GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION 2009/10
In order to progress to Stage 2 in Greek and Roman Civilization, students must pass any two of GRC10050, GRC10060, GRC10070, and GRC10100 although it is recommended that they take all four of these modules. GRC10080 is an elective-only module.
There are no core modules at Stage 2, and students should take an appropriate number of Level 2 and 3 modules for a Major, Joint Major, or Minor. Students taking a GRC Major should complete 120 credits at Stage 2.
Click here for the 2009/10 Undergraduate Module List.
LEVEL 1 MODULES
| GRC10050 The Rise and Fall of Athens |
| Level 1 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Professor Theresa Urbainczyk |
This module provides an introduction to the history and philosophy of ancient Greece, looking especially at the Athenian Empire of the 5th century BC and its ideas of freedom and democracy that have shaped our own views. The course will look also look at the development of philosophy and its impact on life and thought in the 5th century. The module is in two parts: 1. The historical background of the 5th century, with special reference to Thucydides' history The Peloponnesian War and 2. the intellectual revolution.
| GRC10060 Homer and his World |
| Level 1 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Professor Michael Lloyd |
This module deals with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and their historical background. These two epic poems were composed c. 725-700 BC, when city-states were beginning to emerge in Greece. The lectures will deal with the structure, characters, and main themes of the two works, with special reference to the epic heroes Achilles and Odysseus. The module will also discuss the history of Archaic Greece (c.800-500 BC), and how other archaic texts and documents, plus the evidence of material culture compare with the world portrayed in the poems. Tutorial classes will encourage students to develop their skills in analysis and evaluation of texts and historical evidence. The module requires no previous knowledge of Homer, and all texts are studied in translation.
GRC10070 Rome's Rise to Empire Level 1 Credits 5 Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Dr Alexander Thein
This module provides an introductory survey of Roman history and archaeology from Romulus to the death of Caesar. It studies how Rome rose from humble beginnings to dominate Italy and the entire Mediterranean world, before eventually collapsing into factionalism and civil war in the last two centuries BC. By reading ancient biographies of key figures of Roman history, and by tracing the building history of monuments in the city of Rome, students will examine the factors which shaped Rome's social and political development as an imperial power, and learn how the Romans understood their own identity as a Republic with an Empire.
| GRC10080 Latin in Context |
| Level 1 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Helen Dixon |
This module introduces students to Latin in the wider context of Roman culture. You will learn how to read and translate Latin sentences from Roman authors, in a series of themed classes on topics such as Early Rome, Carthage and Cicero. Grammar and syntax will be explained and you will acquire a basic vocabulary in Latin. Over the course of the module, you will develop your knowledge of Roman culture by addressing subjects such as pronounciation of Latin, how Roman names work, Roman dating and numbering systems, and the interpretation of simple inscriptions.
| GRC10100 Sex, Lies and Roman Literature |
| Level 1 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Martin Brady |
This module will explore literary depictions of masculine and feminine behaviour in late Republican Latin literature. The texts will be Cicero's Pro Caelio (tr. D.H.Berry Oxford World's Classics) and selected poems of Catullus (tr. D.H. Mulroy Wisconsin University Press). As well as analysing both authors' depiction of the controversial society lady Clodia Metelli, we will discuss Cicero's rhetorical technique and the issues involved in studying literature, especially poetry, in translation.
| GRC20010 Alexander and his Successors |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Philip de Souza |
This course explores Greek history from Alexander the Great to the Roman conquest (336 to 133 BC). It covers Alexander's reign, the division of his empire into the successor kingdoms and the coming of Rome, examining 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.This course covers Greek history from Alexander the Great to the Roman conquest of the Hellenistic world. There are two set books: F. Walbank, The Hellenistic World (2nd edition 1992,
| GRC20030 Early Roman Empire |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Aude Doody |
This module examines the history of the Roman Empire from the establishment of the principate under Augustus to the reign of Hadrian in AD 138. It will explore the political history of the period, focusing on the figure of the emperor and examining how emperors such as Nero and Caligula represented themselves to their people, and how they were represented in the later biographical traditions. It will also focus on the social history of Rome: differences between the lives of elite and non-elite groups, gladiators and the arena, religions at Rome and the emergence of Christianity. No previous knowledge is necessary and all texts are studied in translation.
GRC20040 Greek Tragedy Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Professor Michael Lloyd
Greek tragedy has had a profound influence on Western culture, and many of the 32 surviving plays are still regularly performed. This module will examine the social and theatrical context of the original performances in 5th-century Athens, and study a selection of plays in detail. We shall focus in particular on Aeschylus' great trilogy The Oresteia (458 B.C.), which deals with fundamental issues of revenge, justice, and the role of women in the state. We shall also be reading Sophocles' Electra and Euripides' Electra (both c. 420 B.C.), which deal with the same part of the myth as Aeschylus'Libation Bearers, the central play of The Oresteia, and give a good opportunity to compare the styles of the three main Greek tragedians. The final play in the module is Euripides'Medea (431 B.C.). The module does not require any prior knowledge of Greek tragedy, and all the plays are studied in translation.
| GRC20050 Myth in Greek Art & Architecture |
| On offer in 2010/11 |
| Level 2 Credits 5 |
| 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.
GRC20060 Plato, Republic Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 Co-ordinator: Professor Andrew Smith
Plato's Republic is a masterpiece of philosophical literature. In this module the dialogue will be studied both as a literary and philosophical whole and as an introduction to Plato's views on ethics, politics, epistemology and metaphysics. Attention will also be paid to close analysis of philosophical arguments. The module requires no previous knowledge of Greek philosophy and the text will be studied in translation.
| GRC20080 Virgil's Aeneid |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| 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 Aeneidas 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).
| GRC20090 Roman Sculpture, Myth and History |
| Level 2 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Alexander Thein |
This module focuses on Roman sculpture in the Late Republic and Early Empire. It examines ancient collection practices and the programmatic display of statues in the context of the Roman villa and prominent public spaces in the city of Rome. The course also addresses issues of style, iconography, and the relationship of Roman to Greek art. Many of the sculptures studied in this course are mythological, and the meanings contained in these myths provide an important insight into Roman culture and politics, especially under Augustus. Modern replicas of many of the statues examined in this course are on public display in the Dublin area.
| GRC20100 Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Transformation of Myth |
| On offer in 2010/11 |
| Level 2 Credits 5 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Martin Brady |
In this module we will read Ovid's great epic poem theMetamorphoses. 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
| GRC20110 Cleopatra |
| On offer in 2010/11 |
| Level 2 Credits 5 |
| Professor Theresa Urbainczyk |
This module will look at the life of Cleopatra VII, the place of queens, women and
| GRC20130 Study Tour of Ancient Greece |
| No longer accepting applications for 2010/11 |
Level 2 Credits 5 - Programme Elective |
| Dr Christina Haywood |
Greece is strewn with the remains of its ancient civilisations. The module will enable participants to understand these civilisations though an acquaintance with the physical landscapes, monuments and material cultures that are an important source of our knowledge about them. The course will consist of a 10-day long study tour of the main sites and museums on the mainland of Greece. The focus will be on the Bronze Age and Classical civilisations (although the tour will also include visits to major sites from more recent periods). The sites to be visited will include Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Delphi, Olympia, Messene, Sparta, Corinth, and the most important ancient sites of Athens. The tour will be guided by two expert lecturers attached to the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens*, who will also deliver on-site lectures. The tour may also avail of the expertise of other scholars on the ground. Participants will be given recommended reading and a choice of essay titles before the commencement of the tour. During the tour they will be expected to develop the particular areas of interest of their essay.
Registration: The actual tour takes place before the academic year begins. You should record your intentions to take the tour as an elective module when you hand in your form and pay your deposit. You will not be able to register for this module through the online registration system. When registration opens, you will have to select 50 credits worth of core and option modules and 5 credits of elective modules. You should leave your second elective slot blank. Please then e-mail the School Manager (michelle.mcdonnell@ucd.ie), who will register you manually for this module. The registration screen will warn you that you are 5 credits short. You should not worry about that: this is a normal precaution. Once we have registered you for this module you will have the 60 credits required. We apologize for the inconvenience of this process. However, it is necessary to ensure that only students who have gone on the tour are able to register for this module.
Background reading:
- The Blue Guide of Greece, latest edition by Robin Barber
- For Athens: R.E Wycherley, The Stones of Athens, 1978
- For the Bronze Age, C. Runnels and P. Murray, Greece before History, an archaeological companion and guide, 2001
- Further reading will be supplied to participants in due course.
First meeting: A preliminary meeting for participants will take place in Dublin in April. You will be notified by e-mail. The meeting is compulsory for all students who will take the tour as a module. Participants are expected to have carried out some background reading about the archaeology/history of the sites to be visited and to have thought of the possible essay title that they will choose. Essay titles will be circulated at the end of May.
| Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Aude Doody |
This module explores the different forms that healing could take in ancient Greek and Roman society. It will examine influential theories of medicine from the Hippocratic writers to Galen, as well as religious and magical healing practices. Tutorials will focus on different views of doctors and patients that emerge from our sources, addressing questions such as the social status of doctors at Rome, attitudes towards women in ancient medicine, and the strategies doctors used to impress their patients. No prior knowledge of medicine (ancient or modern) is required and all sources will be studied in translation.
GRC30020 Spartacus and the Slave Wars Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Professor Theresa Urbainczyk
Spartacus is the most famous of slave rebels from the ancient world. This course looks at how his rebellion has been presented by ancient and modern writers and at other slave revolts from antiquity. The primary sources for the course can be found in Brent Shaw's book, Spartacus and the Slave Wars.
| GRC30070 Family Life in Ancient Greece |
| Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 2 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Philip de Souza |
This module explores the history of family groups in the ancient Greek world in the Archaic (Homeric), Classical and Hellenistic periods. Topics studied include: marriage & adultery, child-rearing & education, old age & death, exposure & infanticide, gender & status divisions in households. An important feature of the module is the analysis and interpretation of evidence provided by a wide variety of literary texts and documents, which are read in translation. We will also make use of archaeological and artistic material.
GRC30080 The Oedipus Myth Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 1 Co-ordinator: Professor Michael Lloyd
This module studies the myth of the family of Oedipus from Homer to 400 B.C., with particular reference to five tragedies: Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes; Sophocles' Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus; and Euripides' The Phoenician Women. The module studies the ways in which Greek tragedians used myth, and focuses on the meaning of the Oedipus myth in particular. Recurrent themes in the Oedipus story are: the significance of his crimes, the role of women in Greek life, and the relationship between the family and the state. All the plays are studied in translation.
GRC30090 Art and Architecture in Pompeii Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 1 Co-ordinator: Dr Alexander Thein
This module examines the art, architecture, and history of Pompeii from the late 2nd century BC to the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. It examines the Forum, the Theatre Quarter, and the Amphitheatre and considers the extent to which public architecture illustrates cultural borrowing from Rome or from the Greek East. It also focuses on domestic architecture and wall painting, most of which show subjects from Greek myth. It examines both the extent to which Pompeian wall painting copied Greek originals, and how panel paintings of Greek myths could be arranged within a house to form a programmatic message.
| GRC30110 Mycenaean Palace to Greek City-state |
| Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 1 |
| Co-ordinator: Dr Christina Haywood |
This archaeology based module will look at the Greek world between the Mycenaean period and the Early Iron Age, which are separated by the greatest unexplained catastrophe of the ancient world (c. 1200 BC). The course will start with the study of the Mycenaean palace state (14th -13th century BC) through its citadels and settlements, cult places and practices, tombs and burial customs, and art, and will then focus on the most significant aspects of the 'centuries of darkness' up to the 8th century revival marked by renewed communications, rebirth of writing and figurative art, and the formation of the city-state.
GRC30120 Exile in Latin Literature Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Dr Martin Brady
Exile and forced expatriation were facts of life in the ancient world. In this module we will look at how exile is represented in the letters of Cicero, the poetry of Ovid and the philosophy of Seneca. We will look at the themes which emerge, in particular the ways in which ancient exiles found consolation in parallels from mythology: we shall read in depth some of the ancient `myths of exile', such as the stories of Ulysses, Aeneas, and Diomedes. We will also examine the political reasons for imposing exile as a punishment, and the way in which exile promoted the spread of Roman culture.
| GRC30130 Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman World |
| Not available 2009/10 |
| Level 3 Credits 5 |
| Co-ordinator: Professor Andrew Smith |
The Stoics, Epicureans and Platonists were the philosophers who had the greatest direct impact on the everyday lives of Greeks and Romans. This course examines their different aproaches to moral virtue, adversity, death and our relationship to the divine, as far as possible through the words of the philosophers themselves.
GRC30150 Using and Abusing Antiquity Level 3 Credits 5 Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Dr Helen Dixon
In this course we shall consider the impact of Antiquity in Europe at various different moments. Since ancient times classical texts have been deployed for a wide range of purposes, from sources of literary inspiration to the use of historical and philosophical ideas to support particular agendas. Some of these 'uses' step so far away from the original ancient contexts that they could be considered 'abuses'. We shall consider to what extent manipulations of classical literature may be viewed as abuses when approached from a particular angle, and vice versa. We will explore a number of aspects of Antiquity, particularly the epic poets Homer and Virgil and the Roman historians, and some of their appropriations. All texts are studied in English, or in English translation.
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