Category: Courses

Ancient Greece is famous for its many innovations—technological, social, philosophical—that have had an outsized influence on the Eurocentric world. Athens of the 6th and 5th c. BCE saw the birth of democracy, theater, and trial by jury. The conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th c. BCE stretched from Egypt to Afghanistan and created …

Ancient Greece and Rome have inspired filmmakers since the dawn of the Age of Cinema. Their gripping mythology has appeared in numerous renditions of Clash of the Titans, Hercules (Disney or otherwise), and Percy Jackson, and more subtlety in films such as O Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain. Their history and culture lie behind movies such as Gladiator, 300, Pompeii, and any …

If you’ve ever attended a theater performance, listened to an orchestra, or been part of a chorus, you’ve witnessed the legacy of the Classical World. Theater emerged in Athens (Greece) in the 6th century BCE, as part of the worship of Dionysus, the god of overcoming social boundaries (and wine!). Within two centuries it had …

The past is a puzzle with no instructions and mostly missing pieces. Come find out how archaeologists put together what pieces we do have to reconstruct the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. Learn how to draw connections using a variety of evidence, including excavation, coins, and sculpture. Explore numerous issues for the study of …

The Olympics, theater, a general obsession with entertainment spectacles: our modern society can trace the origins of all these directly to Ancient Greek and Roman societies. Like our world, ancient Mediterranean cultures were engrossed by competitions of strength, speed, stamina, and skill. Their languages gave us terms such as theater, stadium, orchestra, chorus, and arena. …

Birth, death, illness, health—these are constants that run through the history of humanity, cutting across cultures and borders, eras and social divisions. Ancient medicinal practices touch modern medicine in numerous ways, primarily: in the way we approach healing today in the vocabulary we use to describe and practice medicine. Traditionally traced to the Ancient Greek doctor …

What do Shakespeare, Dante, Percy Jackson, and Game of Thrones all have in common? They all draw heavily on Classical Mythology, the myths of Ancient Greece and Rome. Learn about these important societies through the lens of the stories they told about themselves. Meet Achilles, a warrior searching for meaning on the battlefield. Meet Medea, …

Have you ever voted in a republic? Inherited something from a will? Enjoyed your citizenship no matter where you lived? Sat in an amphitheater? Used words like agenda, altruism, ambiguous, futile, incalculable, mundane, obvious, plausible, stipend, tentative… If so, your life has been touched by the culture of Ancient Rome, the birthplace of all these …

Have you ever voted in an election? Been called for jury duty? Attended a play? Admired a building with soaring columns? Used words like antique, idol, dialogue, geography, grammar, architect, economy, encyclopedia, telephone, microscope… If so, your life has been touched by the culture of Ancient Greece, the birthplace of all these ideas and more. …