Viewing the Greek Art and
Archaeology (Classics/Art History 2B03) class list on Avenue to Learn recently,
I was pleased to see a number of familiar names and an equal number of names
that will soon be attached to familiar faces. Classics 2B03 provides an
overview of Greek Art and Archaeology from the Bronze Age through to the Roman
Period; it is designed to provide familiarity with the material culture and
specific cultural contexts of Ancient Greece. The class focuses primarily on
the Archaic and Classical periods (ca. 700-323 BC), a time that corresponds
with the rise and floruit of the Greek polis,
and the age that witnessed the most rapid and notable developments in
architecture, sculpture, coinage, and pottery.
Along the way, one of the
themes of the course will be the expansion of the Greek world and the
establishment of overseas settlements. We will examine the context of the foundation, the early development and the separate internal development of
western Greek art and architecture. We will also explore the forces that
brought the Greeks into contact with other cultures around the Mediterranean,
including the Phoenicians, Persians, and Etruscans.
We will dedicate class
time to that fateful year 480 BC and the bridge from the Archaic to the
Classical period and the attendant political, social, religious, and artistic
shifts that mark this very significant division. The High Classical period is
dominated by the Periklean Acropolis, and I think I will be able to put
together a Powerpoint or twelve on the topic. For the Hellenistic period, I am
particularly interested in investigating new foundations and look at the
pre-planned, monumental, designs as a new direction in Greek urbanism.
The goals of the course
are 1) to introduce students to the major monuments of Greek antiquity and
consider the context in which they were created, 2) to introduce main scholarly
issues and current methodology in Greek Art and Archaeology, and 3) encourage
the application of new approaches to this material.
There is one more particularly
noteworthy change to the class and that is the adoption of a new textbook: Richard Neer, Greek Art and Archaeology, c. 2500-c. 150 BC,
New York, Thames and Hudson, 2011 (available from the McMaster Campus Store
soon). Prof. Neer’s book is a thoroughly modern textbook on Greek Archaeology
that provides a broad cultural context in addition to insightful analyses of
the artifacts themselves. I am looking forward to getting your feedback on the
text and exploring all of Greek Art and Archaeology with you.
