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In ancient Greece, the visual arts were at the heart of human relations with the divine. Images of gods in various media were everywhere, from marketplaces to sanctuaries, from private homes to the coins in people’s pockets. Temples sacred to deities punctuated the landscape, from city-centers to remote mountain peaks. Alongside poets, artists were hugely influential in shaping ideas about gods. And by making objects for dedication, artists also provided worshippers with an essential means of divine veneration. In fact, much of what we call Greek art was made to honour deities. This course explores the relationship between the gods and the visual arts in ancient Greece, with a particular focus on the Archaic and Classical periods (ca. 700–300 BCE). What can art and architecture tell us about Greek attitudes to the gods? How and why were art and architecture important in divine worship? How did the visual arts contribute to human (mis)understanding of the divine? And what happened to the Greek gods in art after antiquity? The course tackles these questions by examining a wide range of primary material, including Greek architecture, sculpture, and painting, as well as relevant textual sources (in translation). Each week will focus on a different theme or case study, giving students the opportunity to investigate the many ways in which art’s interconnection with the gods featured in Greek culture. Topics include: the portrayal of divine myths in Greek sculpture and painting; the art and architecture of Greek sanctuaries, such as Delphi, Olympia, and the Athenian acropolis; Dionysos and the art of the symposium; Aphrodite and the emergence of the female nude in Greek art; the relationship between gods, art, and the natural landscape; and the artistic afterlives of the Greek gods, from the Renaissance to today. The course will include visits to the John Hopkins Archaeological Museum and the Walters Art Museum.