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Classics Masterclass: The Gritty Realities of Ancient Greece

Senior School | Sixth Form

19 January 2018

This term’s Academic Lecture programme began with a fascinating lecture from Dr Michael Scott entitled ‘The Gritty Realities of Ancient Greece’.

Dr Scott has taught widely in the UK and Greece, and his research is focused on using inter-disciplinary approaches to the literary, epigraphic and material evidence to investigate ancient Greek and Roman society. An expert on ancient life in Greece, Dr Scott believes passionately in making the ancient world as accessible as possible to a wider audience. He is a prolific speaker and writer, appearing on radio and television programmes for the BBC, History Channel and National Geographic.

Year 10 pupil Vizmard Kaur shares her thoughts on what was an enjoyable evening:

It was an absolute privilege that Dr Scott had taken the time to talk to us about ‘The Gritty Realities of Ancient Greece’, delivering an insightful lecture on the wonders of the Greek world. He very clearly and informatively described the lifestyle of Ancient Grecians, completely contrasting the connotations and speculations that most have of the Greek world. It contradicted the way in which the Greek Gods are now portrayed to us through media such as films, and exposed the realities of how much pressure was put on the people during that time.

Dr Scott brought this to light by sharing the gritty realities of the origins of the Olympic games, supporting his ideas with factual evidence that can be viewed in person today - for example, sculptures and relics - as well as writings that can still be found today in the city of Athens.

Towards the end of the lecture we took part in a question and answer session in which he also expanded on the role of women in the Greek world and how there was pressure put on women to be absolutely flawless. It certainly made us appreciate the society that we live in today. Altogether the lecture was very interesting and gave a real insight to life in ancient Greece.

We were delighted to welcome Dr Scott for this very special evening and thank him again for his time and for being such an inspiration to the students of EHS.

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Academic Lecture: Dr Michael Scott

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