Santa Fe January Freshman Seminar Readings

This list may be subject to change. Please always check with tutors or cross-reference with the paper reading list distributed by the dean’s office.

January Freshman Seminar Readings for Spring 2024
Date Reading
January 15 Homer: Iliad, Books I–VI
January 18 Homer: Iliad, Books VII–XII
January 22 Homer: Iliad, Books XIII–XVIII
January 25 Homer: Iliad, Books XIX–XXIV
January 29 Homer: Odyssey, Books I–VIII
February 1 Homer: Odyssey, Books IX–XVI
February 5 Homer: Odyssey, Books XVII–XXIV
February 8 Aeschylus: Agamemnon
February 12 Aeschylus: Choephoroe (Libation Bearers), Eumenides
February 15 Herodotus: Histories, I; III, 37–38
February 19 Herodotus: Histories, V, 62–78; VI, 94–140; VII, 1–60, 99–end
February 22 Herodotus: Histories, VIII–IX
February 26 Plato: Gorgias, 447a–481b
February 29 Plato: Gorgias, 481b–527c
March 4 Plato: Meno
March 7 Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
March 9–24 Spring Vacation
March 25 Plato: Republic, Book I
March 28 Plato: Republic, Book II–III
April 1 Plato: Republic, Book IV–V
April 4 Plato: Republic, Book VI–VII
April 8 Plato: Republic, Book VIII–IX
April 11 Plato: Republic, Book X
April 15 Aristophanes: Clouds
April 18 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, I; II, 1–46
While we recommend reading the entire work, the selections listed should be manageable in the allotted time. Arabic numbers refer to standard paragraph numbers. Most editions have the paragraph numbers in the margins, but not all editions. Please check before purchasing.

First Semester Essays Due by Noon at Switchboard
April 22 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, II, 47–65; III, 1–86; IV, 1–41
April 25 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, IV, 42–135; V, 1–24, 84–116; VI, 1–32
April 29 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, VI, 33–105; VII; VIII, 1–2
May 2 Plato, Symposium, 172a–201c
May 6 Plato, Symposium, 201d–223d
May 9 Plato: Apology, Crito
May 13 Plato: Phaedo, 57a–89c
May 16 Plato: Phaedo, 89c–118a
January Freshman Seminar Readings for Summer 2024
Date Readings
May 27 Sophocles: Antigone
May 30 Aristotle: Ethics, I; II
June 3 Aristotle: Ethics, III: 1109b30–1119a20; IV: 1123A34–1125a35; V: 1129a3–1131a9, 1134a16–1135a14
June 6 Aristotle: Ethics, VIII; IX
June 10 Aristotle: Ethics, X
June 13 Lucretius: Nature of Things, I; II
June 17 Lucretius: Nature of Things, III; IV; V, 1379–end; VI, 1–34, 1090–1286
June 20 Plato: Timaeus, 17–57d, and “System of the World” (copy)
June 24 Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus
June 27 Aristotle: Physics, I: 184a9–184b14, 189b30–192b7; II: 192b8–195b30
July 1 Aristotle: Physics, II: 195b31–200b11
July 4 Aristotle: Physics, III: 200b12–202b29; IV: 217b29–224a16
July 8 Aristotle: Physics, III: 202b30–208a25; IV: 208a26–217b29
July 11 Aristotle: Physics, VIII: 250b11–260a19, 265a13–267b27
July 15 Euripides: Bacchae
Second Semester Essays Due by Noon at Switchboard
July 18 Plato: Theaetetus, 142–187
July 22 Plato: Theaetetus, 188–210
July 25 Plato: Phaedrus, 227a–258d
July 29 Plato: Phaedrus, 258d–end
August 1 Sophocles: Philoctetes