10110 Classical Greece

Credits: 6 introductory credits in Ancient History

Prerequisites: none

Authors: Efrat Fradkin, Binyamin Shimron, Rachel Zelnick, Gabriel Herman, Ephraim David, Zeev Robinson, Netta Zagagi, Avraham Wasserstein, Moshe Fisher, Drora Baharal

The course introduces the student to the Golden Age of Greek civilization as embodied in its political, social, economic and cultural structures. It serves as a core course for further study of the history of the ancient world and its culture, and is an elective for programs in literature, philosophy and art. The course surveys historical and cultural processes in the history of classical Greece, discusses basic concepts related to the study of this period, and acquaints students with basic methods in reading and analyzing historical sources.

Topics: Greece – an overview; Religion and mythology; Herodotus and the Persian wars; Sparta; Athenian democracy; The Athenian Empire; Athenian drama; Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War; Athenian democracy and its opponents; Philosophy in Greece; Daily life in classical Greece; Classical Greek art. The materials include readers containing ancient sources as well as modern research. Additional readings include Aristotle’s The Athenian State and The Rise of Greek Philosophy, by J. Glucker (Tel Aviv, 1983).