SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Abbreviations: page numbers alone
refer to the textbook, Ancient Greece, by Pomeroy et al.
"Atlas" = The Penguin Historical Atlas
of Ancient Greece
"Rutter" = J.B. Rutter, "The Prehistoric
Archaeology of the Aegean": his Dartmouth lectures online, with slides!
Hdt. = Herodotus (cited by book and "chapter"
nos.; a chapter is a paragraph)
Thuc. = Thucydides (also cited by book
and chapter numbers).
Page of Links to Online Materials for
Greek History: www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/grkhist.html
All handouts constitute required reading,
including ones made available online.
Please do the readings before each class.
You will get more out of each class that way.
Readings you can do right here, online,
are in bold and color.
*this page is in progress*
I. Introduction and Prehistoric Civilizations
Tu Aug. 31: Introduction to Greece, the
Greeks, History, and the Course.
Read: pp. xiii-xvi and 1-4; Atlas, p. 5.
Th Sept. 2: The Minoans of Crete (non-Greek!);
Thera and the Greek Myth of Atlantis
Read: pp. 4-8, with Atlas, pp. 22-23 (background); and
pp. 11-18, with Atlas, pp. 24-25, and relevant parts of pp. 12-17,
36-37;
Read online: Rutter,
Lesson 12: "Minoan Architecture: The Palaces"
-- with
accompanying slide-images; and
Lesson17:
"Akrotiri on Thera, the Santorini Volcano ..."
-- with
accompanying slide-images
See online:
Iraklion Archaeological
Museum (slides from the great Cretan Museum)
handouts on Minos and on Atlantis (coming).
handout in class: chronological chart of the Bronze Age.
Tu Sept. 7: The Mycenaeans (I): Coming
of the Greeks; Palaces and Society
Read: pp. 8-11, 18-37 (top of page); Atlas, pp. 12-20 (top),
26-29, 36-37;
Read online: Rutter,
Lesson 20: "Mycenaean ... Palaces"
-- with
accompanying slides online; and
Lesson
25: "The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic
Organization."
Th Sept. 9: Mycenaean Age (II): Was There
a Trojan War?; End of Bronze Age & Sea Peoples
Read: pp. 37-40; Atlas, pp.
20-21 & 30-35;
Read online: Rutter,
Lesson 27: "Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War", and
Lesson
28: "The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial
Civilization and Coming of Dorians"
--
with a few images;
See: "In Search of the Trojan War," video-series by M. Wood,
Part 1 (of 6), available at Library reserve desk.
II. Beginnings and development of Greek (historical) civilization
Tu Sept. 14: Dark Ages and Homeric Society
(and conclude previous topic)
Read: pp. 41-71; Atlas, pp. 46-47; Thucydides I.2 and I.12;
handout on Homeric society.
Take-home map exercise due.
Th Sept. 16: "Eighth Century Renaissance"
and the Rise of the Polis (city-state)
Read: pp. 71-90, 95-106; Atlas,
pp. 48-49. General: Atlas, pp. 38-44.
Tues. Sept 21: no class for
us; Monday classes meet today (yes, this Tuesday is really a Monday)
Th Sept. 23: Greek Colonization of the
Mediterranean and beyond
Read: pp. 90-95; Atlas, pp. 50-55 and 82-83;
Hdt. I.94 (colonization story, actually about the non-Greek Etruscans)
and
IV.147-164 (founding of Thera and Cyrene).
Sept. 28: Panhellenic Institutions: Delphic Oracle & Olympic Games:
Read: pp. 78-79 and 127-128 (on panhellenism); Atlas, pp. 44-45.
Hdt. I.46-55 and 90-91 (classic oracle-stories).
Read article at reserve desk in library: S. Price, "Delphi and Divination,"
in P.E.
Easterling and J.V. Muir, eds., Greek Religion and Society (1985),
pp. 128-154.
See (online WWW sites accessible via home page for this course):
Delphi
(Greek
Ministry of Culture WWW site)
Olympia (Greek Ministry of Culture WWW site)
The Ancient Olympic
Games Virtual Museum
fyi: video: "The Ancient Olympics: Athletes, Games & Heroes" (1996), available at Library reserve desk.
Sept. 30: Archaic Society: Development of the Polis, Social Divisions, Art, Tyrannies
Read: pp. 95-106 (listed above, under 8th century polis);
pp. 106-109 (tyrants), 109-121
(art & poetry), 124-127 and 128-129 (interstate relations); Atlas,
pp. 56-57.
Herodotus V.92 on Cypselus (see also stories about Periander, Polycrates,
etc.);
Thucydides I.13 and I.17 and, in general, I.1-19.
III. Rise of Sparta, Ionia, and Athens
Tu Oct. 5: Sparta and the Spartans
Read: Ch. 4 (pp. 131-158); Atlas, pp. 80-81.
handout
of sources about Sparta (especially Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus);
Hdt. I.65-68; Thuc. I.10 & I.18.
Th Oct. 7: no class: Ancient Greek Reading Day
Tu Oct. 12: The Rise of Athens and Solon
Read: pp. 159-169;
Aristotle, The Constitution of Athens, 1-13 (online!
read here!) (read "Part 1" to "Part 13);
Thuc. II.15-16 on the synoikism of Attica;
on Cylon: compare Hdt. V.71 with Thuc. I.126.
Th Oct. 14: Athens from Tyranny (Peisistratus
& sons) to Democracy (Kleisthenes)
Read: pp. 169-178; Atlas, pp. 58-59.
Hdt. V.57-65 (on fall of tyrants)--compare w/ Thuc. VI.53-59;
Hdt. V.66-78; Aristotle, chapters 14-21 (read online).
Oct. 19: Ionia and the East: Presocratics;
Lydia and Persia; Conquests of Ionia; Revolt
Read: pp. 121-124, 178-185; Atlas, pp. 60-61 (myth), 62-64,
70-71.
Herodotus, Book I and V from ch. 28 to end of V.
Oct. 21: MIDTERM test (prior review-session, TBA)
IV. Fifth-Century Developments, especially Athens ("Classical Athens")
Tu Oct. 26: Persian Wars I: Marathon (490
BCE); Athens in the 480s;
Herodotus and the Invention of History.
Read: pp. 185-192; Atlas, pp. 64-69, 74-75; Herodotus, Books V-IX (selections).
Th Oct. 28: Persian Wars II: Xerxes' Invasion
(480-479 BCE)
Read: pp. 192-200; Atlas, pp. 76-77; Herodotus selections.
Nov. 2: The Athenian Empire (to 445 BCE)
Read: pp. 201-215; Thucydides I.89-117 ("Pentecontaetia"); Atlas,
pp. 86-88, 94-95.
Nov. 4: Athenian Democracy & Society
(i): Tragedy, Women, Family, Slaves, Economy
Read: pp. 215-219 with pp. 343-349; pp. 222-245.
Tu Nov. 9: Athenian Society (ii) and Culture.
Read: pp. 255-274; Atlas, pp. 84-85.
Th Nov. 11: Archaeology of Athens: Acropolis
& Parthenon; Agora
Read: pp. 274-286; Atlas, pp. 134-135; TBA.
See: "The Ancient City of Athens" (slides online).
Nov. 16: The Peloponnesian War (i) and
Thucydides
Read: pp. 246-255 and Ch. 8 (pp. 287-329); Atlas, pp. 88-89,
96-99.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (selections TBA)
Nov. 18: The Peloponnesian War (ii) and
Fall (?) of Athens. Conclusion of above.
V. New Conditions: Moves to Empire (4th century on)
Tu Nov. 23: Fourth Century BCE: Struggles
for Hegemony; Decline of Sparta
Read: Ch. 9
(pp. 330-370); Atlas, pp. 78-79, 90-93 and 100-105.
Th Nov. 25: give thanks for the Ancient Greeks
Nov. 30: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon
Read: Ch. 10
(pp. 371-394); Atlas, pp. 72-73 (background), 93, 106-109.
Th Dec. 2: Alexander the Great
Read:
Plutarch, "Life of Alexander" (on WWW or xeroxed);
Ch. 11 (pp. 395-426); Atlas, pp.
110-112, 120-125;
See: Alexander the Great's Home Page (accessible through the course's
home page).
*Monday, Dec. 6: We meet (this Monday
is actually a Thursday!)
After Alexander: The Hellenistic Period
and The Legacy of Greece
Read: Ch. 12
(pp. 427-470) and Epilogue (pp. 471-475); Atlas, pp. 112-119, 126-133.
Review-session: TBA.
Exam: TBA (sometime Dec. 10-16). Will cover material since the Midterm.
2 short papers: topics and dates TBA