This course offers an introduction to ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of race, ethnicity, and identity as presented in literary texts and art. Through close reading and critical analysis of a variety of ancient primary sources and secondary scholarship, we will consider questions such as the following: How did the Greeks and Romans conceptualize categories of race and ethnicity? How did they view the figure of the “barbarian”? To what degree is it appropriate to apply modern theoretical categories to the study of the ancient world? Throughout the semester we will examine many of the ways in which ancient conceptions of race and ethnicity intersected with conceptions of gender, sexuality, and social class. We will also discuss the challenges involved in accessing the voices of marginalized populations in the ancient sources. The course will conclude with an examination of the impact that Greek and Roman ideas about human difference have had on later conceptions of race and ethnicity, especially in modern Europe and the United States.
CLAS-2810 Race and Ethnicity in Classical Antiquity