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Academic Year 2001/2002


Heroes, Lovers, & Daily Life: Images on Greek Vases
CCIV 212 SP

Crosslistings:
ARHA 212

Viewing Greek painted pots in museums, perched securely in their vitrines, we think of them as fine art objects of great value-both for us and to the ancients. But before plastic, glass, and cardboard, there was clay. Our main focus will be Athenian black- and red-figure vases; the elaborately painted pots we all too frequently assume are the acme of Greek vases. We will examines these objects in several different ways: from artifact excavated in archeological trenches to antiquities stolen to fuel the art trade; from object d'art (for us) to fine, sympotic dinnerware (for ancient Greeks); finally from representations to ancient daily life. We will glance at utilitarian (plain) pottery, considering the shapes and their daily uses; to establish a sense of historical development and antecedents, we will consider earlier, Geometric and Corinthian, wares. We shall explore the varieties of ways these pots have been studied, familiarizing ourselves with the standard research tools (CORPUS VASORUM ANTIQUORUM, Beazley's ATHENIAN BLACK-FIGURE VASES and ATHENIAN RED-FIGURE VASES, LEXICON ICONOGRAPHICUM MYTHOLOGIAE CLASSICAE, among others), and some of the more illuminating studies of these pots in the various scholarly domains (attribution, form & iconographic studies, among others). Aiming to additional, more in-depth studies of Greek painted pots.

This course serves as an introduction to the visual wealth of ancient Greek painted pots (commonly called "vases"), and to several schools of s tudying these material artifacts. We will consider questions of attribution, style, form and function, original use or context for these objects, and the cultural studies made possible by a reading of the images painted on these pots. We take as our pri mary objective the task, simultaneously banal and profound, learning to look at Greek vases, to read these objects, and to read and interpret these images. This course will complement courses in ancient Greek history, ancient Greek language and literatur e, Classical Greek civilization, as well as courses in Art History.

MAJOR READINGS

Required:
Rasmussen & Spivey, edd., LOOKING AT GREEK VASES
Sparkes, THE RED AND THE BLACK
Boardman, ATHENIAN RED-FIGURE VASES & ATHENIAN BLACK-FIGURE VASES
Boardman, THE HISTORY OF GREEK VASES
Boardman, EARLY GREEK VASE PAINTING
and Course Reader
Optional:
Robertson, A SHORT HISTORY OF GREEK ART
Robertson, THE ART OF VASE-PAINTING IN CLASSICAL ATHENS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two short essays, a midterm and a final exam.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CLAS    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Prince,Cashman Kerr   
Times: ..T.R.. 10:30AM-11:50AM;     Location: SCIE121
Reserved Seats:    (Total Limit: 30)
SR. major: 4   Jr. major: 2
SR. non-major: 7   Jr. non-major: 7   SO: 6   FR: 4

Special Attributes:
Curricular Renewal:    Reading Non-Verbal Texts
Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002


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