Description
The binary opposition between 'West' and 'East', Europe and Asia, is a standard trope of world history. Usually traced back to Greek responses to the Persian Wars in the fifth-century BC, this geopolitical division (and its attending ideologies) is one of the most influential legacies of ancient Greek history. In this module, we shall explore when, how, and why the ideas of `Asia' and `Europe' (as well as related geographical entities such as `Hellas') emerged as part of a more general investigation of how the Greeks (and their neighbours) imagined, mapped, and divided their world. Reconstruction of these `spatial imaginaries' from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period will yield fascinating insights into the interaction of (military) power, (geographical) knowledge, and the cultural construction of (geopolitical) space and, not least, reveal the Europe/Asia divide as in various ways fluid and contingent.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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