Athletes and Heroes

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will be a cultural history of Greece and Rome through the lens of athletic competition. Sports were fundamental to ancient thought about mythology, religion, warfare, politics, and even the very structure of the calendar. The course will examine events that took place at religious sites such as Olympia from early periods of Greek history to the ‘fall’ of Rome, and will consider how athletics illuminate, for example, political changes and the role of the athlete as a hero for his (and her) local community. Attention will be paid to actual competitions, but the focus of the course will be on a range of historical and philosophical sources as well as the writings of brilliant poets such as Pindar. Students will leave the course with an enhanced understanding of broad aspects of ancient literature, history, and culture.