Announcements

Welcome to Week 6!

14 March 2026

This week our main subject is to focus on women in classical Athens.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. This is a tough one, because the seclusion of women is a subject that draws a lot of emotional reaction and misunderstanding—and this is one of those topics where Pomeroy definitely has an axe to grind.

The articles come into play here, too, especially the Walker article, which deals with some of the facts on the ground about seclusion. Where is Pomeroy coming from when it comes to women in Athens? Given our past discussions, what helps bring about this situation? And is it as bad as it seems to us, or is there more going on than what everybody traditionally says about it?

Of particular importance this week: we’re also looking at Eumenides, part of the Oresteia trilogy by the tragedian Aeschylos. This is a great one for looking at gods and mortals and how they operate on their own planes. What do you think the play is saying about Orestes having killed his mom? How do the Furies come off, and how do they seem different from Apollo and Athena, who show up at the end? Why do you think the playwright has Athena say the things she does about her final decision? What do you think this play is really about?

Looking forward to discussing all this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Welcome to Week 5!

7 March 2026

This week we’re talking about the period after the so-called Greek Dark Age, when from our perspective Hellas can be heard and seen again, with the foundations of Greek culture already laid down in the previous, unseen centuries.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. This is the time of the polis—the distinctive, kingless Greek city-state; of colonization, with Greek cities sending their people out into the Aegean, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean; and of the hoplite warrior. Also during this time: the rise of lyric poetry, a sharp contrast to the epic poetry of earlier times; and pan-Hellenism, the curious sense of commonality that grows among all these city-states with defiantly distinct and competitive identities.

Two writers emerge during this period that are characteristic of the shifting Greek culture. One is Hesiod, who speaks from the point of view of the small landed farmer—unlike Homer, whose perspective was from the top of society down. What does Hesiod have to tell us about what it meant to be Greek, and is it different from the key values present in Homer’s work? His issues with women we’ve already discussed in terms of his complex depiction of Pandora and his admiration of Hekate above other divinities, but here we see a discussion of women in terms of the priorities of a landed farmer. Is Hesiod’s attitude simple misogyny, or can we go deeper? How does his discussion of gender fit in with his broader arguments about what it means to be a good Greek citizen?

The other author is Sappho, the most famous of the lyric poets. What does her poetry tell us about how Hellas is changing from the days of epic poetry told by rhapsodes? How does it fit with the rest of what Greek literature talks about? What is her poetry about, to you? What do you think we can take away from the fact that this towering figure of Greek literature is a woman?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

Essay Musts reminder

5 March 2026

Just a quick reminder as you work on completing your essays: make sure to review the Requirements for All Papers on the Essay Musts page before you upload—not just for formatting, but for structure and evidence as well. All three are areas in which good choices strengthen your paper and in which significant deductions might be made if the requirements are not met.

There are videos about each of these topics on the Essay Musts page to help advise you as you finalize your work. There’s also a sample interpretive essay on that page to provide additional guidance.

If you have any questions about any of these requirements, drop me an email or see me in office hours. I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Link to Essays Musts page

Welcome to Week 4! (redux)

1 March 2026

Let’s try this again! This week we’re talking more about Homer, whose works are the portal to understanding how the Greeks thought about everything, including gender, since Homer’s works became the baseline for all Greek culture and all study of the Greeks. We’re reading Pomeroy’s analysis of how the women of the Trojan epic were presenting in Homer and perceived by the Greeks, but we’re also reading a few short sections of Homer himself to get a feel for how he talked about the male and female figures who shaped the outcome of the Trojan War in his epic.

Things to ponder as you explore the materials. Women are important to Homer—even the war itself is made to be about a woman in Homer. How does Helen come across in these stories? Why do you think she was depicted as the impetus for the war? Do you see the women on the Trojan side (like Andromache, Hektor’s wife, and Kassandra) as being presented differently from the Greek women (like Klytaemnestra)? In the excerpts, how do you see Briseis, Nausicaa, and Penelope? What do you think Homer wanted to say about the mutual responsibilities of men and women in Greek society?

Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Tuesday!

Link to Schedule page

A quick reminder about meeting slides and note taking

25 February 2026

For every class meeting, there are always a number of ideas I want to discuss and key points that go with them. I try to make sure a lot of these ideas are included on my slides, to aid in-class discussion and for later review.

For those taking notes in class, that can sometimes add the challenge of wanting to get all of these points on paper. To help with this, I've provided tools that allow you to streamline your note-taking and not have to worry about getting every point down from the slides.

I do recommend note-taking—we cover a lot of material in this course, and it’s all relevant to your written assignments and exams. Sometimes, though, in class I have to move on faster than fully comprehensive transcription allows, so these tools might be of help. For example, images of the slides are always available before and after class on the Slides page for you to check and supplement your notes.

One offering that students have found helpful in the past is the PDF handout I post for each meeting. These show the slides on the left side, with all the bullet points, and room to take additional notes and ideas that you think of or that come up in discussion next to the slides on the right. That way you don't have to get distracted trying to get everything down and can keep your reactions side-by-side with the key points I’m hoping to convey.

The PDF handouts are always available on the course website the weekend before class. You can print them out and bring the printouts to class, or use a tablet to add to them during the meeting.

The PDF handouts can be accessed via both the Slides page and the PDF/Print page.

Link to PDF/Print page