High Classical Athens
The period of High Classical Athens saw a people ruling itself in an utterly free state. In this week-long Residential Seminar, we will examine how historical texts, tragic dramas, and marble sculpture and building attest to the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people.
- Day:Monday - Friday
- Times: 9 am - 4 pm CST
- Dates: May 11 - May 15
Taught by:
About the Course
The first two books of Thucydides cover the time during which Sophocles won prizes at the Greater Dionysia with Antigone and Oedipus Rex. These texts are set against the background of the visual statement made during just this time period by the Parthenon and the sculptural program undertaken in its metopes and frieze, as well as the central image of the goddess, Athena. This period saw a people ruling itself in an utterly free state. How do these historical texts, tragic dramas, and marble sculpture and building attest to the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people?
This class will satisfy one of the following curriculum requirements:
- Humanities Core
- Ethics and Leadership Elective
- Literary Studies Elective
About the Professor
Kendall Sharp
Kendall Sharp is the Sheffield Family Distinguished Instructor in the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. He holds a PhD from the Committee on Social Thought and a BA from the College at the University of Chicago. Formerly, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at...
Kendall Sharp is the Sheffield Family Distinguished Instructor in the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. He holds a PhD from the Committee on Social Thought and a BA from the College at the University of Chicago. Formerly, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Western Ontario, and he has taught also at DePaul University (history), the University of Illinois-Chicago (classics), and in the College (humanities). He rejoined the Basic Program in 2019, having last served on the staff from 1999–2000. His research and publishing focus on Plato’s dialogues as literary expressions of the philosophical life. His teaching has included Greek and Latin languages, classics in translation (literature, philosophy, history), and both classical mythology and ancient Greek science. He is currently preoccupied with the chilly reception Western Civilization gave to the ancient Greek values of political freedom and equality.