Insegnamento
CLASSICAL ARCHAEOLOGY II
Docente
RITA SASSU
After the course, students are expected to acquire a general knowledge about the urban landscape and the historical evolution of the ancient city of Athens, an excellent case study to investigate the Greek polis, given the amount of monumental, artistic and written documents available to reconstruct its socio-political and architectural development.
The archaeological evidence will be used as a tool to analyse and discuss the Greek art and archaeology as well as to develop specific competencies in Greek architecture, topography, religion, society, sacred spaces and public monuments.
The course will focus on the city of Athens, from the Geometric Age until the Roman period, by investigating the public architectures of the polis and by paying a special attention to its socio-political history, its urban landscape and, particularly, the typologies of edifices, examined from a functional and socio-symbolic standpoint. The available archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence will be used as a means to develop specific research topics, to be used in order to understand the archaeological contexts, studied in their several meanings, from the architectural and reconstructive aspects, to the technological and organizational ones, also considering the reciprocal relationships among the elements of the overall urban arrangement. The single monuments will be analysed as expression of the birth and development of the Greek culture.
In particular, the didactic program is organised in 5 different sessions, covering the following topics:
Session 1: The historical framework: this session will explore the historical development of Athens, analysing the societal changes occurred from the Mycenaean period until the Roman Age, as reflected by the urban organisation and its monumental arrangement. Above all, key historical figures such as Solon, Peisistratus, Themistocles, Cleisthenes, Kymon will be taken into account, examining the impact of their initiatives on the society, on the political organisation of the polis and on its urban landscape.
Session 2: The agora of the Kerameikos: this session will focus on the topography, on the monuments and on the function of the agora of Athens, stressing its political, commercial, philosophical meaning as the hearth of the civic life of the polis. The proposed lessons aim to provide a virtual tour of the area, by analyzing each individual monument and its significance. Sacred edifices (such as the Hephaisteion, the temple of Apollo Patroos, of Athena Phratria, the altar of the twelve gods), archives (e.g. the Metroon), structures devoted to politics and government (the Bouleterion, the Tholos) as well as to commercial and representative scopes (the stoa of Attalos) or public offices (for instance, the Royal stoa) will be examined in detail and contextualized in their relative historical framework.
Session 3: Pnyx, Areopagus, Mouseion: this session concerns three of the main hills of Athens, located west of the agora and marked by political, juridical and representative meanings. In this framework, the different building programs affecting the Pnyx, the meeting place of the Athenian Assembly after the establishment of the democracy, are analyzed; the rock of the Areopagus is examined with regard to its function of bloody crimes court and headquarter of the Council of the Elders; the Philoppapos funerary monument over the Mouserion Hill is described and discussed.
Session 4: The cemetery of the Kerameikos: the graveyard of the Kerameikos, located next to the northwest corner of the agora, is the main subject of this session, which explores the Dipylon Gate, the Pompeion, the Sacred way and the most relevant tombs of the site. Funerary Athenian practices are illustrated as well, together with the several semata erected throughout the history of the cemetery, from Geometric vessels, to Archaic kouroi, Classical stelai and Hellenistic mensae and columellae.
Session 5: The Acropolis: this session deals with the most emblematic, representative and relevant sacred area of Athens, i.e. the sanctuary of Athena over Acropolis, by analyzing the rituals and religious actions taking place inside it, the several cults here worshipped besides Athena Polias, the different buildings erected over time. The deep interconnections existing between the gods and the socio-political and economic life of Athens will be stressed, thus revealing the multiple meanings associated with the sacred monuments erected.
- J.M. Camp, The Archaeology of Athens, New Heaven-London 2001
- J.M. Camp, The Athenian agora. Excavations in the hearth of Classical Athens, London 1986
- R.F. Rhodes, Architecture and meaning on the Athenian Acropolis, Cambridge 1995 or J.M. Hurwitt, The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic era to the present, Cambridge 1999
Further recommended readings, consisting in articles or short essay, will be published and downloadable directly from the webpage of the course.
The teaching activity is developed through the combination of video lectures, individual study, and interactive activities (preparation of a short essay by the students, which will be then revised by the professor and the tutor).
The course is developed through:
30 hours of frontal teaching:
31 video lectures (the professor presents the course contents, in a way similar to classroom frontal teaching, supported by slides);
6 hours of interactive teaching:
preparation of a short essay by the student that will be revised by the professor.
For the learning of the discipline, video-lectures, slides and other teaching materials are available to students on the page of the course.
Professor and tutor will assist the students during the entire academic year through e-mail correspondence and, at the student's request, video-reception (dates and times to be agreed in advance with the professor and the tutor).
Self-assessment tools are provided (quiz).
The evaluation will consist in an oral exam (questions concerning general and specific topics addressed during the lessons; recognition/description of monuments, sites, rituals, historical periods, concepts analysed in the lessons.
Students are strongly encouraged to prepare a short essay, that will be evaluated during the exam (please refer to the Guidelines published on the web-page of the course in the section “Interactive teaching-Short essay Classical Archaeology II”).
Participation in planned webinars is strongly recommended.
The acquired knowledge and competencies will allow the graduates to continue their researches (eg. as PhD candidates) and to be employed as professional archaeologists in a wide range of potential institutions, such as those connected to cultural heritage management, protection and valorisation, e.g. museums, archaeological sites; public administrations; academic and research entities; archaeological excavations associations or cooperatives; organisations working in the field of tourism, history, architecture etc.