History of Ancient Greece (Fall 2025)

Welcome to Week 3!

mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This week we’re talking about the so-called Greek Dark Age—the period during which the Greeks recovered from the collapse of the Bronze Age and built a new civilization.

The Greek Dark Age is frustrating and fascinating to historians of ancient Greece, because this period of rebirth, during which the foundations and chief elements of Hellas as we know it come into being, happens while the Greeks have no writing system, and so there are no literature or records until the very end—we can’t hear them creating a new Greek society.

Some things to consider as you do the readings. Based on what you found notable in the text, what do you think most drove the Greeks during the Dark Age? If the communities of the Aegean were so isolated and so fiercely independent, how did they end up having so much in common? How did they end up with such a clear idea of what it meant to be Greek?

Our best evidence is Homer, the result of stories performed and passed down orally through these centuries and written down at the end, and we’re reading a few excerpts from Iliad and Odyssey —two works that are to become the starting point for all Greek education, both in the Aegean and beyond.

I’m looking forward to discussing the readings from Homer. What is Homer telling us when he describes Achilles and Agamemnon decrying each other, with Briseis in the middle? What’s so significant about Patroklas’s death in Achilles’s armor? When Odysseus meets Nausicaa, what’s this story really about? Is Penelope just being a dutiful wife waiting all those years, or is there more to it, and why are the suitors shown as being so awful?

I enjoyed our discussion last week, and there’s some good stuff to explore this week. Looking forward to discussing it all with you on Thursday!

Sign up for your first presentation!

mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Thanks for the great meeting on Thursday. Here’s a quick reminder about signing up for presentations.

Over the course of the semester, we’ll be exploring a number of primary source readings—people from the ancient Greek world telling us what it’s like for them. Everyone will have a chance to briefly introduce two of these to the class in order to kick off our discussion of the text and what the reading is telling us. One’s on one of the readings from the first half of the semester, and the other is on a reading from the second half.

If you have not already, go ahead and sign up now for your first presentation. The sign-up page is on the course website (at markbwilson dot com), under Presentations. Look the list over and find one that seems like it might be interesting to spend a little time with when it comes up later in the semester. Each of the titles has a URL link to the reading, so you can get a preview. The dates we’ll be getting to each reading are there, too.

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Welcome to Week 2!

mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This week we’re talking about the Bronze Age Aegean: the indigenous inhabitants, especially the mysterious Minoans, and the invading Greeks, who swarm in from the north and take over the Aegean world before bringing about their own spectacular collapse, bringing down the whole Bronze Age with them.

There are a lot of things to talk about here. What strikes you as most intriguing about the Minoans—what we know of them? Why do you think the Mycenaean Greeks were so successful in surpassing them? If you were to talk about what was important to the Minoans and to the Mycenaean Greeks, what would be similar, and what would be distinctive? Were the Mycenaean Greeks their own worst enemy in too-greedily building a trade empire, or should we emphasize other factors in the great cataclysmic collapse of the Bronze Age and its civilizations?

We had a swell discussion last week, and this time we have some great stuff to explore. Looking forward to discussing all of this with you. See you Thursday!

Welcome to Week 1!

mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

This is a quick note to welcome you all to the beginning of History of Ancient Greece! I’m looking forward to exploring the ancient Greek world with all of you, starting with our first meeting on Thursday. The meeting is in-person, 6:00 – 8:40 p.m., in Carman 209.

At our first meeting we’ll be laying some important foundations that we’ll be building on throughout the semester, including the themes of the course and some of the things we’ll be delving into as we navigate the ancient Aegean world. Who were the Greeks, and how did they end up being so important to the cultures that came after them? Is there something about the Aegean environment or the experiences of the different peoples living there that fostered such influential cultures? What do we think it means to be Greek—in other words, what is the Greek idea? We’ll start laying out the basics of those discussions this week, and then return to them throughout the semester as we explore the fascinating, dramatic, and sometimes heartbreaking stories of the ancient Aegean.

Syllabus and video: As a reminder, the syllabus, assignments, and requirements are all on the course website, which is on my website, markbwilson dot com. Make sure you’ve looked through the site and that you’ve watched the welcome video, which talks about how the course works and answers some common questions.

Books: Also make sure you have the textbook. We won’t need the second book, The Birds and Other Plays, until October, but the Pomeroy textbook will be getting regular use starting right away, and it shouldn't be hard to find. The reading assignments are on the Schedule page of the website; they tell you what you need to have read (and thought about) before coming to class.

Email me: Many of you replied back to the welcome-to-the-course email I sent you after you enrolled, confirming that I have a good email address for you. If you didn’t, could you do me a favor and reply back to this one and let me know that I can use this address, or that a different email is better for you? Thanks. I’ll be sending out lots of emails, including weekly previews and information on assignments, so it’s important I’m able to reach you.

Sign up for your first presentation: There is a sign-up page on the course website for your first primary source presentation, which is just you introducing one of the readings to the class along with your take on what the author is trying to say and what you think it means, as a way of kicking off our discussion of that reading. Everyone needs to sign up for one presentation during the first half of the semester, and one in the second. You can get that out of the way now and choose the one that seems interesting to you. To get to the page, click on “Presentation” in the side menu, then “Signup #1.” As always, I'm grateful to those who pick the earlier ones! If you have questions, we’ll talk more about presentations and the rest of the course components on Tuesday.

That’s it for now. Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll see you all on Thursday!

Welcome to History of Ancient Greece (Fall 2025)

mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Welcome to History of Ancient Greece! I’m looking forward to a great semester exploring the cultures and transformations of the ancient Aegean, from the Bronze Age to Alexander.

Right now, I need you to do three things.

First, look over the course web page, which will be our base of operations. Watch the quick welcome and orientation video (linked here and on the overview page). Look through each of the pages on the website to see how the course will work and how the readings and discussions are set up. Any questions about how it works, please send me an email.

Second, get the books now if you can. A lot of you will be ordering books online, and you need to make sure you have the books and are ready to go when the course starts on August 28. On the “Books” page I’ve tried to give you some different options for getting what you need, but consider ordering now if there’s going to be any kind of shipping involved. (If you come across a legitimate online/e-text version of one of the assigned readings that’s not already listed, please let me know.)

Finally, send me an email so that I know I have a working email address for you. You can just send a blank email, email and say “hi”, or email with a question or concern, but I want to make sure I can contact everyone. If you receive an email from me but there is an email address you prefer I use instead of this one, please definitely reply and tell me that.

Email me anytime with questions at mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu. I’m looking forward to starting our journey together.