"The Flight of Aeneas" Peter Brueghel, 1595

GREEK MYTH & THE HERO

GRS/REL 210 @ IWU

SPRING 2006

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Instructor: Nancy Sultan, Professor of Greek & Roman Studies, and Chair,
Department of MCLL
Office:  Buck 206  Tel.  556-3173

Office Hrs: M & W 2-4, and by appointment

Course Description: In our society, the word “myth” is usually translated as a "false story." For the ancient Greeks, however, like many traditional groups of people who operate on ancestral principles, myths represent the ultimate truths.  For them, storytelling is not just entertainment; it embodies a set of organizing principles, which, combined with rituals, gives the members of that culture a sense of their own identity.  In this course we will not only read some of the greatest works of Western literature, but we will begin to understand how the storytelling traditions of Archaic and Classical Greece established social order and defined what it meant to be Greek. Our focus will be on human and divine interaction in the epics of Homer, Hesiod, lyric poetry, Greek tragedy, and Ovid.  At the end of term, students prepare an oral recitation to be performed from memory.  Lectures are enhanced with slides, movies,  sound recordings, and a field trip, when possible.

Required Texts: Since translations differ widely, please use these editions:

1.  Homer, Odyssey, trans. R. Fagles
2. Homer, Iliad, trans. R. Fagles
3.  The Homeric Hymns, trans. J. Cashford
4.  Hesiod, Works & Days/Theogony, trans. S. Lombardo
5.  Ovid, Metamorphoses, trans. M. Innes
6.  Greek Tragedies, Vol. I , ed. Grene & Lattimore
7. Euripides, Bacchae, trans. P. Woodruff
 8. Aristophanes, Frogs and Other Plays, trans. Barrett
9.  Course Reader (abbreviated to CR in syllabus).  Available from me.

WEB RESOURCES:


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Evaluation:
Three 50-minute exams, 15% each (45%)
Hero Essay  15%
Class attendance & participation 15%
Poetry recitation 15%
Film Analyzis 10%

Ground Rules: It is essential that you attend class and participate in discussion regularly. I expect you to complete the reading assignments according to the syllabus. You are allowed  three excused absences. Legitmate absences include illness or family emergency. Late assignments are docked one letter grade for each day late.

Decorum: Cell phones off, please. No hats, pajamas, gum, or food in my class. You may bring a drink.

Grades:   I always think in terms of a letter grade first and then assign an appropriate numerical equivalent  My scale is:  100-93=A, 92-90=A-, 89-87=B+, 86-83=B, etc.  Grades in this course are subjective and reflect the student’s whole effort, including improvements, over the course of the semester.

Organization:  This class is conducted as an L/D (Lecture/Discussion).  Each week students will break into small groups for discussion.  Discussion topics are provided in the Course Reader, and are listed in the syllabus. These topics need not be followed slavishly. In order to receive an “A” in class participation, students should always prepare, attend class regularly, and  join in class discussion. Be ready to support your statements with passages from the reading.

Exams: These consist of passage and term ID identification, and short essay. You will be asked to identify and discuss the meaning of key passages from the material that you have been assigned.  Emphasis will be on passages that are featured in lecture and discussion. You are expected to know and use a handful of Greek, Latin, and other terms correctly.

Recitation: This public performance has been the highlight of this class for over ten years! The texts that we are reading  were originally sung, recited, and performed, often to musical accompaniment. The poetry recitation assignment gives us all a chance to experience the oral nature of the stories. Instead of a final exam, you will choose a passage from among our reading and recite it from memory, in costume. Guidelines are located in the back of your Course Reader.

Hero Essay:  It is difficult to grasp the enormity of the influence that hero worship had on Greek (and Roman) culture and society.  Since this course focuses rather narrowly on the Homeric hero, I want to give you a chance to scout out the stories of other heroes whose full stories may not have made it into the Iliad or Odyssey, but are equally fascinating. Your hero essay assignment is to choose a hero and write a 3-5 pg. biography of the hero using only ancient sources. Guidelines are located in the back of your Course Reader.

Film Analysis: Choose one of the films on reserve for the class, and write a 500-550 word essay analyzing how the film incorporates an ideological  theme (or themes) that you have encountered in our study of Greek myth. For example, you might explain the concept of dikê in Robocop or neikos in Platoon. Important:  Visit Dartmouth's page on "Writing about Film" for tips before you write this ideological paper.  http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/humanities/film.shtml

Films on Reserve in Ames (or, you may choose your own in consultation with me)

Museum Trip(s): You can receive extra credit if you visit a museum listed below and write a one-page observation paper that describes a piece (or pieces) in terms of the themes of our class.

Schedule of Meetings
Abbreviations:
(FNT) = “for the next time”  (CR) = Course Reader   Alerts in RED

PLEASE REPORT ANY BROKEN LINKS TO ME IMMEDIATELY

WEEK 1
Jan. 9: Introduction to the Course: epos 'epic' and muthos 'myth'
 FNT:  Hesiod, Theogony (entire); Biography of Hesiod in the Perseus  Encyclopedia

Jan. 11: The Archaic Greek view of the kosmos 'order of things'
FNT: Hesiod, Works & Days pp. 23-35, 45 (with accompanying notes); Biography of Homer in Perseus Encyclopedia
 

Jan. 13: Hesiod’s ainoi 'riddles'; Creation of Pandora
 FNT:  “Some Myths of Herakles” (CR); Proclus’ Summaries of the Epic Cycle (CR);  Homer, Iliad Book 1.

NOTE:  Skim the epic the first time in order to get an idea of the scope and organization of the poem and to familiarize yourself with the main characters. Notice the Fagles translation has a glossary & notes to help you.  Our reading pace is not leisurely—roughly 9 books per week. Keep the study questions in the CR next to you as you read and make citations as you begin to find text to support answers.  This will help immensely in group discussion.

WEEK 2
Jan. 16: Defining 'Hero'. Herakles (Roman Hercules). The Epic Cycle. What poetry can, and can't tell us about ancient Greek culture.
FNT: Iliad 2-4  

Jan. 18: Homer as 'Oral Poetry'.  See Iliad 1.1-10 (Invocation to the Muse); 2.573 ff.. (Catalog of Ships); 2.103-110 (a simile); 3.231 ff. (Helen Reviews the Troops, a.k.a.: teikoskopia); 3.383-395 (Arming Scene)
FNT:  Iliad 5-7

Jan. 20: Gods as REMFS; neikos 'strife'. HECTOR vs. ACHILLES:  Compare the characteristics of these two heroes and describe how they are the same and/or different.  What else are they besides warriors? (See especially Book 6 for a view of Hector & his family)

 FNT:  Iliad 8-10

WEEK 3
Jan. 23:  Who is philos?  Achilles’ “Ascending Scale of Affection” (Book 9); Book 10: The “Doloneia” as a sneak preview to the Odyssey
 FNT:  Iliad 11-13; “Women’s Songs:  Alcman and Sappho” (CR)

Jan. 25: How do men, how do women earn kleos ‘glory’ in the Iliad?  Andromache (Book 6), Hecuba, Chryseis (1.130) & Helen (3.149 ff.; 231 ff.). Neikoi between Men & Women:  The Seduction of Zeus; Athena & Ares; Women’s voices in the poets Alcman & Sappho
 FNT: Iliad 14-16
 

Jan. 27:  When one dies for another: Greek therapon (Book 16). The Homeric Way of War:  Describe battle scenes and warrior deaths, focusing Bk. 11-16 (especially deaths of Patroklos & Sarpedon (Bk 16), but also see death of Euphorbus (17.57-68), & Hector (22.293 ff)
 FNT: Iliad 17-19

WEEK 4
Jan. 30: Achilles’ Shield and the poetics of ekphrasis ‘description’.
 FNT:  Iliad 20-22

Feb. 1 : Slide lecture on Funeral Games, lamentation, and the Greek idea of the psukhê    ‘Soul’
FNT:  Iliad 23-24; Death of Achilles as described in the Proclus Summary of the Epic Poem:  Aithiopis (CR), and in Book 24.1-102 of the Odyssey. 

Feb. 3:  Goos and thrênos (ritual laments): Concepts of death, grief, and the afterlife: Achilles & Priam 24.207 ff; The laments for   Hector. See especially books 17.493-525; 18.25 ff., 18.365-399, 18.500-515; 23; 24.
FNT: Review for Exam

WEEK 5
Feb. 6:  EXAM 1
  FNT: Odyssey 1-2 The reading goal for this epic is not leisurely!  Keep the study questions in the CR next to you as you read and make citations as you begin to find   text to support answers.  This will help immensely in discussion.

Feb. 8: Introduction to Homer, Odyssey
 FNT: Odyssey 3-5
 

Feb. 10: Odyssey 6-8 “The Telemachy”;   Athena as “Mentor”
FNT:  Odyssey  Book 5-7; “Exile in Greek Tradition” (CR)
 

WEEK 6
Feb. 13: Exile  in Greek tradition: ponos
 FNT: Odyssey 9-11; Hesiod, Works and Days, pp. 30-35
 

Feb. 15: The Greek ideas of dikê ‘justice’ vs. hubris ‘arrogance’:  The Cyclops
FNT:  Odyssey 12-14.

 

Feb. 17: The concepts of noos ‘consciousness’ and nostos ‘return’ in the Odyssey ; the ainigma 'riddle' in Book 11.
 FNT:  Odyssey 15-17

WEEK 7
Feb. 20: xenia ‘hospitality’: Helen of Sparta; the suitors; the Cyclops; the dolos 'cunning' of Odysseus
FNT:  Odyssey 18-20

 Feb. 22: Meet in the Ames Library Computer Lab for a CLINIC ON USING THE PERSEUS DIGITAL LIBRARY
 FNT:  Odyssey 21-24
 

Feb. 24: The sema of the tree-bed— Testing Fidelity: “The Return of the Exiled  Husband”
 FNT: The Parthenon: Myth and Politics (CR). History of the Parthenon in the Perseus Historical Overview. Read from section 9.4.6 to 9.4.7 by using the blue arrow keys located next to the chapter box.  Click on the images that are provided at the bottom of the pages. Also read Pericles Acropolis" sections 9.4.4—9.4.7 (use arrow keys to scroll through sections)

WEEK 8
Feb. 27: Slide Lecture:  The Parthenon: Myth and Politics
 FNT: Review the Greek Calendar (CR); Occasions for Sacrifice and Festivals sections 10.1.5—10.1.8 (use arrow keys to scroll through sections). Click on the images that are provided at the bottom of the pages.
 

Mar. 1: The Greek Calendar & Ritual
 FNT: “The Homeric Hymn to Demeter” (long version) in Cashford, The Homeric Hymns

Mar. 3:  Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries
 FNT: Review for exam

WEEK 9
Mar. 6: EXAM 2
 FNT:  The Development of Athenian Tragedy sections 10.2—10.2.5 (scroll through with blue arrow keys); Biography of Aeschylus #4 in Perseus Encylcopedia; Tour the theatre of Dionysos via virtual reality.


 Mar. 8: Intro. to Athenian State Theater:  Aeschylus, The Oresteia.
FNT: Aeschylus, Agamemnon, in Greek Tragedies I; Structure of the play & discussion topics in CR

Mar. 10: Agamemnon: Family vs. Athenian State concepts of justice (dikê)
 FNT:  Biography of Sophocles (#3) in Perseus Encylopedia

WEEK 10
Mar. 13: Agamemnon: neikos'strife'.Gender conflict; generational conflict
 FNT: Sophocles, Oedipus the King in Greek Tragedies I ; Structure of play and discussion topics in CR
 

Mar. 15:  Introduction to Sophocles, the Theban Myths
FNT: Read about Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the brokerage firm that lost 657 employees in the 9/11 terrorist attack. More here on Howard Lutnick.

Mar. 17: miasma (pollution),  hamartia (fallibility), suffering, and self-discovery  in Oedipus the King
 FNT:  Work on Hero Essay over break!

WEEK 11
Mar. 20-24: SPRING BREAK
 

WEEK 12
Mar. 27: ****HERO ESSAY DUE****
Oedipus as a soter ‘savior’ of his community: Oedipus and Cantor Fitzgerald's Howard Lutnick
 FNT: Biography of Euripides in Perseus encyclopedia; “The Homeric Hymn to Dionysos”in Cashford, The Homeric Hymns


Mar. 29: Dionysos & Euripides’ Bacchae
 FNT: Euripides, Bacchae , in Greek Tragedies III; Structure and Discussion topics in CR
 

Mar 31: Baccants: Women & Power
 FNT: Biography of Herodotus (#3)

WEEK 13
Apr. 3: Pentheus as therapon and soter ‘savior’
 FNT: “The Story of Croesus" excerpt from Herodotus' History of the Persian War (CR)

Apr. 5: What Croesus of Lydia can teach us about 9-11-01 and Saddam Hussein  (empires, tyrants, and justice)
 FNT: “Hero Cults in Herodotus” (CR)

Apr. 7: Hero Cults in Herodotus (group discussion)
NANCY AT A CONFERENCE
 FNT: Review for exam

WEEK 14

Apr. 10: EXAM 3
FNT: Biography of Aristophanes #2 in Perseus encyclopedia; Aristophanes, Frogs (1st half of comedy)

Apr. 12: Introduction to Athenian Comedy
 FNT: Finish Frogs

Apr. 14: Religion & Literary criticism in Aristophanes Frogs
 FNT: “Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite” in Cashford, The Homeric Hymns; Ovid, Metamorphoses Bks. I, X, XIV, XV

WEEK 15
Apr. 17: FILM ANALYSIS DUE
Venus, Troy, and Rome
 FNT: Metamorphoses Bks. XII-XIII

Apr. 19: Moral Lessons in Ovid's Metamorphoses
 

POETRY RECITATIONS: Monday, Apr. 24, 3:30-5:30. McPherson Beach (In case of bad weather, TBA)