| Unit name | Myth and History in Fifth-Century Athens |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLASM1020 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Momigliano |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Myth and history are often seen as competing ways of looking at the past, yet when one takes a closer look it is clear that history is shot through and through with myth, and vice-versa. This is as true of fifth-century Athens as it is of any other time, but the dynamic tension between myth and history is of particular interest in this period because this is when the concepts themselves were first being articulated and fought over. In this unit we will study some key events of the fifth century BC, particularly the Persian Wars, in order better to understand the events themselves and their treatment in both myth and historiography, and the implications of this process for our own understanding of the past. We will also look at some key ideological texts of the Peloponnesian War, and consider the Athenians’ conception of their remote prehistory as revealed in myths, religious festivals, and monuments such as the Parthenon frieze.
Reading List: Aeschylus, Persians, in Persians and Other Plays, tr. C. Collard (Oxford World’s Classics)
Herodotus, The Histories, tr. A. de Selincourt (Penguin; rev. ed. by J. Marincola)
Euripides, Children of Heracles (in P. Burian, A. Shapiro, edd., Oxford, Greek
Tragedy in New Translations, The Complete Euripides vol. 3)
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, tr. M. Hammond (Oxford World’s Classics)
Pausanias, Description of Greece Book 1, tr. P. Levi (Penguin, vol. 1)
