This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
This course will immerse students in the life and thought of the ancient Greeks, the founders of western civilization. The course will trace the history of the Greek peoples from their origins as bronze age warriors through their path to democracy and the ascendancy of the Greek empires under Athens and later Alexander.
Total classes: 12
Prerequisite: None. Recommended but not required: Foundations of Christian Historiography and Dawn of History.
Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th
Suggested credit: 1 full semester Ancient History
Description
This course will immerse students in the life and thought of the ancient Greeks, the founders of western civilization. The course will trace the history of the Greek peoples from their origins as bronze age warriors through their path to democracy and the ascendancy of the Greek empires under Athens and later Alexander. We will also focus considerably on the contributions of the Greeks to philosophy, politics and architecture and read primary sources from ancient Greek authors like Herodotus, Polybius, Plato and Euripedes.
Outline
Class 1: Precursors: The Cretans, Ionians, Minoans and Myceneans in Greece of the Dark Ages
Class 2: The Emergence of Democracy: As the Greeks emerge from their Dark Ages, regional tyrants and kings are overthrown and replaced by democratic governments
Class 3: Principles of Greek Law: The experiments of Solon, Draco, Lycurgus and other Greek law-givers as they attempt to create a society both just and strong.
Class 4: The Persian War: The burgeoning Greek city states are put to the test as the mighty Persian Empire seeks to expand its power into Europe.
Class 5: The Golden Age: Greek literature, architecture and art in the Golden Age of Pericles.
Class 6: The Peloponnesian War: A generation of Athenian dominance comes to an end as the Athenians engage in a suicidal and futile war with Sparta that is fought all across the Greek world and leads to the fall of Athens.
Class 7: Greek Philosophy: Survey of Greek philosophy from the pre-Scoratics like Thales through the revolution of Socrates and Plato to the Peripatetics of Aristotle, Cynics of Antisthenes, Stoics of Zeno and the devotees of Pythagoras.
Class 8: Postwar Chaos: Sparta, Corinth and Thebes all struggle for dominance in the chaotic years following the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War.
Class 9: Internecine Strife: Greek democracy fails as the leagues and alliances of the City States fall upon one another following the collapse of the power of Thebes.
Class 10: Mighty Alexander: Life and conquests and this most remarkable of all men, who brought the Greekculture to Asia and founded an Empire stretching from Greece and Egypt to India and Afghanistan.
Class 11: The Hellenistic Age: Examination of the triumphs and glories of the Hellenistic age, cultural and architectural, especially around the intellectual center of the East, Alexandria.
Class 12: Disslution and Collapse: How the rivalries and wars of the Hellenistic states of the East led to the fall of the Greek kingdoms and their absorption by the expanding Roman Empire.
Materials and Homework
Course Materials: The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton in addition to primary documents provided online free by the instructor. There are several available on Amazon for only a few cents.
Homework: Weekly quizzes, weekly readings, with a Final Exam. Estimated commitment: 2-3 hours per week.
