What was it like living in ancient Athens? Was the city an agreeable, prosperous and civilised place: a suitable location for the philosophising of Plato and his colleagues? Or was ancient Athens more like a modern city, with its slums, poverty and squalor? This course will attempt to provide some answers, based on what the Athenians wrote about themselves, and what others wrote about them.
The time-span for the course will be the 5th and 4th centuries BC, when Athens was (for the most part) at the height of its power and democracy well established. This is also the period for which the surviving literary sources are fullest, ranging across tragedy, comedy, philosophy, history and oratory. Authors referred to and discussed will include many of the best-known names from Antiquity: Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Demosthenes. But other, lesser-known writers have their part to play: Theophrastus, Heracleides, Xenophon, and Menander. Inscriptions on stone provide a direct connection back to life in the city, and archaeological remains also have their story to tell.
After an initial exploration of the character of the ancient city (was it ‘the classic slum’?), sessions will focus on the groups of people who lived there. Apart from male citizens, the experiences of women, slaves, young and old will be considered. Were women in Athens kept in seclusion, rarely venturing out of doors, or were they empowered within their own households? Did slavery depend exclusively on harsh treatment or did kindness have its part to play? Did the Athenians routinely abandon unwanted children to die or, if fortunate, be brought up as slaves? Arguably, societies may be judged on the basis of their attitudes towards the elderly. How did the Athenians fare in this regard?
There was much more to the Athenian state than the city of Athens: a majority of the population lived in the countryside, in rural communities. A concluding session will examine the nature of ‘country living’ and the extent to which inhabitants of the countryside were part of the wider community.
Overall, the course will aim to supply a different perspective on the ancient Greeks, looking at their culture and civilisation ‘from below’, looking at how more-or-less ordinary people lived out their lives.
Learning outcomes
1. Critically read works written by major Greek authors;
2. Assess the quality of life in Athenian city and countryside;
3. Explore key ways in which the ancient Athenians were different from ourselves;
4. Assess the role of ‘ordinary Athenians’ in the culture and society of Athens.
