A Tentative Syllabus



A Tentative Syllabus

L-405: Mythology

Dawn Song, Grace Yuen

Sunday, TBA

Contact Information (for any questions pertaining to the material or for stalking purposes)

Dawn Song: sunrise@mit.edu Grace Yuen: gracey@mit.edu

Course Description:

What is myth? How does a myth or a group of mythical beliefs come into being? We will be exploring questions like these as we go from Egyptian to Greek, Roman to Norse mythologies and folklore and questioning along the way whether there are any modern mythologies that are developing in our culture (Star Wars!...and more).

Brought to you by the teachers that made Shakespeare hip and cool again! (

WARNING TO PARENTS: Mythology often includes stories of sexual encounters between gods and men, which cannot be avoided in a thorough or even cursory overview of the subject.  While we will be selective about what we teach, we will by no means exclude every story with sexual elements. These discussions will be carried out in a purely academic sense.

Aims and Objectives

1. An understanding of Egyptian, Greek and Roman, Norse and Asian mythology and folklore

2. A cross-cultural comparison of myths (i.e. via creation stories, love stories, metamorphic transformations.)

3. An examination of the influence of mythology on popular culture.

Course Texts:

The teachers will be gathering information, graphics and media from many different sources and using PowerPoint presentations. Our sources will certainly be comprised of, but will not be limited to, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Roy Willis’ Dictionary of World Myth, and Sheila Keenan’s Gods, Goddesses and Monsters: An Encyclopedia of World Mythology.

…but anyway, the point is this: we’ll provide everything for you. There’s no need to bring anything but yourselves (and maybe a pen/pencil and paper, if you’d like to take notes).

Schedule

July 1, Class #1: Introduction to mythology and folklore; what makes up folklore and myth and how they differ from religion, fairy tales and religion; an introduction to Greek mythology; the major gods and goddesses.

July 8, Class #2: Greek mythology in detail; the origin/creation; the Trojan War; the Curse of the House of Pelops; Zeus’ many female friends; The Metamorphoses stories.

July 15, Class #3: Roman mythology in detail; how it relates to Greek mythology; Roman festivities; the story of Aeneas; the Founding of Rome; the seven kings of Rome.

July 22, Class #4: Celtic mythology; the story of King Arthur; the old Irish heroes; major gods and goddesses. Norse mythology; gods and goddesses; Ragnorak: the battle of the end of the world.

July 29, Class #5: East Asian mythology; creation myths; the monkey king; the shooting down of nine suns; the major Japanese gods and goddesses.

August 5, Class #6: Egyptian mythology; gods and goddesses.

August 12, Class #7: American mythology; an overview of mythology from North American Indians; American folklore.

August 19, Class #8: Last class! Wrapping up loose ends; Jeopardy: the Mythology and Folklore Chapter.

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