Hellenic Society & Roman Society Online Courses
Professor Susan Deacy
Myth and Mythology
What is myth? What is mythology? When does classical myth begin? When does it end? Why are its characters such a source of fascination?
This course explores these and other questions, and how studying myth can deepen our understanding of ancient cultures and the postclassical cultures that keep adapting them, including our own.
Wednesday 14 May - Session 1 Myth and mythology
Wednesday 21 May - Session 2 Myth and the gods
Wednesday 28 May - Session 3 Myth and folktale
Wednesday 4 June - Session 4 Myth and the city
Wednesday 11 June - Session 5 Myth and 'us'
For more information and to book: https://www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event-Registration/EventId/18
Professor Tim Cornell
The Origins of Rome
Wednesday 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 April, 6pm - 7.30pm (UK time)
Session 1. Wednesday 2 April.
How Rome began is a controversial question and one of the oldest historical problems ever to be identified as such. The first session will trace the history of the problem, from ancient accounts to modern historical scholarship, and will discuss the archaeological evidence currently available for the earliest settlements on the site of Rome.
Session 2. Wednesday 9 April.
The ancient legendary tradition: the stories of Evander, Hercules, Aeneas, the kings of Alba, Romulus and Remus. How did these stories originate, and what do they tell us about Rome and the Romans? Is there any truth in the legends?
Session 3. Wednesday 16 April
Rome under the kings. Matching the ancient tradition with modern archaeology. When and how did Rome become a city-state? Early Rome and the Etruscans.
Session 4. Wednesday 23 April
The end of the monarchy, the construction of the Capitol, the origins of the Republic. The republican magistrates: Consuls/praetors and dictators. The conflict between patricians and plebeians. The tribunate of the plebs. Early warfare; the Latin League. The XII Tables.
Session 5. Wednesday 30 April
The Gallic catastrophe and its aftermath. Political reforms. The Samnite Wars and the growth of military alliances. The reorganisation of the state: the Senate and the end of the conflict of the orders. The classical republic and the growth of self-consciousness.
Sessions may be followed live, or watched afterwards at your own convenience (lectures will be available for up to one month after the final session).
For more information and to book: https://www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event-Registration/EventId/17
Professor Judith Mossman
Greek Tragedy in Performance
Wednesday 26 February, 5, 12, 19 and 26 March, 6pm - 7.30pm (UK time)
Course Description
This course studies how Greek tragedy was performed in ancient Athens and beyond, and how studying performance can deepen our understanding of the texts that survive. In many ways ancient theatrical conventions were very different from modern Western drama. Studying them helps us not only to understand the plays better but also the society which produced them.
Session Topics
Session 1: Wednesday 26 February: Theatre Spaces
Session 2: Wednesday 5 March: Theatre People: Choregoi, Actors, Costumes, Props and Masks
Session 3: Wednesday 12 March: Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Session 4: Wednesday 19 March: Sophocles, Philoctetes
Session 5: Wednesday 26 March: Euripides, Bacchae
Sessions may be followed live, or watched afterwards at your own convenience (lectures will be available for up to one month after the final session).
For more information and to book: https://www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event-Registration/EventId/16
