Introduction to Greek Art and Archaeology

HAA 13 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course provides an introduction to the art and archaeology of ancient Greece between ca. 1000 BCE and 200 BCE, from the early settlements of the Geometric period to the rise of the Hellenistic kingdoms. To modern eyes, Greek art can appear at once familiar and foreign, its imagery and artistic forms both instantly recognizable and difficult to parse. Over the course of the semester, we will gain the cultural knowledge necessary to look at ancient artifacts and monuments as their original makers and viewers might have seen them. We will develop the art-historical skills necessary to investigate a range of materials and techniques, stories and myths, practices and ideologies, all of which informed the way Greek art was produced and experienced. Through first-hand investigation in the Harvard Art Museums, participants will learn how to describe Greek art in ways that are both sensitive to historical context and informed by the scholarly practices that transform archaeological discoveries into history.