CAS CL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ancient Greek, Epigraphy, Oxhide

• School: Boston University
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: CAS CL 101
• Professor: Alexander Nikolaev

Document Summary

Lecture 2: what classicists do (sources and methods) Classical scholarship: based on data gathered from multiple sources, the knowledge of the greeks was never lost. Knowledge of ancient greek language, literature, etc. was preserved throughout the roman empire (later: eastern roman empire, then byzantine empire) and was revived during the renaissance. Studying history: why and how: historians want to know what actually happened, compare herodotus" creed. Encourages future generations to write down what happened and why it happened: history (hist r- witness", extra: clio is the muse of history". Have to be treated critically due to possible perspective bias (ex. Watch out for conflicting reports and hidden agendas when looking at sources; Example: poetic praise for athletic victors (athletes who were victorious were often compared to mythological heroes) often involves fictitious or at least semi-trustworthy information; white lies" - emphasize achievement of the victor"s clan. Cl 101, notes for lecture 2, page 2.