The Greeks and the sea

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: Professor Christy Constantakopoulou
• Assessment: one essay of 5000-5500 words (100%)

The Aegean sea is one of the most dominant features of the Greek landscape. Because of its geographic features (multitude of islands, conditions for gentle sailing etc.) it facilitated navigation from an early stage. How did the Greeks understand their physical environment? How did they use the sea?

In this module we introduce current debates about the impact of geographical environment in Greek thought. We will examine a number of ancient texts, from the seventh century BC to the second century AD, in order to highlight the often problematic relationship between the Greeks and the sea.

Indicative syllabus

• The geography of the Aegean: winds, currents, ports, ships and patterns of navigation
• Sailing the dark-wine sea: Homer’s Odyssey and the Homeric hymn to Apollo
• The ship of state: the lyric poets and the sea
• Sea power, Thucydides and the Athenian empire
• Seaborne trade
• Piracy
• Callimachus’ Hymn to Delos
• Aelius Aristeides’ Hymn to the Aegean
• Religion and the sea: Aphrodite Euploia and the Dioscuri
• Sailing in the sea: Ps. Scylax’s Periplous and the genre of periploi