hmmm well it compleeetely depends on who's the prof. When I took these, I had Dr. Pope for 1A03 and Dr. Murgatroyd for 1B03.
Pope is absolutely incredible - he's definitely a favourite in the department. He truly cares how his students do and will go WAY out of his way to make sure anyone who shows any interest in the material fully understands it. There wont be an essay if you have him as a prof, but there will be a midterm with slide identification, definitions, short answers, and a small essay (suuuper easy). The final is the same format. The course covers the periods of the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Greeks (Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic), and the Romans.
Murgatroyd is also an incredible prof, but he's a bit more hardcore. He's incredibly well read (he also is a published Latin author) and there will be a LOT of analysis etc. if you have him. I think that for the past 2 years Dr. McLean has taught this course however. McLean's incredibly funny and he's also one of those profs who will go way out of his way to help out his students. In this class you typically read the Iliad, Odyssey, and then some Greek tragedy on the side such as the Oresteia or Medea (great reads).
If you want an easy elective, I'd go for 1A03 rather than 1B03. The later involves a lot of reading and memorization of characters/deities etc. 1A03 involves memorizing photos of ancient sites and the sociology that is built up around them (who lived there and when, what they did, the history etc.). I definitely found 1A03 to be much more interesting (and much easier!).
Hope this helps!