CLASSICS 40
GREEK MYTHOLOGY MythSyllabus W08 (PDF)
Winter 2008
An introduction to the principal myths of ancient Greece, and to the ways in which these myths construct understanding of the universe, society, gender and culture. Lectures will discuss the assigned readings and present new material, while sections will encourage discussion and allow fuller exploration of ideas and issues. Evaluation will be based upon a midterm exam, a final exam and essay, and performance in section.
| Time: | MWF 9:00-9:50 am | ||
| Place: | IV Theater 1 | ||
| Instructor: | Prof. Francis Dunn | ||
| Discussion sections: | |||
| Section 1: | Wed, 5-5:50 pm | Arts 1247 | 07245 |
| Section 2: | Tues, 8-8:50 am | HSSB 1211 | 07252 |
| Section 3: | Wed, 3-3:50 pm | North 1105 | 07260 |
| Section 4: | Thur, 4-4:50 pm | Phelps 1260 | 07278 |
| Section 5: | Tues, 8-8:50 am | HSSB 4201 | 07286 |
| Section 6: | Thurs, 8-8:50 am | HSSB 1214 | 07294 |
| Section 7: | Fri, 11-11:50 am | North 1109 | 07302 |
| Section 8: | Fri, 11-11:50 am | Theater 2600 | 07310 |
| Section 9: | Wed, 1-1:50 pm | HSSB 4202 | 07328 |
| Section 10: | Fri, 12-12:50 pm | Arts 1247 | 07336 |
| Section 11: | Fri, 12-12:50 pm | HSSB 2251 | 07344 |
| Section 12: | Fri, 11-11:50 am | Arts 1247 | 07351 |
| Section 13: | Wed, 5-5:50 pm | Girvetz 2124 | 07369 |
| Section 14: | Thur, 8-8:50 am | HSSB 4201 | 07377 |
| Section 15: | Thur, 8-8:50 am | HSSB 3202 | 07385 |
| Section 16: | Wed, 6-6:50 pm | Arts 1247 | 07393 |
| Section 17: | Tues, 6-6:50 pm | HSSB 1237 | 07401 |
Office Hours
Francis Dunn: Mondays, 1 - 4 pm, or by appointment
4050 HSSB
893-4202; fdunn@classics.ucsb.eduTeaching Assistants: to be announced
Required Texts
Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days (tr. Athanassakis)
The Homeric Hymns (tr. Athanassakis)
Aeschylus, The Oresteia trilogy (tr. Meineck)Sophocles, Oedipus the King (tr. Berg and Clay)
Euripides, Medea and Bacchae (tr. Roche)
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautika (tr. Green)
•NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS: since lectures and discussion will often refer to specific passages or pages, you are expected to buy and bring to class the translations listed above.
PLUS shorter readings available on the course website: www.classics.ucsb.edu > courses ...Winter 2008 > Classics 40
Requirements
READING: Be sure to read through the assigned readings for each class before you come to class. The readings for this course are not long, but some of them are difficult, so read and reread them carefully, and ask questions in lecture or section if you have difficulty.
LECTURE: You are expected to attend lectures regularly and to take careful notes. Lectures will present background to help you understand the readings, and will also present material that is not in the readings. AS Notes will not be available.
SECTIONS: Each student is required to enroll in a discussion section and attend regularly. Discussion sections will help explain material presented in class, and will help review for exams. Quizzes, projects and participation in section will be part of each student’s final grade.
| Evaluation: |
Midterm Exam Friday, February 8 |
30% |
|---|---|---|
|
Final Hour Exam Thursday, March 20 at 9 am |
25% | |
|
Final Take-Home Essay due at or before Final Exam |
25% | |
| Performance in Section (including Creative Project) |
20% |
Prize: The best Take-Home Essay will be awarded the Nicholas and Lena Dumas Prize in Greek Mythology ($200)
| SCHEDULE of REQUIRED READINGS | |
| Mon, Jan 7 | What is myth? |
| The gods | |
| Wed, Jan 9 | •read Homeric Hymns #2 (Demeter) and #3 (Apollo) |
| •download and read “Demeter, the Archetype” and | |
| “Major Gods and Heroes” | |
| Fri, Jan 11 | •read Homeric Hymns #4 (Hermes) and #5 (Aphrodite) |
| •download and read “Aphrodite, the Archetype” | |
| Mon, Jan 14 | •read Homeric Hymns #7 (Dionysus), #8 (Ares), #19 (Pan), |
| #27 (Artemis) and #28 (Athena) | |
| How the world began | |
| Wed, Jan 16 | •read Hesiod, Theogony |
| •download and read “Hesiod’s Cosmogony” | |
| Fri, Jan 18 | •download and read selections from Genesis and Orphic Hymns and “The Orphic Cosmogony” |
| Mon, Jan 21 | HOLIDAY |
| Human origins | |
| Wed, Jan 23 | •read Hesiod, Works and Days, lines 1-316 |
| Fri, Jan 25 | •download and read selections from Prometheus Bound andAntigone |
| The afterlife | |
| Mon, Jan 28 | •download and read Homer’s Odyssey, Book 11 Part A, Part B |
| Wed, Jan 30 | •download and read selections from Pindar and Plato’s Republic |
| Myth and politics | |
| Fri, Feb 1 | •read Aeschylus, Agamemnon |
| •download and read “The House of Atreus” | |
| Mon, Feb 4 | •read Aeschylus, Libation Bearers |
| •download and read “Timeline” | |
| Wed, Feb 6 | •read Aeschylus, Eumenides |
| Fri, Feb 8 | MIDTERM EXAM |
| Myth and gender | |
| Mon, Feb 11 | •RE-read Hesiod, Theogony, lines 521-616 |
| and Works and Days, lines 1-106 | |
| •RE-read Genesis 1-5 | |
| Wed, Feb 13 | •download and read Semonides |
| •RE-read Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, lines 585-651 | |
| and Eumenides, lines 583-753 | |
| Fri, Feb 15 | •read Euripides, Medea |
| •download and read “The Families of Medea and Jason” | |
| Mon, Feb 18 | HOLIDAY |
| Myth and psychology | |
| Wed, Feb 20 | •download and read selection from Euripides, Phoenician Women |
| •read Sophocles, Oedipus the King | |
| Fri, Feb 22 | •download and read selection from Freud, Interpretation of Dreams |
| •RE-read “Demeter, the Archetype” | |
| Myth and religion | |
| Mon, Feb 25 | •RE-read Homeric Hymn #7 (to Dionysus) |
| •download and read “Greek Religion A” “Greek Religion B” | |
| Wed, Feb 27 | •read Euripides, Bacchae |
| •download and read “The House of Cadmus” | |
| Myth revisited I | |
| Fri, Feb 29 | •read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 1 |
| Mon, Mar 3 | •read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 3 |
| Wed, Mar 5 | •read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 4 |
| Myth revisited II | |
| Fri, Mar7 | •view selections from “Jason and the Argonauts” |
| Myth revisited III | |
| Mon, Mar 10 | •view Dassin, “A Dream of Passion” |
| Wed, Mar 12 | •view Dassin, “A Dream of Passion” (cont’d) |
| Fri, Mar 14 | •download and read “Poets Reflecting on Myth” |
| FINAL EXAM: | Thursday, March 20th, 9 am |