Philosophy 240: Ancient Philosophy — The Rise of Reason in a Mythic World. From the emergence of philosophy out of an ancient mythic matrix to its flowering in the classical period of Plato and Aristotle, this course follows a tension between human rationality and religious intuition. In the process of reflecting upon and writing about philosophical arguments as they first arose in the context of ancient gods and heroes, we will not only gain a firm grounding in philosophy but will also gain new perspectives from which to critically assess the intellectual life and cultural productions of modern societies.