and why is it so emblematic of classical Athens?

And in connection with that topic: what I most want to do is hash out what you guys think of Birds now that we’re finishing it. There are some very striking scenes toward the end, as the prospect of Cloudcuckooland becomes more absurd and further from the simple desires the ex-Athenian humans evinced at the start of the play. What is this play about? What is Aristophanes telling us by having the ideas of utopia, civilization, and divinity twist around so much? What do you think the play is telling us beyond what Aristophanes intended?

Also: a reminder to make sure you’re planning for your Birds essay as you read. Which of the three topics are you exploring? What is Birds telling us about classical Athens?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you on Thursday. See you then!

Link to Schedule page

Birds essay page has been updated

25 October 2026

I’ve added a few new links for the suggested comparison works on the Birds essay page. This should provide you with more options as you approach your Birds essay.

The Ancient Texts page has been updated as well, and a new Collections section added to help you find ancient texts not listed there. This may be of help as you approach the research phase of your position paper (on which, more to come).

Any questions, let me know!

Link to Essays page

Welcome to Week 8!

18 October 2026

This week we’re exploring the wild ferment that is classical Athenian culture, spanning everything from political innovation to theater and visual art to oratory, philosophy, and natural science. Where does this explosion of cultural expression come from? What drives the Athenians not only to develop new forms like tragedy and comedy, but make them absolutely central to their culture? What is all of this about, to the Athenians?

Not only is all of this cultural combustion happening at the same time during the fifth century, but it’s happening alongside the worst wars in Greek history. Is there a connection? How do the extremes of war relate to the pursuit of extreme cultural expression?

As historians (and in this course we are all historians) we should naturally pay close attention to the “invention” of historical writing, attributed both to Herodotos and to Thukydides. How different are they in terms of method and intent? Are their approaches conflicting or complementary, do you think? What do you recognize in the way they write about the past, compared to how we do it now?

This week we’re also shifting from our Reader excerpts to the exploration of an entire play, Aristophanes’s comedy Birds. It’s ribald, a biting Athenian comedy that’s also meant to be experienced as a spectacle. How do the two lads from Athens introduce us to that city’s culture? What kind of perspective do the other characters, like the Hoopoe, have? What elements do you see in this first part that signpost what Aristophanes is trying to accomplish here?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Thursday!

Link to Schedule page

Welcome to Week 7!

11 October 2026

This week we’re continuing our discussion of the Persian Wars and the long shadow they cast over the story of Hellas.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. There are a lot of what-ifs about the Persian Wars and the aftermath. In the end the Greeks worked together to fight off the Persians, so why was Hellas so divided afterwards? Did the Persian Wars bring about the friction of the following years, or was it there the whole time? And when it comes to their relations with the rest of the Greeks, why did the Spartans and the Athenians turn into such jerks? Was the Delian League a racket to increase Athenian power or a real effort to advance a shared Greek culture and economy? (Or both?)

Also this week we get a chance to delve deeper into Athenian cultural expression in the fifth century. This is a time of great military, social, and political turbulence for Athens, and also the period of its greatest creative innovations. What’s the connection between the two phenomena? Why is Athens, in particular, a greenhouse of extreme cultural expression?

Reminder: To prepare for our upcoming study of the play over the next two weeks, please make sure you have your copy of Birds by Aristophanes. See the Books page on the course website for more.

Looking forward to discussing all this with you. See you Thursday!

Link to Schedule page

Sign up for your second presentation

11 October 2026

If you have not done so already, please go ahead and sign up now for your second presentation for the bottom half of the semester. The sign-up page is on the course website (at markbwilson dot com), under Presentations.

Look the list over and find one that seems like it might be interesting to spend a little time with when it comes up later in the semester. Each of the titles is linked to the reading, so you can get a preview, and the dates we’ll be getting to each reading are there, too.

Link to Signup #2 page

Reminder: The Proposal is due Monday, October 19

4 October 2026

Here are a few brief reminders about the proposal, which is due very soon on Monday, October 19.

I’m looking for: a problem that can be argued; your proposed thesis; and any other thoughts about what you might want to explore or how you think you might go about supporting your argument in the position paper itself. I’ll give feedback on topic viability, scope, and possible primary and secondary sources.

There is also a video on the course website (see the Essays page or the Videos page) that details exactly what I’m looking for. A sample is also posted on the proposal page. I’m happy to discuss possible ideas and approaches in office hours, after class, or by email.

Here’s what the syllabus has for the proposal assignment.

The assignment: The proposal is just a brief one-page preview of your position paper. It should include:

• The topic you think you’ll want to write about and the problem you’re interested in addressing. You should be able to delineate the problem by describing the opposing views people might take. To make sure you have two clear opposing opinions, you might want to express them in the form “Some say… . Others say….”
• Your preliminary thesis statement—in other words, what you think you might be arguing in your paper.
• Your thesis statement, both here and in the final paper, should be a statement of opinion that someone could disagree with. It can take the form of following up the description of the opposing opinions with your own: “I believe….”
• Remember that your thesis is provisional. You can change anything about your approach and interpretation after the proposal; in fact, uncovering information as you do your research makes refining or changing your initial assessments very likely.
• Your proposal is structured like the introduction to your final paper, and may serve as the basis for it.

The proposal is not graded, but whether you submitted a proposal on time will be factored into the final grade for the position paper. I will give you feedback on things like the feasibility of researching your topic, whether the scope is too big or too narrow for a paper like this, and some possible sources you might want to look at.

Link to Essays page