Objects and Bodies in Ancient Greece

HAA 239 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course brings together ancient Greek art and literature to explore how connections between the human body and material objects were imagined and represented in antiquity. Drawing on statues, ceramics, metalwork, and other artifacts alongside a range of literary texts, including Homeric epic, Pindar’s victory odes, Athenian drama, and medical writings, we will examine how ideas about the body and its material dimensions emerged in social contexts such as sanctuaries, drinking parties, and gravesites. 

In addition to close analysis of texts and images, we will engage with recent theoretical approaches to object–body relations from across the humanities and consider how they can illuminate ancient practices and beliefs. As we trace historical interconnections between art and literature, we will also develop strategies for working across disciplinary boundaries and for using both texts and objects as a shared archive for understanding ancient Greek culture.