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Ancient Sources (Material Evidence): Images of the Trojan War: from Pot to Film

Module description

The Trojan War is one of the most intriguing stories ever told. Addressing fundamental concerns of human existence, it fascinates people until the present day. Hundreds of writers and artists have been inspired to narrate and re-narrate the war’s events, each from their very own perspective and not only in texts but in media as varied as vase painting, sculpture, wall painting, furniture, silver table ware, tapestries and modern film. This module looks at visual representations of the Trojan War, from the beginnings of narrative images in 7th century BCE Greece down to the Romans and on through the ages to modern film. We will discuss methodologies of analysing images, explore what artists (and their patrons) were interested in, and how this changed over time. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

• To explore visual representations of the Trojan War in genres such as painting, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, modern popular culture and film, ranging chronologically from the beginnings of narrative images in the 7th century BCE down to the present.
• To acquaint you with the entire story of the war and to explore which events interested artists (and their patrons) at any given time and in any specific context from private dinner parties to public monuments to modern cinema; how this changed over time; and what it tells us about the ancient and modern societies who used images of the Trojan War to express general concerns, ideologies, and ideas.
• To engage in the interpretation of images as a ‘language’ different from texts, learning how images interpret events, and manipulate and convey meaning, and how viewers decode these meanings and visual strategies using specific methodologies.
• To appreciate how, in our modern world, which is flooded by visual material, knowing how images work, and how we can both use and ‘read’ them is a fundamentally important skill.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate knowledge of the details of the story of the Trojan War and its events
• 2. With guidance, identify, describe, and analyse a wide range of images of the Trojan War in different media and ranging from the 7th century BCE to the modern day
• 3. Demonstrate an understanding of how people use(d) images to interpret the events of the Trojan War in different ways, depending on historical and social context

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Describe and discuss how images and texts use inherently different means in order to narrate stories
• 5. Demonstrate a basic understanding of how the story of the Trojan War was used to discuss and negotiate bigger and more general questions concerning key conditions of human experience
• 6. With guidance, research a question using library and other academic resources specific to Classics and Ancient History

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Demonstrate a basic understanding of how different visual media operate, and how they each differ from texts.
• 8. Understand and, with guidance, successfully apply a range of key methodologies to decode the meanings and messages of images
• 9. Demonstrate independent and group study skills in guided research
• 10. Demonstrate critical engagement with modern sources
• 11. Construct and present a coherent argument

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The beginnings of narrative images in ancient Greece
• Troy, Schliemann, and the historicity of the Trojan War Warfare and the Beautiful Death
• Myth and Politics: The contest of the arms
• Negotiating Gender: Penthesilea and the Amazons
• The Trojan War in Roman art: Greek myth and the foundation of Rome; Passion and drama at Roman dinner parties
• Heroes of the Trojan War as model rulers and city founders
• The relationship between art and text
• The Trojan War in modern art and film

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Ancient texts:

• Homer, The Iliad. Transl. R. Lattimore. Chicago, 1951.
• Homer, The Odyssey. Transl. R. Lattimore. New York, 1965.
• Virgil, The Aeneid. Transl. D. West. Revised edition. London, 2003 (Penguin Classics).

Secondary literature (a more detailed bibliography will be circulated):

• Cline, E.H., The Trojan War: a very short introduction (Oxford 2013).
• Fowler, R. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer. Cambridge, 2004.
• Onians, J. Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome. New Haven, 1999.
• Samons L.J. (ed.), The Cambridge companion to the age of Pericles (Cambridge 2007), esp. Ch. 5.
• Shapiro, H.A. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece (New York 2007).
• Sherratt, S. and J. Bennet (eds), Archaeology and Homeric Epic (Oxford 2017).
• Sweeney, N. Troy: Myth, City, Icon (London 2018).
• Winkler, M.W., Troy: from Homer’s Iliad to Hollywood Epic (Malden, MA 2007).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
• The Beazley Archive: Pottery Data Base – http://www.beazley.ac.uk/pottery/default.htm
• ARTStor digital image library – http://0-www.artstor.org.lib.exeter.ac.uk/index.shtml

Key words search

Trojan War, Homer, Iliad, Odyssey, art, Greek vases, sculpture