Ancient Greece: Myth, Art, War
by Professor Chris Mackie and Dr Gillian Shepherd
In this subject students are introduced to the diversity of the ancient Greek achievement, which has exercised a fundamental and continuing influence upon later European literature and culture. The subject commences with a detailed treatment of Homer's Iliad and the myth of the Trojan war. This is one of the dominant myths in the Greek tradition and is narrated in some detail in epic poetry, in drama, and in art and architecture. We explore how myths are 'read' in their historical context, especially in the contexts of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars of the 5th Century BC. A variety of sources are treated to enable students to build up a picture of Greek society as a whole.
Episodes
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The Acropolis Programme
After a curious gap of over 30 years, the Athenians finally started to rebuild on the Acropolis following the Persian sack of 480 BC. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd examines the extravagant programme of grand buildings – most famously the Parthenon – on the Acropolis and looks at some of the...
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Art, Myth and Marathon
The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC – when against all odds the Athenians (with a bit of help from the Plataeans) defeated the Persians was too good a PR opportunity for the Athenians to ignore and they made the most of it. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at the imagery associated with war...
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Myth, Art, War and Greek Sanctuaries
Sanctuaries were the context for many of the most impressive buildings and sculptures produced by the ancient Greeks. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at the basic types of sanctuary and temple design, and then focuses on one of the most famous of all Greek sanctuaries, that of Zeus...
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The Trojan War in Greek Art
Mythological scenes are common in Greek art. The Trojan War was a very popular subject for Greek artists, especially vase painters of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at range of images of the Trojan War – some of which do not in fact occur in the literary...
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Vase Painting in Classical Athens
Pottery is the single biggest category of evidence we have from the classical world – there is nothing we have more of. Much of it is fragmentary coarseware, but other vases were decorated. Thousands of vases painted in the black and red figure techniques were made in Athens between the seventh…
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Euripides’ Trojan Women
Set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, Euripides’ Trojan Women is a lament for the fallen city and the fate of its women, destined for slavery. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo examines one of the darkest of all Greek plays, where tragedy upon tragedy is piled upon the women and children who have...
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Aristophanes’ Lysistrata
Staged not long after the disastrous defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War, the seriousness of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata would not have been lost on its audience, despite it being a comedy laden with sexual humour. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at the very real...
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Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (handout)
Staged not long after the disastrous defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War, the seriousness of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata would not have been lost on its audience, despite it being a comedy laden with sexual humour. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo looks at the very real...
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Sophocles’ Ajax
Sophocles’ Ajax is one of our earliest surviving Greek plays, produced in c. 440 BC. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo examines Sophocles’ treatment of the theme of a changing world which posed new challenges and required new skills for coping – an issue only too familiar to contemporary 5th…
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Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis
Performed in Athens in the last years of the Peloponnesian War and when Athens had a democracy, Euripides’ Iphigenia in Aulis is appropriately a play about decision-making. In this lecture Dr Heather Sebo traces the dramatic events in Iphigenia in Aulis leading up to the departure of the Greek...
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Drama and Society
This lecture examines the role and status of Athenian drama in Athenian society. Picking up where the last lecture (on the Peloponnesian War) left off, Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at the finale of the Sicilian Expedition, and the event that preceded it: the Melian Dialogue, which purports to…
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The Peloponnesian War
Between 431 and 404 BC a bitter war known as the Peloponnesian War was fought between the two major powers of ancient Greece – Athens and Sparta – and their respective allies. In this lecture, Dr Gillian Shepherd outlines the events of the Peloponnesian War and looks at two figures critical to…
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Athens in the 5th Century BC
Following the fall of the Peisistratid tyranny in Athens, the Athenians instituted a revolutionary new form of government: democracy. In this lecture, Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at the nature of Athenian democracy and how we think it might have functioned in the 5th century BC, including some of…
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Greece at War: The Persian Wars
Peisistratos, tyrant of Athens, seems to have ruled benevolently and Athens prospered under his regime. In the course of the 6th century BC, important public buildings were erected in both the Agora (town square) of Athens and on the Acropolis. But change was afoot: in this lecture Dr Gillian...
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Solon to Peisistratos: Athens in the 6th Century BC
Athens in the 7th century BC seems to have been a place of social and political tensions between rich and poor. At the beginning of the 6th century, Solon emerged as an enlightened reformer, who put in place measures to improve the Athenian economy and the lot of the poor, and recorded his…
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Homer's World: Dark Age Greece
For reasons that are still unclear to us, the Mycenaean civilisation fell around 1200 BC. After that, life was relatively grim in Greece – a lot of important skills, including literacy, were lost and Greece seems to have had less contact with the outside world. In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd...
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Bronze Age Greece and Troy
Did the Trojan War actually happen? What evidence do we have on – or rather in – the ground for Troy and the world of heroes, magnificent cities and rich objects which Homer describes? In this lecture Dr Gillian Shepherd looks at some of the issues in identifying “Homer’s Troy” and the glories of...
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A King's Ransom: Priam and Achilles
In the final book of the Iliad, the elderly Trojan king confronts the monstrous killer Achilles. Professor Chris Mackie examines the patterns of the heroic quest, descent into the Underworld, and the moment of resolution before the final days of the life of Achilles and of Troy. Copyright 2013...
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Iliad 22: The Quest of Hector
In this lecture Professor Christopher Mackie recaps the culminating events of the Iliad and looks more closely at the character of Hector, his fate and death, and the role of the goddess Athena. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.
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Rage and Resolution: The Quest of Hector
In his final moments, the Trojan defender Hector must choose to face Achilles in heroic battle or to be hunted like an animal. Professor Chris Mackie discusses sub-human or monstrous aspects of Achilles' rage, and Hector's doomed quest to save Troy. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe...
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Athena, Women and War
The warrior goddess Athena ranges the battlefield in Homer's Iliad, but her role differs greatly from those of mortal women in the epic. Professor Chris Mackie compares and contrasts the goddess of cunning intelligence with the mortal women of the epic. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe...
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The Iliad and Achilles
Martial, monstrous and on the boundaries of mortal and immortal, Achilles in the greatest warrior in Greek myth. In this investigation of Homer's Iliad, Professor Chris Mackie looks into the background of a hero born to a goddess, raised by a centaur and yet destined to die young. Copyright 2013...
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Homer and the Trojan War
This lecture outlines key aspects of the Trojan War myth, including the historical and mythological background to the war, the Judgement of Paris, the expedition to Troy and the fall of the city. It examines Homer’s treatment of gods, heroes and the city in the Iliad. Copyright 2013 Gillian...
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The Early Greek World and Greek Myths
This lecture introduces aspects of Classical myth, and examines the social and historical context of the 8th century BCE from which the Homeric epics emerge. It considers Homer’s poetic agenda and his creative use of the Trojan war myth. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all...
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Introduction to Ancient Greece
This lecture provides a general introduction to this subject by providing a chronological framework and basic geography of the ancient Greek world. Copyright 2013 Gillian Shepherd / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.
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The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens II
Dr David Pritchard (University of Queensland) looks at some contrasting roles of women and attitudes to them, including their supposed wantoness, their prominent role in the practice of Greek religion, and the case of Spartan women – Sparta, as is often the case, supplies the foil for Athens....
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The Position of Attic Women in Democratic Athens I
Dr David Pritchard (University of Queensland) delves into the knotty issue of the study of women in classical Athens. One of the biggest obstacles to understanding more about Attic women is the paradoxical nature of the evidence: although we have both written and visual evidence pertaining to...
About this show
In this subject students are introduced to the diversity of the ancient Greek achievement, which has exercised a fundamental and continuing influence upon later European literature and culture. The subject commences with a detailed treatment of Homer's Iliad and the myth of the Trojan war. This is one of the dominant myths in the Greek tradition and is narrated in some detail in epic poetry, in drama, and in art and architecture. We explore how myths are 'read' in their historical context, especially in the contexts of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars of the 5th Century BC. A variety of sources are treated to enable students to build up a picture of Greek society as a whole.
Hosted by
Professor Chris Mackie and Dr Gillian Shepherd
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