The Classics faculty at Butler help students see the unseen. While the world recognizes the impacts of these ancient civilizations, there are stories hidden in the well-known narratives. The Classics Lab and Independent Studies courses are working with ancient artifacts the department received from the local art museum to add important details into the modern stories about the ancient classics. Some civilizations have had their stories dominated and replaced by larger, known civilizations. The Greeks and the Romans, while fascinating on their own, oftentimes are guilty of this narrative “collecting,” directing the modern world to the stories we now know. Classics teaches us that there is more than just a single narrative.
Dr. Lynne Kvapil, one of our Classics faculty, offers a course called Women in Antiquity which pulls out some of those unseen stories: women’s stories. We know women existed, but oftentimes their work and their narratives have been erased, unless it served a purpose for the men telling their tales. The class analyzes real and mythological stories to understand the expectations for women in these ancient cultures. Dr. K shows how even Cleopatrata’s story has been changed to serve the purpose of others. as an illustration that even prodeomient women in history have their narratives told and changed for them.
Women in Antiquity was last offered Spring 2021, Independent Studies are typically available every semester
