Ancient Greece seems to be an under-used time period in fictional romance but the greatest romantic epics comes from this time: The Iliad and The Odyssey. Each story is a thrill a minute ride of military derring-do, seduction, love, elopements, murder, betrayal, clever manipulations, bravery, cowardice, and temper tantrums… and that’s just talking about the human characters. The Gods of the Greeks and Trojans are a whole other tennis match to read and watch in the stories.
The time of the Ancient Greeks is not as long as the ancient Egyptians or even the Romans, but they have been a monumental influence on Western civilization since their very beginnings. So frankly, let’s give the Greeks some love.
In this course I seek to give an overview of being Greek: daily life, religion, politics, a bit of history, military life, theater, education, and, of course, sex. The Greek idea of sex and what was acceptable sex is a far cry of what modern people consider acceptable or sometimes ethical. Th class will go from the of the Greek poleis to the Roman occupation and preoccupation with Greece.