II. Troy: myth and archaeology
A. The story: Judgment of Paris (Hera/Juno; Athena/Minerva; Aphrodite/Venus); Menelaos and Helen of Sparta and another: Achilles, Thetis, River Styx, Achilles at Skyros another snag: Iphigenia at Aulis; Agamemnon and Clytemnestra the sack: Laocoon; the Trojan HorseB. The excavations at Hissarlik: H. Schliemann (1870's and 80's); W. Dorpfeld, Carl Blegen (U. of Cincinnati, 1930's); resumed in 1990's the layers (stratigraphy): Troy I (3,000-2,600 B.C.), Troy II (2,600-2,300) B.C.), Troy VI (1,900-1,300), Troy VIIa (1,300-1,250 B.C.); Troy IX (350 B.C.-A.D. 400) ancient dates for the Trojan War, esp. 1183 B.C.
TV series: In Search of the Trojan War, and book by Michael Wood (1985).
As for Brad Pitt, stay tuned for Friday; in the meantime, here's my take on the movie: Another classicist view of "Troy": Enjoy!
A. The epic genre; Homer as the BibleB. One author (unitarian) or several (analytic)
C. A critique of the analytic criteria: the end of the Odyssey (23.296ff.)
D. Oral poetry (cf. 20th cent. bards [guslar]) and formulae; transmission
Please bring Odyssey texts to class next time. In addition to the selections listed in the syllabus, please read the following: the story of Ares and Aphrodite (Book 8.266-366 [Fitzgerald, pp. 132-136]; the Sirens: Book 12.165-200 [Fitz. 214-216]; Odysseus' name and the recognition by the nurse: Book 19.386-604 [Fitz. 365-372]).