Classics
Undergraduate - Classical Art and Archaeology

Classical Art 2A:

The Development of Greek and Roman Art

This one-semester course provides a roughly chronological outline of the main developments in Greek and Roman art from c. 3000BC - AD350. It begins with the art of the Minoans and Mycenaeans, then traces the re-emergence of Greek art in the Geometric and Orientalising periods, and the major developments of the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. This part of the course covers the stylistic and technical development of sculpture from its beginnings to the great masterpieces of Pheidias, Praxiteles and Lysippos, of black and red-figure vase-painting, and of Doric and Ionic architecture, as well as wall-painting and the minor arts.

Art in Italy and the Roman world comes next: the art of the Etruscans, the development of portraiture, Pompeian wall paintings and mosaics; the major public monuments of imperial times and the building techniques used for the great Roman buildings, concluding with late Roman and early Christian art. Most of the tutorials take place in local collections and museums, so students can see and discuss actual works of Classical art.

Course Organiser: Dr. Glenys Davies

Classical World 2B: Classical Myth and Religion

This one-semester course provides a survey of ancient Greek myth and religion. Using ancient visual and written evidence, and their interpretation in modern scholarship, this course considers the function and uses of myth; its relationship to religion, daily life, history, and cultural norms; religious ritual; the particularity of myth to a given culture; and the interpretation of myth and its methodologies.

Classical World 2D: Art, History and Power

This one-semester course provides an introduction to one aspect of the material culture of the ancient world: the use of art and architecture as an aspect of power, either of individuals, of rulers, of societies or of empires. The course will concentrate on the propagandistic use of art and architecture in a wide variety of contexts and cultures, including the pre-Islamic Near East, ancient Greece, Republican and Imperial Rome and Late Antiquity.

Students will be required to evaluate material sources as evidence for political and socio-cultural development. Other themes will include the representation of the individual in art, art in the provinces, women in ancient art, art and religion, art and text, monuments of power, and the reception of ancient art and power in later empires. The course will of necessity engage with both ancient textual and visual materials. Students will be asked to engage with theoretical approaches to art history, historiography and material culture.