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Lectures, Films, and Readings

NOTE: The lectures, images, and the links to them will be updated throughout the semester, usually by the evening of the day before. Therefore, check the "Modified" date at the bottom of the page for the posted update of each lecture.

Week 1 (Jan. 17 - 19)

(1) Jan. 17: Introduction and overview
        Lecture 1 Images

(2) Jan. 19:  Troy - legends and archaeology
        Lecture 2 Images

»» Reading:
  Morkot, 22-37



Week 2
(Jan. 24 - 26)


(3) Jan. 24: The Iliad: main characters and issues
        Lecture 3 Images
»» Reading: Iliad,  Books 1, 6, 9, 16, 22, 24 (in course packet)
        Guide to the Iliad Readings

(4) Jan. 26: Iliad cont'd; basic discussion points for the movie: is it the Pitts? Alternatives?
        Lecture 4 Images
»» Reading: Op-eds on Troy by Karl Galinsky and Tom Palaima, UT Classics professors
(click on each name for their respective op-ed)

MOVIE: Troy (2004); run time: 2 hrs., 42 mins.



Week 3 (Jan. 31 - Feb. 2)

(5) Jan. 31: The Odyssey and its times
        Lecture 5 Images
»» Reading: Odyssey, Books 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23 (and as many more on your own as you’d like); Morkot 48-55
 
(6) Feb. 2: QUIZ; Odysseus (Ulysses) &Co.; from Homer to the screen: action/adventure, characters, or both?
        Lecture 6 Images

KEY to QUIZ #1

MOVIE: The Odyssey (w/ Armand Assante et al., 1997); run time: 2 hrs. 53 mins.
The movie can be streamed from youtube (Greek subtitles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOYPBCYFOKA

        Questions to Consider; cf. Ulysses (1954) w/ Kirk Douglas



Week 4 (Feb. 7 - 9) 

(7) Feb. 7: Updating myth and the Odyssey for modern times
»» Reading: Re-read Odyssey Books 9, 10, 11; also, read Book 12; Poems by Dante, Tennyson, and Cavafy (in Course Packet)
                                                
(8) Feb. 9: O Brother/OMG: combining Hercules and Odysseus;
Discussion of O Brother and REVIEW SESSION
»» Reading: Selections from G. Waldrop, A Dozen Tough Jobs (1989, in Course Packet)

MOVIE: O Brother, Where Art Thou (w/George Clooney; dir. Joel Coen, 2000); run time: 1 hr. 46 mins.      




Week 5
(Feb. 14 - 16)

Feb. 14:
EXAM #1

KEY to MC Part of Exam #1
  
(9) Feb. 16: Problematizing the issues (such as the Trojan War): Greek tragedy
        Lecture 9 images
»» Reading: Morkot 58-59; Sophocles, Oedipus (in Course Packet)    

MOVIE: Iphigenia (1977); run time: 2 hrs., 7 mins.      



Week 6
(Feb. 21 - 23)

(10) Feb. 21: Hercules - EXAMS WILL BE RETURNED TODAY. PLEASE PICK YOURS UP.
            Lecture 10 Images
»» Reading: Morkot 60-61; Kirk, Myth: 3 Basic Types (in Course Packet, pp. 129-135); "Herakles" (in Course Packet, pp. 137-171)

(11) Feb. 23: Updating Hercules
            Lecture 11 Images

MOVIE: Hercules (Disney 1997); run time: 1 hr., 33 mins.



Week 7
(Feb. 28 - March 1)

(12) Feb. 28: Greece in the 5th century: Athens and Sparta
            Lecture 12 Images
»» Reading: Morkot 62-85

(13) March 1: QUIZ; Straight from the Comic Book: Leonidas as the Brave Contra and Xerxes as the Bondage Queen
            Lecture 13 Images
»» Reading: "Sparta" (in Course Packet); "Thermopylae" (in Course Packet) 

KEY to QUIZ #2

MOVIE: 300 (2007); run time: 1 hr., 57 mins.



Week 8
(March 6 - 8)

(14) March 6: What starts here changes the world (for real!): Alexander the Great
            Lecture 14 Images
»» Reading: Morkot 106-125

(15) March 8: Alexander the Great, cont'd
                           Discussion: A better way to do Alexander?
            Lecture 15 Images
»» Reading: "Alexander the Great" (in Course Packet)

MOVIE:  Alexander (w/Colin Farrell; dir. Oliver Stone, 2004); run time: 2 hrs., 47 mins. 



Week 9
(March 20 - 22)

**PLEASE PICK UP COURSE PACKET #2 FROM ABEL'S COPIES**

(16)  March 20: On to Rome - historical survey; REVIEW SESSION
            Lecture 16 Images
»» Reading: Kamm 1-11, 101-133

March 22: EXAM #2

Key to MC part of Exam #2

MOVIE: Spartacus (w/ Kirk Douglas, dir. Stanley Kubrick; 1960); run time: 3 hrs., 17 mins.



Week 10
(
March 27 - 29)

(17) March 27: Spartacus: historical context and modern message
»» Reading: "Spartacus" (in Course Packet); materials on slavery and freedmen (in Course Packet)

(18) March 29: Caesar, Cleo, and their times   
            Lecture 18 Images
»» Reading: Kamm 37- 60; Suetonius, Julius Caesar (in Course Packet)

EXAM #2 WILL BE RETURNED TODAY.

MOVIE: Cleopatra (w/Eliz. Taylor, Richard Burton; dir. J. Mankiewicz, 1963); run time: ca. 4 hrs.



Week 11
(April 3 - 5)

(19) April 3: Caesar and Cleopatra in real life and the movies
           
Lecture 19 Images
»» Reading: Shakespeare, Julius Caesar; "Cleopatra" (in Course Packet)

(20) April 5: The Ben Hur Phenomenon
          

MOVIE: Ben Hur (1959) (w/ Charlton Heston; dir. W. Wyler; run time: 3 hrs. 42 mins.)



Week 12
(April 10 - 12)
 

(21) April 10: Hollywood's favorite emperors and the world of Ben Hur; review session
            Lecture 21 Images

April 12: EXAM #3
Key to MC Part of Exam #3


»» Reading: "The Historical Figure of Jesus," in Course Packet



Week 13
(April 17 - 19)

(22) April 17: The Passion of the Christ and the Roman Context
               Lecture 22/23 Images

(23) April 19: The Passion of the Christ, the controversy: Christ on the screen and the Romans as heavies
               Lecture 22/23 Images

EXAMS WILL BE RETURNED TODAY.

»» Reading: The four New Testament accounts of the passion (= the suffering) of Jesus Christ (in Course Packet); Kamm 74-100.

MOVIE: The Passion of the Christ (dir. Mel Gibson, 2004; run time 2 hrs., 6 mins.)



Week 14
(April 24 - 26)

(24) April 24: Good emperors and gladiators
               Lecture 24 Images
         
(25) April 26: Gladiator and its American resonances
               Lecture 25 Images
»» Reading: "Gladiators and Games" (in Course Packet); Kamm, pp. 63-73, 182-190

MOVIE: Gladiator (2000; run time 2 hrs., 35 mins.)



Week 15
(May 1 - 3)


(26) May 1: QUIZ; End games; preview of Test IV; course evaluation

KEY TO QUIZ #3

May 3: EXAM #4

KEY TO MC PART OF EXAM #4    




Supplementary Images & Resources:

    Isis
    Pax Romana
    Recent books on Rome and America



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Modified on 05/03/2012
galinsky@austin.utexas.edu