Warfare and Society in Ancient Greece
This is a module about war and peace in the Greek world from Homer to the dawn of the Roman empire.
It aims to give a full-scale narrative about the history of warfare in ancient Greece – how battles were fought, how they were won, how they were lost – but also about how war and peace had an impact on society and culture from the archaic age to the Hellenistic age: the heroic ethos, the citizen ethos, peace and prosperity, the blood-stained hero, etc.
Moving from an analysis of the relevant literary and material evidence – from the Iliad to the comedies of Aristophanes, from the Parthenon frieze to the Mausoleum of Pergamum – students will be encouraged to debate the shifting perceptions of war trough Greek history and of the role of soldiers within the political community.
Assessment method: 50% assessed, 50% examined
This module is not available in 2011/12.
