Course Description
Examination of the archaeological, literary, and environmental evidence for the ancient city of Athens, from the Dark Ages through the Roman period, with special emphasis on the creation of the polis, its social, economic, and cultural systems, and its place within the wider Greek world.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will undertake a major research project that
will build upon their background in classics and ancient history
and will allow them to acquire new expertise in the subject of
Ancient Athens. They will present results of their research in
two ways: 1. a traditional research paper (ca 25-35 pp.) and
2. a PowerPoint presentation to the class
Athena Title
Ancient Athens
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in CLAS 4340W
Prerequisite
CLAS 1000 or CLAS 1000E or CLAS 1000H or CLAS 1010 or CLAS 1010E or CLAS 1010H or CLAS 1020 or CLAS 1020E or CLAS 1020H or CLAS 3000 or CLAS 3010 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015E or CLAS 3030 or CLAS 3040 or CLAS3050 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will: **know the archaeological, literary and environmental evidence for ancient Athens, from the Dark Ages through the Roman period **know the key archaeological sites and museum collections for ancient Athens **know how to use a variety of primary (including archaeological) and secondary (including web resources) sources to reconstruct a comprehensive picture of ancient Athens **understand the place of Athens within the wider Greek world **understand the processes of state formation **engage in critical analysis and synthesis of the various categories of evidence for ancient Athens **produce writing appropriate to the subject of Athenian topography and history and to the disciplines of classics and classical archaeology.
Topical Outline
**Introduction: chronology, geography, source materials **Dark Ages: manipulation of the Mycenaean past, evolution of the polis, re-emergence of art, role of sanctuaries in state formation **Athens in the Archaic Period: development of the agora, Peisistratus on the Akropolis, social and political reforms, cultural milieu **Athens in the Classical Period: Perikles on the Akropolis, war and the archaeological record, dedications and the epigraphic record, changing values **Athens in the Hellenistic Period: Socrates and philosophy, intellectual power of the city, Athens and the Attalids, housing the poor and the elite **Athens in the Roman Period: Athens and the Second Sophistic, Pausanias, Hadrian in Athens, Athenian twilight **Ethics and Archaeology: the special case of Athens