Archaic

In the history of ancient Greece, the Archaic period is usually dated to between ca. 800 and 500 BC. Often, the date is extended down to around 480 BC Some authors hold that the Archaic period proper starts with the first supposedly historic event, the Olympic Games of 776 BC. Others have the Archaic period start at around 700 BC.

Aristeia and philotimia

Two key concepts of the ancient Greek world

In this article, we explore two important concepts of the warrior ethos that was at the heart of ancient Greek culture.

Romantic love in Homer

Some material in a doctoral thesis never makes the final cut, but can instead be turned into articles. An example is a peer-reviewed article that I wrote about romantic love in the Homeric epics.

“Heroic” nudity?

Naked men in ancient Greek art

Conventional wisdom regards nudity in Greek art as a “heroizing” element. But the reality is, of course, a bit more complex.

Aeneas before Virgil

Early Greek sources about the Trojan hero

The Trojan hero Aeneas, made famous by Virgil’s epic poem, has been the subject of ancient texts and art going as far back as Homer.

Enhancing the gods

Pheidias and the Siphnian Frieze

The sculptor Pheidias, responsible for the reliefs of the Parthenon in Athens, may have been inspired by the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi.

Cleobis and Biton

The story of the Argive youths Cleobis and Biton gives an idea of how different the ancient Greek world view was from our own.

The ancient Greek hoplite

Roel Konijnendijk, Joshua Hall, Matthew Lloyd, Owen Rees, and Josho Brouwers talk about the ancient Greek hoplite.

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The Battle of the Champions

One of the most interesting battles mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus is perhaps the “Battle of the Champions”, fought between the Spartans and the Argives.