CC 303 (28030)/352 (28155) CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY
Fall 1998
Dr Barbara Goff Office: WAG 223
MWF 12-1 WEL 1.308 Office hours: M3-4, WF11-12
Goals of the course:
The primary aim of this course is to familiarize the student with the characters and events of ancient Greek and Roman myths. We shall, however, move beyond mere narrative to consider the possible interpretations of these myths. Ancient Greeks retold their myths in many contexts; in song, in dramatic performance, in written literature, and in plastic arts such as sculpture and ceramic design. The myths can be seen to rehearse the central concerns of ancient Greek culture, and as such they can give us a greater understanding of a society which is very different from ours but which has often been influential in the evolution of the West. Because of the similarities and differences between our culture and those of the ancient Mediterranean, the study of these cultures can give us further insights into the workings of our own society. Later Western art and literature, for instance, have frequently reworked ancient myths in ways that can illumine both ancient and contemporary culture.
Responsibilities in the course:
Students are responsible for attending all classes and for all assigned readings. Lectures will cover the readings but will on occasion include other material; students will also be responsible for this additional material. Although the chief method of instruction in this class will be the lecture, questions and discussion are welcomed. Regular quizzes will test your mastery of readings and lecture material.
Grades will depend on performance in quizzes and in three in-class tests, which will include short essays. Students enrolled in CC 352 will also be required to write a short paper, due on November 23rd. Grades will be calculated as follows:
|
CC 352: Quizzes: 25% Three in-class tests: 20% each (= 60%) Paper: 15% CC 303: Quizzes 25% Three in-class tests: 25% each |
Key to Quiz 1 Study Guide, Test 1
|
There will be no make-ups for quizzes or tests, but you may drop one quiz grade (i.e. your worst quiz grade will not be included in your grade for the course).
There are no midterms or final in this class: this means that you will have to turn in good performances on each of the graded assignments rather than waiting till the end of the semester to do any work.
Grades are calculated according to University practice: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89 %, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F = 0-59%.
Scholastic dishonesty on any test will result in a failing grade (F) for that test which may not be dropped. Scholastic dishonesty includes any kind of cheating; if you are unsure about the exact definition you should consult 'A Students' Guide to Living in the Heart of Texas' or the General Information Bulletin.
Supplementary Instruction
Our TA for this course, J. P. Stemwedel, has undergone training in Supplementary Instruction (SI) and will be giving a short presentation on this topic on Friday 8/28. SI is a student assistance program designed to help students master the concepts of a course and at the same time to increase their competency in the learning skills relevant to the course. J. P.'s additional SI sections are highly recommended.
Links of Interest
You might want to investigate the Greek Mythology Link, which has lots of images and information about the various characters you will encounter. The Perseus Project is a comprehensive introduction to ancient Greek culture. The Diotima site is a great place to research information and images about women in the ancient world.
Images
Browse a selection of sculptures and vase paintings to review the various gods, heroes and monsters! This part of the web site is under construction; check back later.
Books for the course:
You will need to purchase the sixth edition of
Morford and Lenardon, Classical Mythology. Longman
There will also be a course supplement that will be available for purchase from the University Duplicating Service in the GSB.
Calendar of assignments
You should have read the assignment before you come to class; e.g. for Friday 8/28 you should have read the excerpt from Morford and Lenardon.
W 8/26 Introduction: Greece and Rome
F 8/28 Contexts: history
Readings: M & L 15-23
presentation by J. P. Stemwedel
M 8/31 Contexts: literature
Readings: M & L 23-27, Reader 1-2
W 9/2 Beginnings I: myths of succession
Readings: M&L 35-49
Reader 3-25 from Hesiod's Theogony
How to found a patriarchy
F 9/4 Beginnings II: Prometheus and Pandora
Readings: M&L 50-64
Reader 26-31, from Hesiod's Works and Days
Cookery, sacrifice, marriage: the parameters of the archaic world
M 9/7 NO CLASS: LABOR DAY
W 9/9 Zeus, master of the universe
Readings: M&L 65-69, 72-73, 73-75, 87
Reader 32-34, Callimachus Hymn to Zeus
Father of gods and men
F 9/11 Hera and Poseidon: dangerous deities
Readings: M&L 73, 91, 98-104
Reader 35-38, Iliad 14 (Hera seduces Zeus) Reader 40, Iliad 13 (Poseidon)
The meanings of Greek gods
M 9/14 Athena: dangerous/maternal virgin I Readings: M&L 105-115
Reader 47-49, Callimachus Hymn to Athena (the blinding of Tiresias)
Reader 50-53, Odyssey 1 (Athena and Telemachus) Reader 54-55, Odyssey 13 (Athena and Odysseus)
The goddess' ambivalent relationships with the young; the perils of youth
W 9/16 Artemis: dangerous/maternal virgin II Readings: M&L 141-162
Reader 41-46, Callimachus Hymn to Artemis
Reader 57-65 (Euripides' drama of Hippolytus, who served Artemis and was destroyed by Aphrodite)
The mistress of beasts
F 9/18 Apollo: Delphic paradoxes
Readings: M&L 163-188
Reader 66-68, Callimachus Hymn to Apollo
Reader 72-76 (Nietzsche on Hellenism)
Reader 69, Iliad 1 (Apollo sends the plague)
Sickness and healing, ambiguity of speech. What Apollo has meant to the Western tradition
M 9/21 Dionysus: nothing in excess?
Readings: M&L 204-227
Reader 77, excerpt from Wole Soyinka, The Bacchae of Euripides
The god of dissolution
W 9/23 Demeter and Persephone: fertility and its costs
Readings: M&L 233-249
Reader 79-81, Callimachus Hymn to Demeter (the punishment of Erysichthon)
Reader 82, J. Josephs, 'Persephone'
(contemporary reactions to the myth)
An explanation of seasons or a lesson for daughters?
F 9/25 Hermes, Hestia, Pan: the domestic and the wild
Readings: M&L 70-72, 189-203, 227-232
Reader 83-84, Iliad 24 (Hermes as guide)
Reader 85-86, Odyssey 5 (Hermes as messenger)
Reader 87, Herodotus I (Pan encourages the Athenians in war)
Reader 88, Thucydides 6 (the destruction of the Herms distresses the Athenians on the eve of war)
Reader 89, E. Barrett Browning's poem on Pan
The mythical organization of space
M 9/28 Aphrodite: facets of desire
Readings: M&L 116-136, 139-140
Reader 90-91, Odyssey 8 (the eternal triangle among Aphrodite, Hephaistos and Ares)
Rewards and punishments
W 9/30 The Olympians: review
Readings: M&L 85-97
F 10/2 IN-CLASS TEST 1 -- Study Guide
M 10/5 Hades: fantasies of death
Readings: M&L 250-272
Reader 92
Hades as adventure, as philosophy, as history
W 10/7 Theories 1: early theories
Readings: M&L 1-6
Reader 93-108, from Kirk, The Nature of Greek Myths
Nature, science, legitimacy, renewal, ritual
F 10/9 Theories II: Freudian theory
Readings: M&L 6-9, 12-13
Reader 109-111, from Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams
Myths and dreams
M 10/12 Theories III: structuralist theory
Readings: M&L 9-15
Reader 112-115, from Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology
Myths and the structure of the mind
W 10/14 Heroes I: Perseus
Readings: M&L 406-415
Reader 117
Success!
F 10/16 Heroes II: Bellerophon, Meleager
Readings: M&L 492-493 486-490
Reader 118-119, Iliad 6 (Bellerophon's career)
Reader 120, Iliad 9 (Meleager)
Failure...
M 10/19 Heroes III: Heracles
Readings: M&L 416-429
The Labors
W 10/21 The meanings of Heracles
Readings: M&L 430-441
Reader 124-126, Heracles (Heracles kills his family)
Reader 121-123 Heracles (Heracles' account of his history)
Reader 127-129, Sophocles Women of Trachis (Deianira unwittingly kills Heracles)
Reader 130-133, Women of Trachis (Heracles dying)
Reader 134-136, Bacchylides (Heracles meets Meleager in Hades)
Reader 137-139, Xenophon Memorabilia (Heracles as an example of virtue)
Between beast and god?
F 10/23 Heroes IV: Theseus
Readings: M&L 449-463
Reader 151-152, Borges The House of Asterion (the Minotaur speaks)
Reader 153-154, Brueghel's The Fall of Icarus
The Athenian version
M 10/26 Heroes V: Jason
Readings: M&L 464-479
Reader 140-143, Apollonius Argonautica 3 (Jason and Medea meet)
Reader 144-150, Euripides Medea (how Medea destroys Jason)
Heroes and women
W 10/28 Heroes VI: Cupid and Psyche
Readings: M&L 136-139
Can girls be heroes too?
F 10/30 The Trojan War I
Readings: M&L 348-367, 377-387
Two opposing societies
M 11/2 The Trojan War II: the Iliad
Readings: M&L 367-377, 388-390
Reader 156-157, Iliad 1 (the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon)
Reader 158-160, Iliad 6 (Hector & Andromache)
Reader 161-162, Iliad 16 (Patroclus leaves for battle)
Reader 163-165, Iliad 19 (Achilles plans to avenge Patroclus' death)
Reader 166-171 Iliad 22 (Hector killed and lamented by his womenfolk)
The epic of war
W 11/4 Heroes: review
F 11/6 IN-CLASS TEST 2
M 11/9 Achilles: the limitations of heroism
Readings: Reader 173-175, Iliad 9 (Achilles' philosophy?)
Reader 176-187, Iliad 24 (Achilles & Hector's father)
Reader 179, Odyssey 11 (Achilles in Hades)
Reader 180-181 Iliad 12 (Glaucus and Sarpedon on the hero's life and duties)
Reader 182-183, Pausanias on Cleomedes (what it takes to be a hero)
Live fast and die young?
W 11/11 Odysseus: a different version of the hero
Readings: M&L 390-405
Reader 184-186, Odyssey 5 (meeting Nausikaa)
Reader 187, Odyssey 6 (earthly paradise?)
Reader 188-192, Odyssey 9 (how to be a nobody)
Reader 193-194, Odyssey 10 (designing women)
Reader 195-198, Odyssey 17 (a beggar in his own house)
Reader 198-199, Odyssey 21 (Odysseus triumphant)
Reader 200-201, Odyssey 23 (secret of the bed)
Reader 203-207, Cheever, The Swimmer (rewriting the Odyssey?)
Staying alive instead
F 11/13 Cities I: Athens; the fantasy of origins
Readings: M&L 442-449
Reader 208-209, Herodotus 4 (Amazons and Athenian women)
Reader 210-223, Euripides' Ion (the origins of the Athenian royal house) Athenians, women, and monsters
M 11/16 Cities II: Thebes; the incestuous city
Readings: M&L 289-316
Reader 225-234, Sophocles Oedipus the King
Reader 235-239, Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus (Oedipus comes to Athens)
Reader 240-241, Jean Anouilh, Antigone (rewriting Antigone for occupied France )
Reader 242, 'Myth' (rewriting Oedipus)
Theban problems and Athenian solutions
W 11/18 Cities III: Mycenae; the adulterous city
Readings: M&L 317-347 Reader 245-246, Aeschylus Eumenides (Athena establishes a court)
Reader 247-248 Eumenides (are women mothers?)
Reader 249 Eumenides (Athena's decision)
Reader 250 Eumenides (Athens' good fortune)
Reader 251-253 Seneca Thyestes (Atreus' plan for revenge)
Reader 254, Thyestes (the sun turns back in horror)
Reader 255-256, Thyestes (Thyestes eats his sons)
Mycenaean problems and Athenian solutions
F 11/20 Rome: Italian gods
Readings: M&L 503-523
Localities
M 11/23 Rome: Orphic mystery
Readings: M&L 273-284
The famous singer
W 11/25 Rome: Aeneas
Readings: M&L 523-532 Reader 257-258, Virgil Aeneid 1 (arrival in Carthage)
Reader 259, Aeneid 3 (the attempt to build on Crete)
Reader 260, Aeneid 3 (the replica of Troy)
Reader 261-263, Aeneid 3 (Trojan meets Greek)
Reader 264-265, Aeneid 4 (Dido stops building)
Reader 266-267, Aeneid 10 (the death of Pallas)
Reader 268-269, Aeneid 12 (death of Turnus)
Myth as national epic
F 11/27 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING
M 11/30 Rome: early history
Readings: M&L 533-541
Reader 270-273, Livy I (Romulus and Remus, the Sabine Women)
Reader 274, Livy 1 (the treacherous daughter)
Reader 275-276, Livy 1 (the treacherous sister)
Reader 277-279, Livy 1 (the rape of Lucretia)
Men's history and women's bodies
W 12/2 Cities: review
F 12/4 IN-CLASS TEST 3