The World of Ancient Greece

This first-year course will offer a strong grounding in the history, politics, art and literature of Ancient Greece in the period from the Bronze Age to the rise of Macedon. Students will familiarise themselves with the better-known conflicts of the period such as the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, alongside the lesser-known bookends: archaic tyrants on one side, and the turbulent fourth-century BCE on the other. Students will appreciate the cultural products of this rich intellectual epoch from theatre, art and philosophy, to mathematics, engineering, and science. Elite perspectives and experiences will be put against those of women and enslaved agents; the stories of Athens and Sparta against other Greek city-states. Finally, students will learn about and question the legacy of the Classical World both short-term in the Roman Imperial period, as well as longer-term from the Renaissance through to the 21st century.