Allen Romano - Florida State University



Greek Mythology

CLASSGEN 18

MWF 11:00 - 12:15

Summer 2003

3 - 5 units

Website at

Goals

This course has been designed above all as a speedy and efficient introduction to the study of Greek mythology. The stories we will discuss in this course have inspired performance, study, and reflection for the past 2500 years. For this study of Greek myths we will focus our efforts around three major goals:

1. Experience lots of stories about gods, heroes, creatures and (of course) monsters. For example, what were the tales told about Heracles? Aphrodite? Zeus? Who were these figures and what did the ancients say they did?

2. Practice in the analysis of myth and folklore. How do you read a myth? What sorts of tools can be brought to bear on interpretation? How can we read ancient myths in light of the concerns of the modern world? Or of the ancient world?

3. Discussion of the many issues which have fostered fascination with ancient myths for so many years. For example, what do these stories say about understanding gender relations? Mortal relationships with the divine? People's relationships to their past and to their identity? About memory and the imagination?

Books

There are 7 books for this class.

The Homeric Hymns (trans. Shelmerdine)

Hesiod: The Works and Days/Theogony/Shield of Herakles (trans. Athanassakis)

The Essential Homer (trans. Lombardo)

Apollodorus' Library (trans. Hard)

Greek Tragedies I (Lattimore et al.)

Greek Tragedies III (Lattimore et al.)

Medea and Other Plays (trans. Vellacott)

All other texts will be distributed in photocopy and online.

Format

Consider this class a workshop in Greek myth. Each class period will consist of a combination of the following:

- Class discussion and activities related to the reading assignments and films. (30-45 minutes)

- Instructor presentations (15-20 minutes most of the time; however, my presentations in the first few classes will make up a larger portion of the class time.)

- Student presentations (10 minutes) from time to time.

Course Requirements

Emphasis is on the basics: read the texts, write about them, and talk about them.

Reading and Discussion (40%):

Read the assigned texts and come to class prepared to discuss it in detail. A major portion of class will be devoted to discussion and everyone is expected to come to class having completed the readings and eager to discuss them.

Writing (30%):

1. Response papers: three 2-page papers on study questions related to the topic each week. There are questions every week, so you can choose which topics you would prefer to write on, provided that by the end of the class you have written three of them. These must be handed in before the beginning of the next week's class. Email submissions anytime before Sunday at midnight are acceptable. (I urge you however to submit these papers during class). You must write at least one by the end of Week 3.

2. Expansion: One 6-7 page [3 units] or 8-12 page [4 or 5 units] paper developed from the topic of one of the previous papers. This paper is meant as a reworking, expansion, and extension of what you have already written. Take the topic further, focus it on certain key issues, look into some of the secondary literature on the topic. You may end up supporting your original suggestions with a fuller argument or you may end up seeing that your original position needs to be radically changed.

Presentation (10%):

Since the number of stories and figures which we can deal with during eight weeks is limited, we will focus on the really big figures, the most prominent gods and heroes. However, we will see mentioned many details which we may not have time to devote a full class period to but which some of you may wish to find out more about. Therefore, during the course, everyone will have the opportunity to give a brief (no more than 10 minute) presentation to provide more information about some things which all of us may not be able to read about together. Possible topics:

-Take any episode in the adventures of a major hero (e.g. Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus) and explore its details. What happens, what other versions of the story are there, why is this episode important, etc.

-Pick a festival or ritual, find the myth associated with it and tell us about the two and their relationship.

-Pick a hero (or heroine) we have not discussed. What does the hero do? Where did events associated with the hero take place, etc.

-Similarly, pick a god or figure from the immortal world who we haven't discussed. What sorts of stories were told about him or her?

In each case you should think about how this "deeper" knowledge of the details adds to understanding of either 1. the nature of Greek myth and/or 2. a specific myth on another topic. That is, you should tell us why knowing more about your topic matters. (Note: for most people, 10 minutes = 3.5 typewritten pages, double-spaced)

Final Exam (20%): This will consist of a combination of name/place/term identifications (i.e. Odysseus, Ithaca, muthos), passage identifications and brief analyses of primary texts. This is the only formal examination for this course. There is no midterm.

Book Review (for those taking the class for 5 units only, counts as a small portion of 'writing' listed above): Read one of the books listed in the bibliography below or of interest (after consulting with me) and write a book review of it. This review should be approximately 800 words (= approximately 2.5 pages double spaced). I encourage you to choose a book you will use for your paper.

On Units and GER3a:

Though mentioned above, the difference are summarized here for your convenience. (Everything not mentioned here is the same regardless of units.)

3 units: write a 6-7 page paper expansion, requiring a minimal amount of secondary sources; no book review

4 units: write an 8-12 page paper expansion, requiring more secondary sources; no book review

5 units: write an 8-12 page paper expansion, requiring substantial secondary resources; plus 800 word book review

So, the differences in units is simply a matter of how much writing you do and how much research to produce that writing.

Schedule

(topic is underlined, reading assignment is below; H = photocopied materials)

|Week 1 |The Study of Greek Myth: |

| |Introduction and Example |

|Wednesday 6/25 |Introduction |

| |[before Friday: email me with answers to questions about you and your interest in this class. I want to |

| |know 1. a bit about you -- name, class, major, interests, etc. 2. what classes you have taken related to |

| |ancient Greece or Rome and 3. why you are taking this class and what you hope to get out of it. (note: "to|

| |fulfill general requirements" is a perfectly acceptable answer.) Please take no more than 10 minutes doing|

| |this.] |

|Friday 6/27 |Apollo: Exemplary Myths |

| |Homeric Hymn to Apollo (Shelmerdine p. 59-90) |

| |Shelmerdine Introduction, p. 1-10 |

| | |

|Week 2 |The Divine Order I |

|Monday 6/30 |Creation of the Cosmos |

| |Hesiod Theogony |

| |H: Presocratic bits |

| |H: Genesis 1-4.12 |

| |H: Egyptian and Babylonian selections |

|Wednesday 7/2 |Zeus, Muses, Athena, and Deception |

| |Hymn to Hermes |

| |Review Theogony (on Zeus, Athena) |

| |H: Hymn of Kouretes |

| |H: Sources 25-30 |

|Friday 7/4 |NO CLASS |

| | |

|Week 3 |The Divine Order II |

|Monday 7/7 |Creation of People: Prometheus and Pandora |

| |Hesiod Works and Days |

| |Aeschylus Prometheus Bound |

|Wednesday 7/9 |The Relationship of Mortals and Divinities I |

| |Homeric Hymn to Demeter |

| |Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite |

|Friday 7/11 |The Relationship of Mortals and Divinities II: |

| |Greek myth and Greek Religion |

| |H: Sources 87-136 |

| |H: Herodotus Histories book 1, sections 1-6 |

| |H: Thucydides Histories book 1, sections 1-13 |

|Film |The Matrix [can be moved to Week 2] |

|Reminder: At least one writing assignment must be handed in by 7/11. |

| | |

|Week 4 |Heroes: Great Deeds |

|Monday 7/14 |The Trojan War |

| |Iliad books 1, 2, 3, 16, 22 |

|Wednesday 7/16 |Heracles |

| |Euripides Heracles |

| |Hesiodic Shield |

| |Apollodorus p. 69-95 |

|Friday 7/18 |Theseus |

| |Euripides Hippolytus |

| |H: Plutarch, Life of Theseus |

| |Apollodorus p. 130-138 |

|Film |The Road Warrior |

| | |

|Week 5 |Heroes: Great Journeys |

|Monday 7/21 |Odysseus |

| |Odyssey books 8-12 |

|Wednesday 7/23 |Jason |

| |Apollodorus p. 48-57 |

| |H: Apollonius Argonautica (selections) |

|Friday 7/25 |Monstrous Females: Perseus and Medusa |

| |H: Pindar, Pythian 12 |

|Film |O Brother Where Art Thou? |

| | |

|Week 6 |Family and Gender Relations I |

|Monday 7/28 |Jason and Medea |

| |Euripides Medea |

|Wednesday 7/30 |The House of Atreus |

| |Aeschylus, Agamemnon |

| |Euripides, Electra |

|Friday 8/1 |Telemachus |

| |Odyssey books 1, 4, 16, 17, 21, 22 |

| | |

|Week 7 |Family and Gender Relations II |

|Monday 8/4 |Oedipus |

| |Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus |

| |Sophocles, Antigone |

|Wednesday 8/6 |More Thebes (and a little theory…) |

| |Euripides, Bacchae |

| |H: Theoretical Approaches to Greek Myth Summary |

|Friday 8/8 |Death and Heroes |

| |Euripides, Alcestis |

| |H: Aristophanes, Frogs |

|Film |The Gospel at Colonus |

| | |

|Week 8 |Not-So-Greek Myths |

|Monday 8/11 |Roman Greek Myth |

| |H: Ovid Metamorphoses 1-3 |

|Wednesday 8/13 |Greek myths beyond the ancient world |

| |(no assignment) |

|Friday 8/15 |Exam [8:30 - 11:30 am: but this time is open to discussion and revision] |

|Saturday 8/16 |Revised papers due |

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