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. Printable reading lists schedules with information on specific readings are available on mySJC. To access the schedule, login using your mySJC credentials, click on the “Students,” “Staff,” or “Faculty” tab and then select “Student Reading Lists” on the left-hand navigation.

January Freshman Seminar Readings for Spring 2025
Date Reading
January 20 Homer: Iliad, Books I–VI
January 23 Homer: Iliad, Books VII–XII
January 27 Homer: Iliad, Books XIII–XVIII
January 30 Homer: Iliad, Books XIX–XXIV
February 3 Homer: Odyssey, Books I–VIII
February 6 Homer: Odyssey, Books IX–XVI
February 10 Homer: Odyssey, Books XVII–XXIV
February 13 Aeschylus: Agamemnon
February 17 Aeschylus: Choephoroe (Libation Bearers), Eumenides
February 20 Herodotus: Histories, I; III, 37–38
February 24 Herodotus: Histories, V, 62–78; VI, 94–140; VII, 1–60, 99–end
February 27 Herodotus: Histories, VIII–IX
March 3 Plato: Gorgias, 447a–481b
March 6 Plato: Gorgias, 481b–527c
March 10 Plato: Meno
March 13 Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
March 14–30 Spring Vacation
March 31 Plato: Republic, Book I
April 3 Plato: Republic, Book II–III
April 7 Plato: Republic, Book IV–V
April 10 Plato: Republic, Book VI–VII
April 14 Plato: Republic, Book VIII–IX
April 17 Plato: Republic, Book X
April 21 Aristophanes: Clouds
April 24 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 28 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, II, 47–65; III, 1–86; IV, 1–41
May 1 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, IV, 42–135; V, 1–24, 84–116; VI, 1–32
May 5 Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, VI, 33–105; VII; VIII, 1–2
May 8 Plato, Symposium, 172a–201c
May 12 Plato, Symposium, 201d–223d
May 15 Plato: Apology, Crito
May 19 Plato: Phaedo, 57a–89c
May 22 Plato: Phaedo, 89c–118a
January Freshman Seminar Readings for Summer 2025
Date Readings
June 2 Sophocles: Antigone
June 5 Aristotle: Ethics, I; II
June 9 Aristotle: Ethics, III: 1109b30–1119a20; IV: 1123A34–1125a35; V: 1129a3–1131a9, 1134a16–1135a14
June 12 Aristotle: Ethics, VIII; IX
June 16 Aristotle: Ethics, X
June 19 Lucretius: Nature of Things, I; II
June 23 Lucretius: Nature of Things, III; IV; V, 1379–end; VI, 1–34, 1090–1286
June 26 Plato: Timaeus, 17–57d, and “System of the World” (copy)
June 30 Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus
July 3 Aristotle: Physics, I: 184a9–184b14, 189b30–192b7; II: 192b8–195b30
July 7 Aristotle: Physics, II: 195b31–200b11
July 10 Aristotle: Physics, III: 200b12–202b29; IV: 217b29–224a16
July 14 Aristotle: Physics, III: 202b30–208a25; IV: 208a26–217b29
July 17 Aristotle: Physics, VIII: 250b11–260a19, 265a13–267b27
July 21 Euripides: Bacchae
Second Semester Essays Due by Noon at Switchboard
July 24 Plato: Theaetetus, 142–187
July 28 Plato: Theaetetus, 188–210
July 31 Plato: Phaedrus, 227a–258d
August 4 Plato: Phaedrus, 258d–end
August 7 Sophocles: Philoctetes