Ancient Ideas in the Modern World

About

This module is an exploration of the history of Greek and Roman ideas, which formed the modern world.

In the first half of the sessions, you will focus on Greek ideas like democracy, philosophy, hospitality, fair play, athletics, drama, eros and love, and how these ideas have been generated through specific Greek cultural systems or artistic modes of representation (literature, painting, sculpture, theatre).

How were these ideas born and what is their influence in the modern world? How does Greek literature relate to these ideas? And more generally, what is the relationship between these ideas and Greek life and thought?

In the second half of the sessions we shall be concerned with Roman ideas and sessions will focus on ideas like fame, liberty, virtue, justice, epicureanism, stoicism, citizenship, republicanism, imperialism, public order and how they have been generated through specific Roman cultural systems or artistic modes of representation (literature, painting, sculpture, theatre).

The sessions will then examine the relevance of these ideas to modern politics and society.

Week one: Greece
Heroism and Democracy
Ancient Drama: Tragedy and Comedy

Week two: Greece and Rome
Athletics, Fair Game and Love
Philosophy in Ancient Greece
Heroism, Republicanism and Imperialism in Roman literature

Week three: Rome
Comedy in Rome
Roman Love poetry
Philosophy in Rome and especially the Stoics and Epicureans

Course leader

Dr Antony Makrinos

Course aim

This module aims to:

- Transfer knowledge to you about how classical texts of the Greek and Roman world have been appropriated by our modern culture.
- Develop your independent research thinking in the history of ideas within the field of Classics relating to specific literary theories, including reception studies, intertextuality, gender studies, etc., and in various modes of representation (literature, cinema, theatre, painting, etc.).
- Encourage you to reflect on influential ideas in the history of civilisation.

Fee info