This textbook is endorsed by OCR and supports the specification for A-Level Classical Civilisation (first teaching September 2017). It covers Components 32 and 33 from the 'Beliefs and Ideas' Component Group: Love and Relationships by Matthew Barr and Alastair Thorley Politics of the Late Republic by Lucy Cresswell How was love interpreted and explained by the poets and philosophers of the ancient world? Why was Julius Caesar assassinated? How can we get to the intention behind the rhetoric of ancient sources? This book raises these and other key questions. A-Level students and their teachers will encounter ancient answers to issues ranging from sexuality and the impact of desire to the power of personality in politics. Such important and controversial themes can be examined through the prism of the ancient world. The ideal preparation for the final examinations, all content is presented by experts and experienced teachers in a clear and accessible narrative. Ancient literary and visual sources are described and analysed, with supporting images. Helpful student features include study questions, quotations from contemporary scholars, further reading, and boxes focusing in on key people, events and terms. Practice questions and exam guidance prepare students for assessment. A Companion Website is available at www.bloomsbury.com/ class-civ- as-a- level.
Ancient philosophers and poets were as intrigued by love as modern songwriters and film-makers are today. Ancient writers were keenly aware of the power of emotions and expressed different ideas about whether it was nobler to withstand arrows of desire or to yield in the face of all-conquering love.
Plato and Seneca both attempt to explain love and desire and their effect on relationships. They also considered the place of love within the ancient moral landscape. Sappho and Ovid write more about the pain and joy of love and define relationships by its presence or absence.
The written sources are examined against the background of relationships in Greek and Roman society. Although the views and descriptions of love remain achingly or amusingly relevant today, attitudes towards marriage and homoerotic relationships have changed markedly.
In her 1967 song âBoth Sides Nowâ, Joni Mitchell sings âI really donât know love at allâ. It is easy to imagine that it would not surprise the ancient authors who feature in this topic to learn that, over two thousand years later, we are still wrestling over the ethics of love, sex, sexuality, marriage and relationships.
EXAM OVERVIEW
H408/32
Your assessment is a written examination testing AO1 and AO2. It is
30% of the A Level
1 hr 45 mins
75 marks
35 marks will test AO1: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
literature, visual/material culture and classical thought
how sources and ideas reflect, and influence, their cultural contexts
possible interpretations of sources, perspectives and ideas by different audiences and individuals
40 marks will test AO2: critically analyse, interpret and evaluate literature, visual/material culture and classical thought, using evidence to make substantiated judgements and produce coherent and reasoned arguments.
The examination will consist of two sections.
All questions in Section A are compulsory. There are four question types:
short-answer questions
10-mark stimulus question using a passage from the prescribed sources
10-mark question discussing an idea from one of the key thinkers
20-mark essay
Section B has one question type:
30-mark essay
There is a choice of one from two essays. In these essays learners will be expected to make use of secondary sources and academic views to support their argument.
General Bibliography
Carson, Anne (1986), Eros the Bittersweet, Princeton University Press.
Davidson, J. (2008), The Greeks and Greek Love, Phoenix.
Freeman, P. (2016), Searching for Sappho, Norton.
Goldhill, S. (2004), Love, Sex and Tragedy, John Murray.
Sissa, G. (2008), Sex and Sensuality in the Ancient World, Yale University Press.
Skinner, M. B. (2014), Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture, Wiley-Blackwell.
Vout, C. (2013), Sex on Show, British Museum Press.
1.1 Men and Women
TOPIC OVERVIEW
Greek and Roman thinking regarding:
the ideal qualities of men and women
the relative status of men and women domestically, civically and legally
Greek and Roman thoughts about marriage, including:
what makes a good marriage
the joys and benefits of marriage
the relative sexual freedom allowed for men and women
attitudes towards adultery
Ideas regarding the nature of âgoodâ and âbadâ conduct which emerge.
There are no prescribed sources for this topic, but students are encouraged to draw on any other appropriate sources and evidence they have studied in the extended-response exam questions. Here are some suggestions:
the grave stele of Hegeso
the portrait of Terentius Neo and his wife
Men, women and their relationships are frequently represented in the literature and material culture of the Greeks and Romans. Grave inscriptions and memorials provide an insight into how men wished themselves and their wives to be remembered. The poets, philosophers and playwrights of the ancient world were interested in love, desire and the differences between men and women. The following two sources suggest ways in which material culture might offer indications about how the Greeks and Romans viewed men and women.
The grave stele of Hegeso (Figure 1.1) shows a woman choosing jewellery from a box offered by a slave girl. Set up in public, the relief shows a domestic scene which emphasised the virtues of women. Hegeso is beautiful, richly dressed in thin, transparent fabric and adorning herself with jewellery, suggesting the wealth of her family.
stele (pl. stelai) relief sculpture with an image and/or an inscription
FIGURE 1.1 The funerary monument of Hegeso in the Kerameikos in Athens.
The naturalistic portrait of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife from Pompeii (Figure 1.2) shows a richly dressed couple. The bakerâs wife is in the foreground of the painting and holds a wax tablet and a writing implement, which suggests that she is literate. Her husband holds a scroll.
FIGURE 1.2 Portrait of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife.
THE IDEAL QUALITIES OF MEN AND WOMEN
Greece
A male Athenian citizen was expected to be involved in the life of the city. He would contribute to the wealth of his oikos. He would also help to secure the safety of the community by giving his opinion in the assembly and by serving as a soldier. In Homerâs Iliad the hero Achilles is advised to be a âspeaker of words and a doer of deedsâ. Moderation in word and deed was also a key principle of what it meant to be a good citizen but there were considerable freedoms available to the Athenian male.
oikos (pl. oikoi) the ancient Greek household; this would include not only the family and their slaves but also property and possessions
The Odysseyâs Penelope is often held up as the ideal woman in the ancient world. A dutiful and faithful wife, she has given birth to a worthy male heir. She keeps control of (most of) her slaves and is skilled at weaving. Andromache, the wife of Hector in the Iliad, is also exemplary. Brought up on Homer, Greek men would expect, ultimately, two key things from their wives: fertility (to guarantee a male heir) and fidelity (to guarantee the heir was legitimate).
Beauty was also important. Homeric epithets refer to the physical beauty of both women and goddesses: women are âwhite-armedâ, men are âgod-likeâ and Aphrodite is even described as âhaving a beautiful bottomâ. The woman who is supposed to have modelled for Praxiteles for the statue shown in Figure 1.3 was ...
