Greek Art and Architecture Through the E

Pausanias’ Periegesis, ten books on Greece, is among the most important sources for the understanding of ancient Greek art and architecture, although his approach, methods, and ‘reports’ have been called pedestrian, accurate but unimaginative, naïve, purely descriptive, or even the product of ekphrasis He has been seen as an intellectual traveler, an antiquarian, an art historian or even a historian of religion. In whichever way(s) one would like to appreciate Pausanias and his Description of Greece, Classical archaeology and art history have to depend on him heavily, since the vast majority of works of art and architecture that he describes/mentions are either entirely lost or badly preserved. The seminar will attempt to bring together Pausanias’ text and the results of art historical and archaeological research in major Greek cities and sanctuaries. Despite Pausanias’ obvious interest in all things “ancient” and “Greek,” the seminar will attempt to understand the ancient traveler and author as a Greek from Asia Minor who wrote his work within the political, social, and intellectual frame of the Roman Empire during the Antonines. Ultimately, the seminar will seek to understand the art, architecture, and topography of Greek cities and sanctuaries through the eyes of a Roman.