Module One
MEN AND WOMEN IN ATHENS AND SPARTA
Introduction
This module should be read in conjunction with the Programme of Study.
The Programme of Study lists the topics that are in the module and gives you the relevant page references to your course book. This module aims to give you more direction as you work through the various topics. It will aim to highlight the most important items in the topic, as well as areas that need particular care. It will also point you towards the resources you should be using.
Remember to double-check the syllabus to make sure you cover all the items that you need to.
Module Overview
If you took your AS exams in 2021, you will need to work through the bridging module, Module Zero: Lysistrata and Women at the Thesmophoria before you begin work on Module One.
Modules One to Five of this course are concerned with Paper 3: Classical History. You will be studying Topic A – Athens and Sparta. This module covers one of the two areas of the ancient world that you will be studying for A Level.
Athens and Sparta are the two most well-known Greek city states of the ancient world. Athens was the cradle of democracy, philosophy, drama, history, scientific thought and much more. Sparta was famous for its superb fighting skills, its austere lifestyle and the glorious failure (?) that was the battle of Thermopylae. Inevitably the two very different views of the world led to conflict between these states and two wars, the second of which (known as the Peloponnesian War) lasted from 431-404 BCE and ended in defeat for Athens.
You have already met Aristophanes, the best-known Athenian comic dramatist, and from Lysistrata you will have gained an overview of the reasons for the conflict. In this module you will gain a deeper understanding of the reasons, both cultural and otherwise, for the dispute. As with the AS modules, the key to success at AL is a thorough knowledge of the texts and the willingness to evaluate and analyse them in the light of the events they describe.
You will find a list of the prescribed literary, material and visual sources you need to know for Paper 3 in the syllabus. Please check this list carefully now:
CHECK – Prescribed Sources for Paper 3 Download CHECK – Prescribed Sources for Paper 3
N.B. Access to those texts which do not appear in the books you have been sent by Wolsey Hall is provided in the relevant topics on Canvas. The names of these texts are highlighted in bold each time so you can identify them easily.
During this module you should be reading widely from the literary sources and wider reading materials provided on Canvas and from any that you have found whilst carrying out your own research.
Topics
Topic Two (1.2): Athenian Women
Topic Three (1.3): Spartan Men