GRC 20100 Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the Transformation of Myth
Dr Martin Brady
Material covered: - Creation myths (Metamorphoses 1) - The myth of Thebes (Metamorphoses 3-4) - The myth of Pygmalion (Metamorphoses 10) - The Troy myth (Metamorphoses 12-13)
Learning outcomes include: - Know the major myths of the Metamorphoses. - Give examples of ways in which these same myths are re-presented in post-classical literature and art. - Analyse the narrative techniques by which Ovid tells stories effectively. GRC 30120 Exile in Latin Literature
Dr Martin Brady
Material covered: - Cicero’s letters from exile (excerpts from his private correspondence) - Ovid’s Tristia (“Sad Songs”) and Epistulae ex Ponto (“Black Sea Letters”), poems written while in exile in Dacia (modern Romania)
Learning outcomes include: -Identify the most important themes and myths used by Cicero and Ovid to describe their experiences. - Evaluate the role which exile and expatriation played in promoting cultural interaction between Romans and provincials. GRC 20130 Study Tour of Greece
Dr Jo Day Material covered: - Visit to Greece during summer - Acropolis & agora in Athens - Corinth, Sparta, Epidaurus - Delphi, Olympia - Mycenae, Tiryns - Byzantine sites - Key museums Learning outcomes include: - Evaluate archaeological evidence from firsthand observation. - Communicate orally, in writing, and with images about ancient sites. GRC 30210 Eating and Drinking in Classical Antiquity
Dr Jo Day Material covered: - Feasting (symposium and convivium) - Sacrifice and funerary foods - Food taboos and cannibalism - Spices, fish, olive oil, wine - Recreate a Roman recipe
Learning outcomes include: - Understand Classical contexts of food and drink production and consumption. - Combine archaeological, iconographic, and literary evidence - Recognise links between identity, gender, social status and food choices
GRC 20180 Archaeology of Athens and Attica
Dr Jo Day Material covered: - Athenian democracy and tyranny - Living and dying in the ancient city - Monuments, politics and ethics - Religious festivals - Countryside resources Learning outcomes include: - Understand the development of Athens’ city centre over time. - Recognise main monuments and understand their relation to political, religious and social structures. GRC 20010 Alexander and his Successors
Dr Philip de Souza
Material covered: - Reign of Alexander the Great (336-323 BC) - Successor kingdoms and Hellenistic period (323-30 BC) - Political, social and cultural history - Interaction between Greeks and non-Greeks - Roman expansion into Greek world Learning outcomes include: - synthesize information about Hellenistic Greek history from a range of secondary sources. - analyze and comment critically on primary sources. - evaluate varied historical interpretations. - construct relevant and analytical essays in answer to historical questions. GRC 30070 Family Life in Ancient Greece
Dr Philip de Souza Material covered: - History of ancient Greek family groups (c. 800-30 BC) - gender & status divisions in households - marriage & adultery - exposure & infanticide - child-rearing & education - old age & death
Learning outcomes include: - assess the nature of family life in the ancient Greek world. - synthesize information from a wide range of primary and secondary sources. - analyze primary sources of evidence critically, place them in their historical contexts and assess their reliability and historical value. - compare and evaluate the arguments of modern scholars. - construct relevant and analytical arguments in response to historical questions. NB This module is assessed by coursework only; there is no exam GRC 20080 Virgil’s Aeneid
Dr Helen Dixon
Material covered: - Virgil’s Aeneid (read in English translation) - selected supplementary primary sources - secondary scholarship on Virgil’s poem
Learning outcomes include: - describe the content of Virgil's poetry. - analyse Virgil's poetry in its literary and historical contexts. - appreciate the aesthetic qualities of Virgil's poetry. - evaluate modern interpretations of the text. GRC 30150 Using and Abusing Antiquity
Dr Helen Dixon Material covered: - Virgil’s ‘Aeneis’: John Dryden’s translation of 1697 (selections) - Ovid’s ‘Metamorphosis’: Arthur Golding’s translation of 1567 (selected myths: Cadmus, Diana & Actaeon, Semele & Bacchus, Tiresias, Narcissus & Echo, Medea) Learning outcomes include: - show understanding of how Classical Antiquity was appropriated and manipulated in later times. - analyse later writers’ methods and strategies for using Antiquity for their own ends. - evaluate how aspects of Classical myth, history and literature have contributed to the development of Western culture. GRC 20150 Cicero’s Defence Speeches
Dr Aude Doody
Material covered: - Two murder trials in the Late Republic - Cicero’s speeches ‘For Caelius’ and ‘For Milo’ - Oratory: the art of public speaking - Cicero’s career - Politics and networks of power in the Republic - How to understand and analyse political speeches GRC 30240 Pliny’s Natural History
Dr Aude Doody
Material covered: - First century encyclopedia about nature - Book 7 of Pliny’s Natural History: ‘monstrous races’, human physiology, great inventors, famous Romans - Ideas about science and nature in antiquity - Politics of encyclopedism and empire
GRC 20210 The Birth of Democracy
Dr Maeve McHugh Material covered: - Chart the evolution of Athenian democracy from its Archaic roots to final collapse in the Hellenistic period. - Meet the enigmatic figures of Pericles, Alcibiades, Socrates, and Aristophanes. - Visit the Athenian assembly on the Pynx, judge law court cases, and listen to satirical comedy on the slopes of the Acropolis.
Learning outcomes include: - Chart the developments of Athenian democracy from the Archaic to Hellenistic period. -Evaluate how Athens developed into an imperialistic power - Analyse the social context for these developments as evidenced in texts. GRC 30270 The Power of Monuments and Monuments of Power Dr Maeve McHugh Material covered: - Explore how power (political, social, and status driven) is expressed in both civic and personal monuments from the Hellenistic Greek successor kingdoms to Imperial Rome. -The decorative programmes of monuments like the grand altar of Pergamon, the tombs at Vergina, Pella, the Ara Pacis, the houses of Delos, and Trajan’s Column.
Learning outcomes include: -Recognise key monuments, art work, and sculpture from the Greek and Roman world. - Analyse the social significance of these objects and the roles that they played in defining personal and civic identities. - Evaluate the monuments’ success in evoking emotion and thought from the viewer GRC 30080 The Oedipus Myth
Prof Michael Lloyd Material covered: - The myth of the family of Oedipus from Homer to 400 B.C. - Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes - Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus - Euripides’ The Phoenician Women.
Learning outcomes include - understanding the significance of Oedipus’ crimes. - the role of women in Greek life. - the relationship between the family and the state.
NB: All the plays are studied in translation. GRC 20040 Greek Tragedy
Prof Michael Lloyd
Material covered: - Aeschylus’ great trilogy The Oresteia (458 B.C.), which deals with fundamental issues of revenge, justice, and the role of women in the state. - 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. - Euripides’ Medea (431 B.C.).
NB: The module does not require any prior knowledge of Greek tragedy, and all the plays are studied in translation GRC 30250 The World of Late Antiquity
Dr Alan Ross Material covered: - ‘Late Antiquity’: 3rd – 6th Centuries CE - The Crisis of the 3rd Century - The Rise of Christianity - The Dynasty of Constantine - The Fall of the Western Empire - Continuity and Change in Education and Literature
Learning outcomes include: - Describe the main events in the religious, political, and cultural history of the Late Roman Empire. - Compare and evaluate modern scholarly discussions that view Late Antiquity as a period either of decline or of transformation. - Analyse the factors leading to the Christianization of the Roman Empire. GRC 20200 Augustan Rome
Dr Alexander Thein
Material covered: - History of events, detailing Augustus’ rise to power and his transformation of Rome from a Republic to a monarchy. - Propaganda, in particular the use of coins, art, architecture, and inscriptions. - History of ideas, with an emphasis on the theme of a new Augustan ‘golden age’. - Social and cultural history, highlighting the impact of the Augustan ‘revolution’ at all levels of society.
Pathways: • History, Art & Archaeology GRC 30090 Pompeii
Dr Alexander Thein Material covered: - Urban development of Pompeii, focusing on selected houses and public buildings. - Domestic space and wall painting, with an emphasis on paintings of Greek myths. - Social and cultural history of Pompeii, based on the study of inscriptions and graffiti. - Comparative material will be drawn from Herculaneum.
Pathways: • Art & Archaeology, History, Myth