Aegean Twilight: The Bronze Age Collapse and the Echoes of Homer

In this course, Scott Jones will examine the interconnected civilizations of the Late Bronze Age, the collapse of their trading networks and the possible connection between those events and the stories later immortalized in The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

Following our recent explorations into the world of The Iliad and The Odyssey, a question often arises: What actually happened to the magnificent, interconnected civilizations that inspired these epic tales? While the stories of Troy and Odysseus capture our imagination, they serve as the romanticized folk memory of a highly sophisticated era that suddenly and violently unraveled.

This three-week course picks up exactly where those epic narratives leave off, transitioning from the mythology of Homer into the startling historical reality of the Late Bronze Age. We will examine how a thriving, globalized network of palace economies collapsed into a centuries-long "Dark Age," exploring the cascading systems failures that brought the ancient Mediterranean to its knees. (This course can be taken independently of the pervious explorations of The Iliad and The Odyssey.)  

This three-week course takes place 10 a.m. to noon PDT Wednesdays at the Thousand Oaks campus or on Zoom.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people ages 50 and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Register

Register by Sept. 8, 3 p.m.