F1612 Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
Fischer Moshe
This course is an attempt at presenting various aspects of everyday life in Ancient Greece focusing on the peak of the Greek Democratic society based on the polis (city state) as a political unit and its countryside. The chronological frame would be the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Insight into Greek everyday life will be based on archaeological artistic and historical sources, including inscriptions, numismatic evidence and other sources. A detailed description of the geographical and human environmental background of the Greek world will serve as starting point for examining other aspects. The latter will be organized according to the following main fields: the Greek polis and its political and social institutions (urban space and its use, architectural and artistic aspects); housing, household and private sphere; cult and ritual (architectural, social, artistic aspects); economic life of the city and its hinterland; private and public in the world of the polis (juridical framework and the city). Several meetings will be focused on aspects of individual life, family, and gender. Death and burial of the ancient Greeks will also be discussed. Based on the presentation of these aspects we will discuss the place and status of the Greek citizen in a world of hundreds of city-states as regarding his/her political, social, religious identity.
Learning outcomes of the course:
knowledge of a large spectrum of aspects of everyday life in Ancient Greece against the background of political and social development of the Greek Democratic society.
Required preliminary knowledge:
a general knowledge of ancient history and archaeology of the Greek world.
Evaluation
Reading