Classics 0010, Outline of Classes, Aug. 27, 29, Sept. 3

Note Starr's discussion of the Greek gods (pp. 24-32; especially the list of 12 gods, pp. 24-26). Although there are various ancient lists, Starr's list of "the 12 gods" (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hephaestus) is probably the most widely attested. In addition, two other divinities, Hades, the god of the Underworld (i.e., the region under the earth - the abode of the dead) and Dionysus, the god of wine, were also important. For discussion of Dionysus, see Starr, pp. 30-32, with illustrations, p. 31.

Note Starr's discussion of Greek athletics, pp. 33-35, with mention the Olympic games and Pythian games (also, for an illustration of Delphi, site of the Pythian games, see Starr, p. 26). The Olympic games were held every four years from 776 B.C. The Pythian games were founded later, perhaps in 586. Together, the Olympic games and Pythian games could be described as being on a kind of two-year schedule. E.g., there were Olympic games in 476, Pythian games in 474, Olympic games in 472, Pythian games in 468, etc.

Starr includes a number of ancient documents (coins, inscriptions, etc.) with good examples of Greek lettering. Some examples, pointed out in class, are the following:

p. 19, coins of Metapontum and Naxos, with lettering META (initial letters of Metapontum) and NAXION (i.e., "of the Naxians").

p. 60, coin of Athens, with lettering alpha-theta-epsilon, i.e., A-TH-E, initial letters of Athens.

p. 51, ostraca with Themistocles' name. (For a brief discussion of ostracism, see Starr, pp. 51-52.) Both of the ostraca with Themistocles' name which Starr illustates involve a spelling "theta-epsilon-mu-iota-sigma-theta-omicron-kappa-lambda-sigma", i.e., TH-E-M-I-S-TH-O-K-L-E-S, but the second one also has tau (i.e., an ordinary English T), apparently scratched over the original theta in the middle of the word.

You need to know the location of various places referred to in the course.

Starr, p. 2 provides a general map of Greece. Important places on this map are Mt. Olympus, Athens, Sparta, Olympia, Delphi, Peloponnesus, Thebes, Corinth, and Argos.

Starr, p. 39 provides a map of ancient Athens; note particularly the Agora, Acropolis, and Theater of Dionysus. See also the illustrations of the Acropolis, p. 71; Propylaea, p. 72; and Parthenon, p. 73. (On the other hand, Starr's map, p. 39, does not provide much detail concerning the Acropolis.) A much more detailed map of the Acropolis is available online.

In connection with Greek drama, see Starr, pp. 63-66 and 76-78. Starr, p. 78 has a photograph of the theater at Epidaurus. (Epidaurus is on the northeastern coast of the Peloponnesus, near the "s" in "Argos" in Starr's map, p. 2.) The theater at Epidaurus is much better preserved than the Athenian Theater of Dionysus, and it should give a general sense of the appearance of a typical ancient Greek theater.

For a summary of "The Story of the House of Atreus", as dealt with in Aeschylus, Oresteia (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Eumenides), see pp. 5-7 in the introductory material in Lattimore's translation of the Oresteia.