BA EVENING DEGREE 2011/12 Greek and Roman Civilization
Programme co-ordinator: Dr Helen Dixon
First Semester
| GRC20050 Myth in Greek Art & Architecture |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
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Co-ordinator: Dr Christina Haywood |
Visual representations of myth had an important place in the private and public lives of the Greeks. They are preserved on numerous vases, architectural sculpture, and metalwork. The module will focus on major iconographic themes such as the Trojan War, Herakles, and Dionysian imagery. It will look at how images of myth were constructed, how they evolved, their meaning in the context in which they were viewed, and the connections of the iconography with history, politics, and poetry. In small group tutorials the students will study these themes further from the original vases in the Classical Museum.
| GRC20150 The Roman Republic 264 - 133 BC |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
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Co-ordinator: Dr Alexander Thein |
This module studies the political, military, and social history of the Roman Republic, focusing on the period 264-133 B.C. It was in this period that Rome extended its power beyond the borders of Italy, achieving dominion over the entire Mediterranean world, before eventually collapsing into factionalism and civil war. The key text is Polybius, a Greek resident in Rome, who described the phenomenal rise of Roman power in the first half of the 2nd century B.C. His analysis of Roman imperialism in this period will be supplemented by the evidence of archaeology, inscriptions, and other literary texts. Students will examine the factors that shaped Rome's social and political development as an imperial power, and learn how the Romans fashioned an identity as a Republic with an Empire.
| GRC20160 The Troy Myth |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Martin Brady |
This module will offer an overview of one of the major cycles of ancient Greek mythology, the Trojan War, in both ancient and modern texts. Students will read Homer’s Iliad in its entirety, as well as select other passages of ancient Greek literature, and modern interpretations of the same material (including a film, Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy). This module will also build on study and research skills introduced in GRC1011E Introduction to Classical Myth
Second Semester
| GRC20010 Alexander and his Successors |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Philip De Souza |
This module explores Greek history from Alexander the Great to the Roman conquest (336 to 133 BC). It covers Alexander's reign and the history of the kingdoms and states that succeeded his empire up to the coming of Rome. The module examines a range of political, social and cultural themes including: the achievements of Alexander, Hellenistic city life, relations between Greeks and non-Greeks in Egypt and Asia, religious developments, the impact of Roman expansion on the Greek world. There are two set books: M. Austin, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: a selection of ancient sources in translation (2nd edition 2006, Cambridge) and F. Walbank, The Hellenistic World (2nd edition, 1992).
| GRC20080 Virgil's Aeneid |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
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Co-ordinator: Dr Helen Dixon |
When Virgil began writing his epic poem The Aeneid, Augustus was establishing his imperial rule. While Virigil's contemporaries, and generations to come, greeted The Aeneid as a celebration of Augustan Rome, modern readers tend to view it as a powerful denunciation of war and imperialism. This module explores the ways in which the text engages with both political ideologies and the literary tradition. The prescribed text is Virgil, The Aeneid, prose translation by D. West (Penguin Classics). Recommended secondary literature: R. Thomas, Virgil and the Augustan Reception (2001); C. Perkell, Reading Virgil's Aeneid (1999).
| GRC20100 Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Transformation of Myth |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Martin Brady |
In this module we will read Ovid's great epic poem the Metamorphoses. We will look at how Ovid creatively adapts and refigures already-existing stories in innovative fashion, and we will see how those stories are in turn adapted and represented in post-classical literature and art. We will concentrate on three particular myth cycles: the Creation and the ascent of man (Metamorphoses 1), the Cadmus cycle (Metamorphoses 3-4), and the Troy myth (Metamorphoses 12-13).
Important information
