Course Description. Grading: 2 Papers (5 to 8 pages): 45% Quizzes: 45% Attendance/Participation: 10%

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1 1 21:510:305 Ancient Sport: From Olympians to Gladiators Course Time and Location: MTWR: 1 pm 2:45 pm; (Location = TBA) Instructor and Contact Information: Prof. D. J. Wright (Office = TBA; Office Phone = TBA; djw167@scarletmail.rutgers.edu) Office Hours: Mondays 2:45pm - 3:45pm, Wednesdays 12:00pm-1:00pm and by appointment Course Description This course considers ancient forms of athletic contest and competition, including: Greek games held during the Olympic festival and other occasions; chariot-racing and circus contests in Greece and Rome; and Roman blood-sport. We shall examine both the archaeological and literary evidence for such events, as well as the impact such competitions have had on our modern perceptions of sport and athletic contest. Prominent literary sources we shall use include: selections of the poets Homer and Pindar, and a variety of short readings from other authors. We shall also consult a large number of digital images throughout the course. Each week students will read some of this primary source material along with modern scholarship supplementing it. Students will learn to read primary sources closely, to read between the lines and analyze them in the historical context of their time. Students will also read these texts critically, assessing how well they function as evidence, and which kinds of sources seem hopelessly biased or more straightforward. Along with this critical reading, students will also regularly practice their writing skills in essay quizzes and two formal papers, and will have many opportunities to express their idea verbally in the class in-depth, in-class discussions. Grading: 2 Papers (5 to 8 pages): 45% Quizzes: 45% Attendance/Participation: 10% Attendance: Since class attendance and participation is essential to this course given that much of the material you will be responsible for will only come from lectures, visual presentations and in-class discussion absences should be kept to a minimum. Accordingly, the maximum number of absences allowed is three, beyond which there will be a grade penalty. There will also be a grade penalty for persistent lateness. Conversely, there will be extra credit awarded to students who do not use all of their allowable absences Policy on Academic Integrity: No act of academic dishonesty will be tolerated in this course. All students are required to e-sign the Plagiarism Agreement on the course s Blackboard site, listed under Academic Integrity. I will not accept a quiz or paper from a student who has not e-signed this agreement.

2 2 Course Materials Kyle, D. G Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Mahoney, A Roman Sport and Spectacles: a Sourcebook. Newburyport: Focus Publishing. Miller. S.G Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources. Berkeley: University of California Press. * Readings will be supplemented by PDF articles posted on Blackboard. Schedule * Tues. 5/28/2013: Introduction to Course and Ancient Greece E-Reading: Shipley Archaic into Classical and Parkins & Shipley Greek Kings & Roman Emperors Wed. 5/29/2013: Athletics in the East; Earliest Days of Greek Athletics Kyle, p Thur. 5/30/2013: Sport In Homer; Athletics in Archaic Greece; Kyle, p , Miller, p , Mon. 6/3/2013: The Athletic Body; Kyle, p , Miller, p *QUIZ 1 Tues. 6/4/2013: History of Olympia and the Olympic Games Kyle, p Miller, p , 201 Wed. 6/5/2013: The Archaeology of Olympia E-Reading: Morgan, The Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia Thur. 6/6/2013: The Other Panhellenic Games: Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian * NB the readings may be subject to revision at the discretion of instructor.

3 3 Kyle, p Mon. 6/10/2013: Panathenaic Games Kyle, p *QUIZ 2 Tues. 6/11/2013: Track and Field Events; Poems of Pindar Miller, p , E-Reserve: Nisetich, p [intro. to Pindar], p [Pindar s Olympian 13: poem for footrace and pentathlon victor] and p [Pindar s Pythians 9-11: poems for footrace winners] Wed. 6/12/2013: Combative Sports: Wrestling, Boxing, and the Pancration Miller, p E-Reading: Poems from Pindar on Combat Sports Thur. 6/13/2013: Equestrian Events; Athletic Diet Miller, p E-Reading: Renfrew, Food for Athletes and Gods *PAPER # 1 DUE Mon. 6/17/2013: Athletes and Heroes Kyle, p Miller, p *QUIZ 3 Tues. 6/18/2013: Greek Athletics and the Nazis I Film: Leni Riefenstahl s Olympia: Festival of the Nation (to be seen in class) E-Reading: Hart-Davis, Hitler s Games p Thur. 6/19/2013: Greek Athletics and the Nazis II E-Reading: Hart-Davis, Hitler s Games p Fri. 6/20/2013: Roman Society and Spectacle

4 4 Kyle, p Mahoney, p. vii-xiv, 1-10, Mon. 6/24/2013: Roman Society and Spectacle II Kyle, p Mahoney, p Tues. 6/25/2013: Building and Spaces for Roman Sport E-Reading: Dodge, Buildings for Entertainment *QUIZ 4 Wed. 6/26/2013: Chariot Racing and the Circus Mahoney, p E-Reading: Junkelman, On the Starting Line with Ben Hur: chariot-racing in the Circus Maximus Thur. 6/27/2013: Gladiators Mahoney, p E-Reading: Carter, Gladiatorial Combat: the rules of engagement Mon. 7/01/2013: Beast Hunts, Naumachiae, Public Executions Mahoney, p E-Reading: Kyle, Arenas and Eating: corpses and carcasses as food? Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, p Tues. 7/02/2013: Roman Women and Sports Mahoney, p E-Reading: Brunet, Female and Dwarf Gladiators *QUIZ 6 Wed. 7/3/2013: Roman Blood Sports and Hollywood Film: Gladiator Thur. 7/4/2013: NO CLASS! Mon. 7/ 2013: PAPER #2 DUE. Please submit by .

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