Books
The following three books are required:
1. Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, 3d Edition
by Ralph W. Mathisen. Oxford U. Press, 2020. 978-0-190-08094-5. $74.99 List.
- Getting this book:
- A physical copy of the second edition is on reserve at Lief Library.
- Rent (new, used, or digital) or buy (new or used) via the Lehman Bookstore.
- Rent or buy (new or used) via Valore Books or Amazon.
- Buy (new or used) via Abe Books or Alibris.
- Try to get the right edition, especially if you’re buying a used copy. The first edition is significantly different from the second and third, and page numbers will not match up with later editions.
2. The Epic of Gilgamesh
trans. by Andrew R. George. London: Penguin, 2003. 978-0-140-44919-8. $13.00.
- Getting this book:
- A full online copy can be found at the Internet Archive.
- Rent or buy (new or used) via the Lehman Bookstore or Valore Books.
- Buy Kindle or paperback (new or used) via Amazon.
- Buy (new or used) via Abe Books, Alibris, Better World Books, or Powell’s.
- I strongly recommend the Andrew George edition because he translated directly from the source. It also has a very useful introduction. If you get another edition, make sure it is based on the Standard Version of the epic.
- I recommend against using a random online transcription of the text, as for this 4,500-year old text you definitely want an expert translation with good commentary and extrapolation such as the George.
3. Four Texts on Socrates
ed. by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. Ithaca: Cornell Press, 1998. 978-0-801-48574-9. $12.30.
- Getting this book:
- A physical copy is available in the stacks at Lief Library.
- Hourly borrowing is available via the Internet Archive.
- Rent or buy (new or used) via the Lehman Bookstore or Valore Books.
- Buy (new or used) via Amazon, Abe Books, Alibris, Better World Books, or Powell’s.
- Four Texts on Socrates has Aristophanes’s Clouds, which we’ll be reading in class, but the other works may help your interpretation of the play and especially your essay.
- There are basic transcriptions of Clouds online, but again the intro and notes will be vital to your appreciation of the play, so you should use this book or another full-text book edition.
The assigned books are available from Lehman College Bookstore and from Amazon and other online retailers (try searching aggregators such as Bookfinder for the best deals). Make sure you do so enough in advance that you’ll receive the books in time for the assignments.