"ancient greece" blog posts

Ancient Athenian Women and the issue of abortionAthenian women

Ancient Athenian Women and the issue of abortion

What was abortion perceived in Ancient Greece? PhD Candidate, Sofia Giapantzali, gives us an introduction into her findings.

Posted on: 19 May 2023

ACE & Creativity: ta HaloaACE & Creativity December 22

ACE & Creativity: ta Haloa

December 2022 is finally here, and we are all waiting for the Christmas break to start the celebrations and welcome the new year with family and friends. On behalf of the ACE & Creativity team, I have the honour to write the last blog of this year, as an auspicious farewell to all our readers.

Posted on: 8 December 2022

Understanding gender and sexuality through Dionysus

Understanding gender and sexuality through Dionysus

Ancient History and International Politics and Policy student Kian Goodsell illustrates how the figure of Dionysus serves as an example of sexual and gender fluidity in the ancient world.

Posted on: 23 March 2020

Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 2: Intermarriage

Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 2: Intermarriage

While studying Ancient Greek Colonisation and British Imperial Thought (ALGY 336) we examined the theme of intermarriage between Greek settlers and the ‘Barbarians’ they met. Archaeologist Anthony Snodgrass examined parallels between this and the British Empire, arguing that marriage between British officers and local women as positively encouraged in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Burma (now Myanmar) during the early British Empire but it was later outlawed when Victorian pseudo-scientific ideas about race appeared. The same was true of the ancient Greeks. According to Aristotle, the founder of Massalia (now Marseilles) married a local Celtic princess but after the Persian Wars Greek attitudes to ‘Barbarians’ solidified and became negative.

Posted on: 21 February 2020

Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 1: Hybridity

Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 1: Hybridity

The Ancient Greek Colonisation and British Imperial Thought (ALGY336) module examines how academic understanding of ancient Greek overseas settlements was influenced by Victorian ideas of race, gender, and empire. This happened because British scholars made analogies between the ancient Greeks and the contemporary British Empire that they lived in, projecting their own imperialist values back onto history. Even the Victorian Prime Minister William Gladstone said in the House of Commons that the British Empire should treat its colonies like the Greeks had done theirs. We then applied Postcolonialism to critically consider relationships between ancient Greeks and the Celts, Sikels, and Egyptians that they encountered.

Posted on: 12 February 2020

Exploring The Archaeology and Topography of GreeceNiamh Banner at the Sanctuary of Artemis

Exploring The Archaeology and Topography of Greece

Niamh Banner (BA Classical Studies with Spanish) shares her experience at the British School at Athens on their Undergraduate Course: a three-week intensive course exploring ‘The Archaeology and Topography of Greece’ with lectures at dozens of sites, museums and even artefact handling sessions in the BSA fitch laboratory.

Posted on: 10 February 2020

Sappho: a strong and modern female voicepainting of Sappho

Sappho: a strong and modern female voice

For Women's History Month, ancient history student Kian Goodsell explores the work of Greek poet, Sappho.

Posted on: 28 March 2019

Chasing Rainbows: The Search for Gay Material CultureIllustration of explorer with rainbow flag

Chasing Rainbows: The Search for Gay Material Culture

After thinking about LGBT+ History Month 2018 last month, I thought it would be interesting to take a look how much archaeology can contribute to our understanding of gay history.

Posted on: 1 March 2018

Excavations, new skills and adventures in Halkidiki Archaeological site in Greece

Excavations, new skills and adventures in Halkidiki

In its time, Olynthos was an ancient classical Greek city in the Halkidiki region of modern-day Greece. The city sprawled across the two massive hills that dominate the surrounding landscape until its destruction in 348 BC by Philip II (Alexander the Great’s dad).

Posted on: 9 October 2017

Student experience - discovering ancient and modern GreecePhoto collage of Greek trip

Student experience - discovering ancient and modern Greece

Archaeology student Jake Morley-Stone gives us the lowdown on his research in Greece and how The Chris Mee Mediterranean Travel Award enabled him to make the trip. Find out how this experience has transformed his research on Ancient Greece.

Posted on: 20 April 2017