Register now for "The Ancient Greek Hero" from HarvardX


Discover the literature and heroes of ancient Greece through the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, the tragedies of Sophocles, the dialogues of Plato, and more.

Register now for the latest session of “The Ancient Greek Hero,” a groundbreaking open, online project from HarvardX that uses a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform to introduce participants to the literature of ancient Greece. The project is directed by Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University.
Based upon one of Harvard College’s longest running residential courses, “HeroesX,” invites learners to experience, in English translation, some of the most beautiful works of ancient Greek literature and song-making spanning the eleven hundred years from the 8th century BCE through the 3rd century CE: the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey; tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; songs of Sappho and Pindar; dialogues of Plato, and On Heroes by Philostratus.
Throughout the project, Nagy and his Board of Readers, model techniques for “reading out” of ancient texts. This approach allows readers with little or even no experience in the subject matter to begin seeing this literature as an exquisite, perfected system of communication.
The project has just begun, and registration via edX is open to all. All of the resources are free and designed to be equally accessible and transformative for a wide audience. No previous knowledge of Greek history, literature, or language is required. This is a project for students of any age, culture, and geographic location, and its profoundly humanistic message can be easily received without previous acquaintance with Western Classical literature.