Classics 293 - Excavating Everyday Life in Ancient Greece: Gender, Inequality, and Cultural Difference

(Offered as CLAS 293 and HIST 293) Ancient Greece is famous for its literature, from the epic Odyssey to tragedies like Antigone, and spectacular works of architecture, sculpture, and vase-painting. These works were often produced under the influence of social elites and have nurtured histories that center the experiences of wealthy men in the ancient world. But archaeological evidence provides a means to study the experiences of the everyday people of Ancient Greece, not just those named Pericles or Alexander. In this course, we will learn archaeological methods and approaches to studying material culture while exploring the lives of those people that are so often silenced in or omitted from Greek literature. What was life like in Classical Athens for its enslaved population? How did women experience the establishment of the polis and the beginnings of democracy? And what about the contributions of non-Greek cultures to the development of Greek art, religion, and ways of life? Together, we will focus on the changing lives of these and other non-elite populations  to trace the development of the Greek world between the Early Iron Age and the Classical Period (900-350 BCE). We will study ancient homes, workshops, and even brothels, and explore the phenomena that ground everyday life from culinary traditions to burial practices. In the second half of the semester, we will conduct individual research projects. In the course of this work, we will develop writing skills, work on our capacities as peer-reviewers, and compose a research paper. Some familiarity with Greco-Roman history will be useful for this course but is not required.

Three course hours per week. Fall semester. Visiting Lecturer Moskowitz.

How to handle overenrollment: Preference will be given first to students with majors that match the course listing or its crosslisting, followed by seniority.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Reading academic articles (approximately 60 to 100 pages per week) and writing a research paper; two small image-based assessments during the semester; peer-review; exercises based on the interpretation of specific archaeological data.