Course Description
The importance of competition, games, spectacles, and athletics in
ancient Greek and Roman culture from the Bronze Age to the Roman
Empire, including both textual and material evidence.
Athena Title
Ancient Sport
Prerequisite
One 1000-level ENGL course or one 1000-level CLAS course or second year or higher student standing or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to describe the specifics of ancient sporting and athletic performances and the venues of performances in the from the ancient Mediterranean world.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to explain the significance of sports, athletics, competition, and spectacle in Greek and Roman culture.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to analyze and examine ancient representations of sports, athletics, competition, and spectacle in literature and material culture from the ancient Mediterranean world and far reaches of the Roman Empire.
Topical Outline
- Topics may include but are not limited to:
1. The Birth of Sports: Greek Bronze Age
- 2. Athletics and Competition in the Homeric Poems
- 3. The Olympic Games and Panhellenic Festivals
- 4. To the Victor Goes the Poem: Epinician Poetry
- 5. Battle Ready: Physical Training at Sparta
- 6. Contest of Words in Greek Rhetoric and Poetry
- 7. Sports and Competition in the Literature of the Roman Republic and Empire
- 8. Chariot Racing in the Roman Circus
- 9. The Colosseum: Gladiator Combats, Animal Hunts, and Execution Spectacles
- 10. Staged Naval Battles
- 11. Christian Martyrdoms as Spectacle in the Roman World
General Education Core
CORE IV: Humanities and the Arts
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
