Module CLAS2301: ARCHAIC GREECE c800-479BC

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2301: ARCHAIC GREECE c800-479BC

Prerequisites

• CLAS1601 Remembering Athens

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To contribute to students' learning about the Graeco-Roman world by introducing them to the study of an interesting and important period in Greek history, building on and extending the learning experience of modules studied at level 1.

Content

• The main topics covered are: 1. Homeric Society 2. The Invention of the Greek Alphabet, Written Records and Oral Traditions 3. Solon and the Early Greek Lawgivers 4. Early Sparta (to c. 500) 5. Tyrants: A New Phenomenon or a New Name for an Old Institution? 6. Panhellenic Sanctuaries and the Origins of Athletics 7. Trade and Coinage in Archaic Greece 8. Colonies 9. Hero Cults 10 Presocratic philosophy 11 The Reforms of Cleisthenes 12. The Persian Wars and the Revolution in Military Tactics
• The prescribed texts are: Herodotus, Athenaion Politeia 4-22, a coursebook containing sources and essays by modern scholars.

Learning Outcomes

• The development of Greece during the period specified; the evidence for that development; modern scholarly views of that development and of the evidence for it.

• Ability to use appropriate methods in evaluating ancient evidence and modern discussions to reconstruct and understand the history of Greece during the period specified.

• Ability to deploy and interpret evidence; to understand how people have acted in different circumstances and with what results; to construct clear and cogent arguments and to criticise the arguments of others; to present facts, interpretations and arguments in good written English.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• LECTURES serve to impart information and methods of interpretation of both ancient evidence and modern scholarship; SEMINARS provide engagement with literary and epigraphic evidence; FORMATIVE ESSAYS AND TEXT COMMENTARIES provide practice in assembling and evaluating material, constructing arguments and criticising the arguments of others, and producing good written English; In the EXAMINATION source passages for comment test the students' knowledge and understanding of the evidence and of problems of detail, essay questions test the students' knowledge and understanding of wider issues.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One 1,500-word essay (M.T.); one 2,000-word essay (Ep.T.); Occasional quizzes on DUO.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University