Skip to Content

Athens and the Ancient World

Athens: Shadows and Light
   
    Parthenon             Eumenides                     Lysistrata                 Socrates
Print & Multimedia Resources
Subject Searches in the IC Library Catalog
Note: Although Homer and Hesiod predate the scope of this guide--5th-4th century Greece--their influence so saturated Greek culture that you may wish to consult our holdings for Homer, Homer--Criticism and interpretation, Troy (Extinct city), Trojan War--Literature and the war, and Hesiod--Criticism and interpretation.

Athens (Greece)--Antiquities
Athens (Greece)--Civilization
Athens (Greece)--History
Athens (Greece)--History--Thirty Tyrants, 404-403 B.C.
Athens (Greece)--Intellectual life
Athens (Greece) Politics and government
Athens (Greece) Social conditions
Athens (Greece) Social life and customs
Athena (Greek deity)

Civilization, Western--Greek influences
Hellenism
Civilization, Classical  ["Classical" refers to Greece and Rome]
Greece--Civilization Greece--History Greece--History--Persian Wars, 500-449 B.C.

Greece--Historiography
Herodotus
Thucydides
Xenophon

Oratory, Ancient
Antiphon, ca. 480-411 B.C.--Criticism and interpretation
Isocrates--Criticism and interpretation
Demosthenes
Rhetoric, Ancient
Speeches, addresses, etc., Greek--History and criticism
Law, Greek
Democracy--Greece--Athens--History
Political science--Greece--History
Education, Greek

Women Greece
Philosophy, Ancient
Ethics--Greece
Cosmology, Ancient
Atomism
Pythagoras and Pythagorean school
Sophists (Greek philosophy)
Protagoras
Gorgias, of Leontini
Pythagoras and Pythagorean school
Zeno, of Elea
Socrates
Socrates--Trials, litigation, etc
Cynics (Greek philosophy)
Plato
Plato. Republic
Platonists
Aristotle
Aristotle. Poetics
Peripatetics
Stoics
Epicurus
Skeptics (Greek philosophy)

Science, Ancient
Mathematics, Greek
Medicine, Greek and Roman
Hippocrates

Mythology, Greek
Greece--Religion
Rites and ceremonies--Greece
Delphian oracle
Eleusinian mysteries
Dionysus (Greek deity)

Greek literature--History and criticism
Electronic Reference Resources
Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece
Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
Who's Who in the Classical World
Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture
Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World
Print Reference Resources
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy  "Ancient Philosophy"   REF B51 .R68 1998
Encyclopedia of Religion   "Greek Religion"   REF BL31 .E46 2005
Mythologies "Greece"   REF BL311 .D513 1991
Cambridge Ancient History (older 12 volume set) Vol. V: Athens, 478-401 B.C.  REF D57 .C25
Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life  Vol. I  "Ancient World"   REF GT31 .G74 2004
**Grove Dictionary of Art   "Greece, Ancient"   REF N31 .D5 1996

**Note: The IC Library also subscribes to electronic version of the Grove Dictionary of Art.  You might begin with the Subject entry for "Greece, ancient."
Recommended Databases (Articles)
ArticleLinker
 
Most of the IC Libary databases listed below contain only some full text.  If the article you want is not availabe full text from the database you are searching, check below the citation for one of the images above.  This is ArticleLinker and if available it will search a wide range of other IC Library databases, retrieving links to any full text it finds.
Note:
     In most databases "Athens" is an available Subject search, but there will not be a Subject Heading to distinquish between classical and modern Athens. Adding Keywords such as--"classical or ancient"--can be fairly effective at targeting ancient Athens. You might also want to try--"fifth century or 5th century"--as Keywords, but be aware that Keyword searches in most databases search only the Title and Abstract fields, where articles on 5th century Athens may omit to mention any date.
Recommended Databases
  •  JSTOR : For all aspects of classical Athens, this is probably our best research database. The journals covered are scholarly, and JSTOR is especially strong in History, Classics, Archaeology, Anthropolgy, Art, and Literature. It is also 100% full text. It does not cover the latest 2-3 years of journals, but this isn't much of a weakness for the study of ancient Athens. More of a problem is the search interface: JSTOR can only perform Keyword searching of all its full text, so articles will be retrieved in which search terms are only briefly mentioned. But the JSTOR relevancy ranking of retrievals is quite effective and the most sustained discussion of your search terms should appear on the first page or two of results. To prevent book reviews from clogging your results, check "Article" below the search slots.
  • Project Muse , although a smaller database, it complements JSTOR. LIke JSTOR it provides 100% full text of mostly scholarly journals, but its coverage is entirely current--mainly spanning the last 10-15 years.  Muse uses a "black box" search approach--you enter your search terms in one slot with no designated field options--but in addition to slapping in keywords, you can use the same Library of Congress Subject Headings that work in the Library catalog (see above under "Subject Searches").  This broad approach to searching tends to generate large retrievals, so it's best to be as specific as possible.  And note--once you have a retrieval set, you can add more search terms by clicking "Modify Search" at the top.
  • ProQuest  & Academic Search Premier : Two of our largest, most comprehensive databases offering a high percentage of full text. Both provide good resources on various facets of 5th century Greece and Athens. At the ProQuest search page check the "Thesaurus" (just above the search slots) to preview available Subject Headings.  This can be a more efficient way to search than Keyword, since it guarantees that the articles actually be about the Subject rather than just use the word.ProQuest can be fussy about entering a Subject term in the appropriate slot, so a person--Socrates, for example--needs to go in the "Person" slot while a place--Greece or Athens, for example--needs to go in the "Location" slot. In both databases Subject searches on Greece or Athens may need to be qualified with Keywords such as "ancient or classical."
  • Philosopher's index : Our only database where a Subject search will return over 200 hits for "Sophists."  To preview other Subject headings available here, click on "Indexes" at the top left and select the "Subjects" index.  There is little full text, but the green arrows at the bottom of each citation will search for full text in all our other databases and return links. It is worth limiting your search to "journal articles," since books (monographs) will never come with full text links, and also to check "English only" since this is a database of international scholarship.
  • Literature Online (LION) with MLA : For literary criticism click on "Criticism & Reference" and then on "Criticism"--at which point you'll have an adequate search interface. Note that this is one of the few databases in which you can enter a Subject search on the title of any literary work--though for ancient Greek literature you should also broaden your search to the author as Subject. As with JSTOR and Philosopher's Index, it is worth limiting your search to just "articles."
  • International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance with Full Text : As in Literature Online, you may enter the title of individual plays as Subject searches--for example, Medea. Otherwise, search by playwright or by broad Subject Headings such as Greek Drama, Greek Drama (Tragedy), or Greek Drama (Comedy) in combination with Keywords.
  • Art Full Text : For articles on the art and architecture of Athens and ancient Greece. Make use of the "Thesaurus" to pin down the best Subject Heading for your topic--for example, Vase painting, Greek (if you double click the Thesaurus term it will offer any subdivisions: red figure, black figure, geometric, etc.).
  • ARTstor : Our premier image database, ARTstor covers not just the fine arts but also a wide range of material culture. Click on "Enter the ARTstor digital library" and when the "Basic Search" opens click on "Advanced Search" below the search slots. Note that you can define a date range--for example 500 BCE to 350 BCE. In addition to the standard Keyword search, "Advanced" allows category searches of the image collection. On the "Geography" menu choose Greece. Among the "Classification" options are "Architecture & City Planning," "Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects," "Fashion, Costume and Jewelry," "Painting," and "Sculpture." This allows you, for example, to run a search of all available images of Architecture or Jewelry or Painting from Greece between 500 and 350 BCE. Or you can add a Keyword for focus--for example, "Acropolis" or "vase."  Note: ARTstor requires Java and Flash Player, and you must have your browser set to allow cookies and your pop-up blocker disabled. 
  •  LexisNexis Academic : On the home page click the "US Legal" button at the left.  This will open to a search of full-text law reviews, where you can find some scholarly discussion of ancient Greek law. Since this is a Keyword search of full text, one way to weed out articles where your search terms are merely mentioned is to use the "At Least 5 Occurences" option to the right of each search slot. For example, if you enter Athens and Greek and (ancient or classical) with the '"At Least 5 Occurences" option, you will retrieve several dozen articles on ancient athenian law.
  • SPORTDiscus with Full Text : For an overview of the resources here run a subject search on Sports in Antiquity and Olympic Games (Ancient).
  • ScienceDirect :  Because it’s a large database with a great deal of full text, the absence of Subject searching means that your Keyword searches will often retrieve large sets of articles, many of which mention but don’t discuss your search term(s). One way around this is to limit your initial search to the “Abstract Title Keyword” field. Once you have found an article that sounds on-target, click the “Related Articles” link beneath the citation. This will open a range of articles on the same topic.  There are a surprising number of articles here on ancient Greek medicine and technology. And for even more try MEDLINE (EBSCO) and enter History, Ancient as your subject with Greek or Greece as your keywords.
  • ATLA religion database with ATLASerials : Our religion database. JSTOR will probably be a better bet for ancient Greek religions, but you might want to check here as well. If you do, be sure to set the "Publication Type" limit to "article"--there are lots of books here but none accessible online--and also set the language limit to English if that's all you comfortably read--this is a very international database.  You can browse the index of Subject Headings used here by clicking on Indexes (above the search slots) and choosing Subjects.  Here, for instance, you can discover that Cultus, Greek is the Subject term used for articles on Greek cults.
  •  ebrary : All 50,000 full-text online books have individual records in the IC Library catalog and can be retrieved by using the Subject links under Library Resources above. But another approach is to go to the database and enter, for instance, "Athens" as a Subject (click the + sign by the search slot once or twice to give yourself more than the one slot). The Athens Subject search retrieves over 30 titles, many focusing on the rhetoric of law, politics, and power in ancient Athens, and all are Keyword searchable.
Subject Specialist
Picture: Brian Saunders

Brian Saunders
Humanities Librarian
Tel: (607) 274-1198

Web Resources
Gateway Sites
  • Voice of the Shuttle: Classical Studies: A bit sprawling, but a well maintained list of classics links from UC Santa Barbara (and all budding classicists should be ready to explain the site name).
  • Intute: Arts & Humanities: Classics: Speaking of Oxford, they have a hand in the research gateway Intute, which here offers an excellent selection of Classics links--all very well annotated.
  • The Olympian Gods: Very nicely conceived site with relevant primary text excerpts and ancient images for each god.  From Laurel Bowmen at the University of Victoria.
Selected Web Sites
  • An Overview of Classical Greek History: from the Perseus Project.  This link is to the table of contents, so browse your way to the era and/or topic that interests you.  The chapters themselves provide links to primary resources.
  • Athenian Law Lectures: From the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard, transcripts of 9 lectures. Under "Discussion Series" on the left click on "Athenian Law." A menu of resources will open on the left, the first of which is "Athenian Law Lectures."
  • Ancient Women of Athens: Fascinating site from Christina Salowey at Hollins University--if a little tricky to use.  You enter the various sections of the site by clicking on different parts of the statue of Athena and once inside be sure to click on all the links. They may appear to be simply the titles of art works but they open commentary via somewhat clunky Word documents.
  • Ancient Greek Art: One of the best gateways for online resources in this area, created and maintained by Christopher Witcombe of Sweetbriar College.  Ignore the "Site Index" and simply scroll down for the Ancient Greek resources.
  • Ancient Olympics: A nice suite of online materials from the Perseus Digital Library.
Citation Help
Noodlebib
Noodlebib guides you through the required data entry for citation in the MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian styles. It takes care of punctuation, alphabetization and formatting, producing a polished source list for import into Word.
MLA "Cite LIke the Devil" Guides
  1. MLA citation for books: in print, from databases, on the Web
  2. MLA citation for articles: in print, from databases, on the Web.
  3. MLA citation for Web and Multimedia resources, including Web sites, movies, DVDs, CDs, and videos.
  4. MLA in-text (parenthetical) citation (far less satanic than the first three).