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Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Ancient Greeks by Wesleyan University

4.7
stars
1,960 ratings

About the Course

This is a survey of ancient Greek history from the Bronze Age to the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. Along with studying the most important events and personalities, we will consider broader issues such as political and cultural values and methods of historical interpretation....

Top reviews

AS

Apr 22, 2018

This has been an enthralling course which introduces you to the world of the Ancient Greek. Thank you Prof. Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, and all the course creators and mentors, for this excellent course.

FC

Apr 5, 2020

This course really helped me to understand one of the empires which fascinated me the most and its influence on today's society. Thank you very much for this thought-out and well-presented course

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76 - 100 of 573 Reviews for The Ancient Greeks

By Mellissa E

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Sep 5, 2016

I love listening to these lectures. The professor is highly informed on the subject matter and his personality brings these myths and historical insights to life through engaging, clear story telling. I honestly did not know what to expect from the course, but I am deeply interested and hope to retain at least the main points of the lectures to take with me in my understanding of the world and the development of our richly influenced society by the Ancient Greeks.

By Gabriel P

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Jun 3, 2020

A great summary of the periods of Ancient Greece from Minoan and Mycenaean times to Alexander the Great's conquest in the 4th century BCE. The lessons are filled with interesting facts and events told with evident passion and provides a multitude of very good extensive resources including texts from Herodotus, Thucidide, Aristotle, Socrates, and more. I trully enjoyed this course and it gave me a much better undertsanding and appreciation for Ancient Greek History.

By Alberto V C G

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Mar 22, 2021

El curso es extraordinario. Cubre un gran período de tiempo de la historia de los griegos (desde la Edad de Bronce hasta Alejandro Magno), y cada capítulo está contado con tal nivel de amenidad que es, casi, como una buena novela en donde siempre se quiere llegar al próximo capítulo. El profesor es muy bueno y hace muy agradable el curso. Las lecturas están muy bien escogidas y todas son proveídas dentro de la misma plataforma. En resumen, un curso apasionante.

By david m g

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Jul 23, 2021

Thank you very much. Although I have been on this course since the beginning of the year I have not been slouching. it has inspired me to go off in other directions and begin the Greek and Roman Mythology course which I am 80% through and the courses on Ancient Greek Philosophy and Classical music which I am about 25% through on each. I shall be exploring Philip and Alexander in greater detail myself and then I expect I may begin to investigate the Romans.

By Brian P

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Apr 29, 2019

Great course - At times work and other priorities prevented personal study and details /names that would prove required for cumulative quiz at the end of each unit. You can tell the professors passion for both the subject and his desire to communicate that love of Greek and both it's history ,legacy, and culture. Thank you for taking the time to construct a great overview of that time period and the importance of Greece's contribution to world history.

By Jennifer T

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Nov 22, 2015

Loving this course! Very engaging subject matter and instructor has discussed topics in such a way as to make you want to know more and to continue with the lessons even though it's way past bedtime!

I have learned quite a bit so far and am developing further interest in that time period, especially how the Ancient Greeks have shaped societal constructs and belief systems and how they have affected us throughout the ages to modern life as we know it.

By Tony P

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Nov 7, 2017

This is a superb course! It expertly provides an in depth overview and historical narrative from multiple cultural perspectives of one of the most important periods of world history. It is well structured and well organized. The lectures are easy to follow, and there is an excellent selection of readings of original materials. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, or who ever wondered why our world is the way it is today.

By David D

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Jan 12, 2023

This course is limited in scope to a certain ancient period in Greece from the rise of the Polies ending around the death of Socrates in 399, with a bit extra on Alexander. In 7 weeks it covers a lot of great and the professor excels in in making this comprehensive and attractive - with many interesting anecdotes.

There is a good balance of video lectures, comprehensive reading and material, with multiple choice tests for improved retention.

By Sorina B

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Jan 26, 2020

Great course that depicts very vividly a captivating ancient world. The lectures are highly informative, with materials presenting a very interesting mix of history and literature, references to art and key terms defining essential concepts of the Greek world. The weekly quizzes are quite challenging and based both on lectures and optional readings, but you end up liking the course so much, you wouldn't want the tests to be too easy...

By Ivor C

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Sep 8, 2017

Very interesting course that provides an enormous amount of information in a lot of different subjects - e.g. history, politics, art, literature. Despite the breadth of coverage there was also some great detail upon particular people and events. The prof has a very understated kind of delivery but he really knows his stuff and although I have only a general kind of interest in history he really kept me engaged. Highly recommended.

By Sandra R E

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Jul 18, 2020

This was a wonderful course for me, I throughly enjoyed it. The lectures were well done & gave me much information I was not aware of. Prior to taking this course I took the course “The pre Socratic philosophers & Plato. That was an interesting course as well. I havE always had an interest in Greek culture & history. Their democracy was to be greatly admired & studied by historians. Looking forward to taking another course.

By Valerie N

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Oct 4, 2020

I loved this course and was sorry when it came to the end. Living in the UK, I have been to Greece on a number of occasions and knew bits and pieces about its history and geography. To learn how it all fitted together and the influence of ancient Greek civilisation on the West was enthralling.

Professor Szegedy-Maszak, is a wonderful teacher whose lectures brought the past to life. If only he would do another course. Please.

By NIKOLAOS Z

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May 7, 2018

EXCELLENT! A REAL PLEASURE, VERY INFORMATIVE AND STIMULATING TO PURSUE MORE KNOWLEDGE FROM THESE WISEST PEOPLE. ALSO, VERY RELEVANT IN OUR TIMES AND PROBABLE FOR AS LONG AS HUMANS LIVE, WE CAN LEARN FROM THE ANCIENT GREEKS, EVEN IF IT IS DIFFICULT.

PROFESSOR SZEGEDY-MASZAK IS NOT ONLY A GREAT TEACHER, BUT ALSO A PLEASURE TO LISTEN AND SEE. MY HIGHEST REGARDS TO EVERYBODY WHO MADE THIS COURSE POSSIBLE.

By Aline F

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Feb 29, 2016

An excellent course for those interested in an introduction to classical studies. I studied roman history and latin at high school, and I was eager to learn more about the ancient greeks. This course provided me a great introduction. And it raised my interest in reading ancient greek authors. That was the strongest point for me: no need of animation, I liked the invitation to read ancient texts.

By Newportfiji

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Feb 12, 2017

Excellent overview and introduction to Greek history. I am travelling to Greece later this year and wanted to get a better understanding of Greek history to appreciate the art, literature, architecture and sites which I will be visiting. This course was both educational and entertaining. I highly recommend and look forward to building upon the knowledge acquired in the course. Thank you!

By Laurent G

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Oct 28, 2018

This course is in my opinion exceptionally well made. The reading requirements are dense (clearly not to be done in the 10 minutes allocated each time), very informative and well integrated in the course itself. The course is introductive, but goes far enough to give a great background to build upon. I believe this course is a necessary first step for anybody interested in Greek history.

By Frances Y

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Jul 29, 2017

Only criticisms would be that a number of the links for the readings are broken and I had to go searching for substitute sites to read them. Luckily being from the fifth century, all the readings are in the public domain. Also the majority if not all the readings are labeled to take 10 minutes but I found many took more than an hour and for the particularly longer works two hours.

By Daniel S

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Jan 15, 2023

Dr. Svegedy-Maszak is an extraordinarily good professor. He makes the history and the people involved in the history come alive. He clarifies some of the obscure points in the readings and makes you feel as if you truly have a handle on the history and the character of the people by the time the course has completed. I would love to take another course from this man!

By Barry D

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Sep 14, 2015

Very interesting class. The readings were helpful in understanding a deep appreciation for the subjects covered. Still dislike the multiple guess questions at the end of each section, think essays would show mastery of the bigger picture, but understand the constrains of time on the professor. Still, I would recommend this class as a basic introduction to Ancie

By Jonathan W

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Nov 12, 2015

I've found this course extremely helpful as I teach Greek history to my high school classes. Professor Andy explains crucial events in enough detail yet the videos are concise enough to watch multiple in one evening with good comprehension. Thank you so much for the lectures and great resources! They are invaluable to my planning my unit on Ancient Greece!

By Ion G F

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Sep 18, 2015

Even though it covers some topics a little "superficially", this course is of great value for those who want to get more knowledge about the history and development of ancient Greece. It is really interesting that it does not only cover political and military issues, but also daily life and civic aspects of this civilization.

Really recommendable!

By Bruna F

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Jun 4, 2020

What an amazing course! I'm actually a bit sad it's over! Ancient Greece is such a passion of mine and I've learned alot from this course, the professor is astonishing and has a really effective way of teaching and explaning events and ideas, I'm truly amazed! Congratulations and many thanks to all envolved in this, I'm really going to miss it!

By Daisy M d S

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Nov 14, 2021

It's an excellent course, so rich in culture and information. I notice that some links of assignment are not accessible.

In relate to the quizz, I'd like to ask you considering add a tab for suplementary explaination after submission in those questions in which there's mistake by the student. It helps the student organize its learning process.

By Linda H

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Apr 25, 2021

Extremely informative; clearly and neatly presented. The professor has enormous knowledge and an obvious enthusiasm for the subject which brings the long story to life. When I looked back, at the end, I was surprised by the volume that we'd covered. Thank you - a topic I've wanted to explore for a long time. What a great introduction

By Spitsyna K

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Jan 11, 2017

Ancient History: it is not boring anymore (for me)! Charming Prof. Andrew Szegedy-Maszak gives materials in a way, that you feel an every character (even mithological) was a real person involved in a real story. I also like nice sence of humor and a voice of lecturer! A lot of reading was easy and interesting to learn during the course.