26 January 2023
2 February 2023
7 pm
Ohio County Library, Wheeling, WV
Open University Lecture Series
Open to the Public
Part 1: Bronze Age (26 January)
The Bronze Age lasts for approximately 2,000 years – 3,000-1170 BCE. During this period, we see a shift from the settled and (some still maintain) isolated cultures from Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the broader Mediterranean, to a highly-integrated, multicultural, globalized system. In this class, we will focus primarily on the Bronze Age Aegean and what we see in the iconographic and archaeological record, including the most famous sites and artworks from each region and period. We will cover Early Cycladic hilltop structures and the many fakes and forgeries of Cycladic Folded Arm Figurines that can be seen in museums around the world (and you’ll learn how to spot the authentic ones!); the site of Knossos on Crete, and some of its most important wall paintings and artifacts; The site of Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini, which survived by virtue of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption; and Mycenae, the great settlement from which the legendary Agamemnon and Menelaos sailed to Troy in Homer’s Iliad.
Part 2: Archaic and Classical (2 February)
With the collapse of the Bronze Age Aegean cultures in ca. 1170, Greece rested for a few hundred years in a relative dark age, neglecting and then forgetting the masterful heights of technological and artistic culture of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. They began the slow slog back to prominence, which we will trace through the art historical record, primarily through human statuary with a few forays into some architecture and even myth. It is through this lens that we will trace the rise of Greek culture from the Geometric and Archaic Periods, through the Classical period and up to the rule of Alexander the Great, in the Hellenistic period. Be ready for conversation, as most of us have at least a passing familiarity with Classical Greek culture – even if it’s reading Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson novels (or any of the others)! This is going to be a fun exploration of our collective pasts, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.
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