HHIK05031U HIS 3. The Greek Polis: Beginning(s), End(s), Afterlife

Volume 2024/2025
Education

MA-Area 3: Academic Writing with Focus on Source Analysis (HHIK03911E)
[Kandidatuddannelsen i historie, 2022-ordningen]

MA-Area 3: Academic Writing with Focus on Source Analysis (HHIK03911E)
[Kandidatdelen af sidefaget i historie, 2022-ordningen]

MA-Area 9: Historical Area with Focus on Source Analysis (HHIK03991E) [kun for studerende, hvis centralfag hører under et andet hovedområde end humaniora. ÅU-studerende skal være tilmeldt til eller have bestået 45 ECTS af kandidatsidefaget af historie før tilmelding] 
[Kandidatdelen af sidefaget i historie, 2022-ordningen]

MA-Area 9: Historical Area with Focus on Source Analysis (HHIK13991E) [ikke muligt for ÅU-studerende]
[Kandidattilvalg i historie, 2022-ordningen]

Historical Theme 1 (HHIB10211E) [kun for studerende med grundfag i Historie]
[Bachelortilvalg i historie, 2022-ordningen]

Content

Få overblik på:
- Historie, KA-2022, ét-faglig, lektionskatalog forår 2025
- Historie, KA-2022, to-faglig, lektionskatalog forår 2025
- Historie, KA-sidefag-2022, lektionskatalog forår 2025
- Historie, BA, lektionskatalog forår 2025


HIS 3. The Greek Polis: Beginning(s), End(s), Afterlife
This course aims to explore the development of the ancient polis (‘city-state’), from the earliest attestations through to the final stages of its history (and its afterlife). The Greek city-state, and especially the democratic polis of Athens, has historically held a special place in the collective consciousness of the western world, and of Europe in particular. In 2003, while preparing the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, representatives of the EU Member States made a point of opening its preamble with the notion, put by the Athenian historian Thucydides in the mouth of the Athenian statesman Pericles, that “Our Constitution ... is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the greatest number” (Thuc. 2.37.1). As recently as 2021, on the 40th anniversary of Greece’s accession to the EU, president of the European Council Charles Michel said in so many words that “Europe was born in Greece”, and then proceeded to cite an array of (almost) solely classical Athenian examples. But Greece was much more than Athens, and the concept of polis is much more multifaceted than what the Athenian example alone would suggest: different poleis throughout the Greek world had different political regimes, different civic cultures, different institutions, different modes of integration of the non-(male)-citizen population into their societies. By using John Ma’s recent comprehensive study on the Greek city-state (2024) as a blueprint, students in this course will engage with a variety of literary and epigraphic sources (in translation) to unravel the history of the polis from a pluralistic, non-Athenocentric perspective, and to explore the ways in which this kaleidoscopic history can help us make sense of our own relationship towards community, participation, autonomy, justice, power structures, and democracy in our modern societies.

Literature

- John Ma: Polis: A New History of the Ancient Greek City-State from the Early Iron Age to the End of Antiquity. Princeton, 2024.

Kun studerende med grundfag i Historie kan anvende dette kursus som Bachelortilvalg.

This Master’s course is open for international Bachelor’s students, but requires at least the equivalent to 45 ECTS passed within history. Questions regarding course registration should be directed to visitingstudents@hum.ku.dk
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 56
  • Preparation
  • 203
  • Exam Preparation
  • 129,5
  • Total
  • 388,5
Oral
Individual
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Feedback by final exam (In addition to the grade)
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Exam registration requirements

Aktuelle studieordninger for Historie og  Studiehåndbogen [KA] eller  Studiehåndbogen [BA].

Criteria for exam assesment