This course introduces you to the turbulant and dynamic past of ancient Athens
In the fifth century BCE, Athens experienced a remarkable period of political, military, and intellectual ascendency. Against the background of establishing a democracy, spearheading Greek resistance against an expansionist Persian Empire, and forging (and losing) an empire of their own, Athenians produced stunning achievements in philosophy, tragedy, comedy, rhetoric, political theory, sculpture, and architecture.
The ancient Athenians were a people defined by striking contradictions. They invented one of the most radical forms of democracy the world has ever seen, yet kept a large portion of their population enslaved. They prided themselves on welcoming all refugees, yet took every opportunity to conquer their neighbors and expand their empire. Their city stood at the epicenter of Greek art, thought, and religion under the watchful gaze of an imposing warrior goddess of wisdom, yet the women of the city were among the most oppressed in the Greek world. Cosmopolitan and parochial, pious and brutal, vulgar and elegant, the Athenians suffered and wrought horrors; they reveled in scandal and scatological humor; they forged works of beauty while developing ideas of lasting relevance. In short, they were people: eerily like us; yet also radically alien from our experience.
The works of Athenians and their contemporaries will be the main sources for our inquiry in this course. As we learn about the important events and developments of this time and place, we will examine the workings of Athenian democracy, economy, love, art, science, education, religion, and more always with an eye on the tensions, conflicts, and contrasts inherent in Athenian culture. We will explore categories of Athenian identity, including gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, freedom and enslavement. We will confront Athenian civilization in all its messy reality, and uncover the ways Athenian ideas and ideas about Athens continue to shape our lives today.
In the fifth century BCE, Athens experienced a remarkable period of political, military, and intellectual ascendency. Against the background of establishing a democracy, spearheading Greek resistance against an expansionist Persian Empire, and forging (and losing) an empire of their own, Athenians produced stunning achievements in philosophy, tragedy, comedy, rhetoric, political theory, sculpture, and architecture.
The ancient Athenians were a people defined by striking contradictions. They invented one of the most radical forms of democracy the world has ever seen, yet kept a large portion of their population enslaved. They prided themselves on welcoming all refugees, yet took every opportunity to conquer their neighbors and expand their empire. Their city stood at the epicenter of Greek art, thought, and religion under the watchful gaze of an imposing warrior goddess of wisdom, yet the women of the city were among the most oppressed in the Greek world. Cosmopolitan and parochial, pious and brutal, vulgar and elegant, the Athenians suffered and wrought horrors; they reveled in scandal and scatological humor; they forged works of beauty while developing ideas of lasting relevance. In short, they were people: eerily like us; yet also radically alien from our experience.
The works of Athenians and their contemporaries will be the main sources for our inquiry in this course. As we learn about the important events and developments of this time and place, we will examine the workings of Athenian democracy, economy, love, art, science, education, religion, and more always with an eye on the tensions, conflicts, and contrasts inherent in Athenian culture. We will explore categories of Athenian identity, including gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, freedom and enslavement. We will confront Athenian civilization in all its messy reality, and uncover the ways Athenian ideas and ideas about Athens continue to shape our lives today.
- Enseignant: Ava Shirazi