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.
Office Hours
Francis Dunn: Mondays, 3 - 5 pm, or by appointment
4050 HSSB
893-4202
fdunn@classics.ucsb.edu
Teaching Assistants:
Laura Behymer: Monday, 3:00-4:30 and Tuesday, 10:00-11:30
4062 HSSB
behymer@umail.ucsb.edu
James Conrad: Monday, 2:30-4:30 and Wednesday, 10-11
4043 HSSB
djconrad@umail.ucsb.edu
Liem Hinh: Monday, 5-6 pm and Tuesday, 1-3 pm
4060 HSSB
lhinh@umail.ucsb.edu
Stan Rauh Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 10-11
4061 HSSB
rauhiii@umail.ucsb.edu
Jordan Roberts: Wednesday, 10:00-11:30 and Thursday, 8:00-9:30
4061 HSSB
jdroberts@umail.ucsb.edu
John Smith-MacDonald: Monday, 4:30-5:30, Wednesday, 3:30-4:30, Friday 11-noon
4043 HSSB
jsmithmacdonald@umail.ucsb.edu
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 ... Fall 2009 > 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:
Take-Home Essay
Midterm Exam ... ... ... ... ... ... 30%
Friday, October 30
Final Hour Exam ... ... ... ... ... ... 25%
Thursday, December 10 at 9 am
Final Take-Home Essay ... ... ... 25%
due at or before Final Exam
Performance in Section ... ... ... 20%
(including Creative Project)
Prize: The best Take-Home Essay will be awarded
the Nicholas and Lena Dumas Prize in Greek Mythology ($200)
SCHEDULE of REQUIRED READINGS
Fri, Sept 25 ... Introduction
Mon, Sept 28 ... The gods
•read Homeric Hymns #2 (Demeter) and #3 (Apollo)
•download and read “Demeter, the Archetype” and “Major Gods and Heroes”
Wed, Sept 30
•read Homeric Hymns #4 (Hermes) and #5 (Aphrodite)
•download and read “Aphrodite, the Archetype”
Fri, Oct 2
•read Homeric Hymns #7 (Dionysus), #8 (Ares), #19 (Pan), #27 (Artemis) and #28 (Athena)
Mon, Oct 5 ... How the world began
•read Hesiod, Theogony
•download and read “Hesiod’s Cosmogony”
Wed, Oct 7
•download and read selections from Genesis and Orphic Hymns and “The Orphic Cosmogony”
Fri, Oct 9 ... Human origins
•read Hesiod, Works and Days, lines 1-316
Mon, Oct 12
•download and read selections from Prometheus Bound and Antigone
Wed, Oct 14 ... The afterlife
•download and read Homer’s Odyssey, Book 11(part A and Part B)
Fri, Oct 16
•view the video “Demeter: The Miracle of Fertility”
Mon, Oct 19
•download and read selections from Pindar and Plato’s Republic
Wed, Oct 21 ... Myth and politics
•download and read selections from Bacchylides and Plutarch (Part A and Part B)
Fri, Oct 23
•read Aeschylus, Agamemnon
•download and read “The House of Atreus”
Mon, Oct 26: FURLOUGH DAY
•read Aeschylus, Libation Bearers
•download and read “Timeline”
•download and answer “Study Questions on Libation Bearers”
Wed, Oct 28
•read Aeschylus, Furies
Fri, Oct 30
MIDTERM EXAM
Mon, Nov 2 ... Myth and gender
•RE-read Hesiod, Theogony, lines 521-616 and Works and Days, lines 1-106
•RE-read Genesis 1-5
•download and read Semonides
Wed, Nov 4
•read Euripides, Medea
•download and read “The Families of Medea and Jason”
Fri, Nov 6 ... Myth and psychology
•download and read selection from Euripides, Phoenician Women
•read Sophocles, Oedipus the King
Mon, Nov 9
•download and read selection from Freud, Interpretation of Dreams
•RE-read “Demeter, the Archetype”
Wed, Nov 11
HOLIDAY
Fri, Nov 13 ... Myth and religion
•RE-read Homeric Hymn #7 (to Dionysus)
•download and read “Greek Religion” (Part A and Part B)
Mon, Nov 16
•read Euripides, Bacchae
•download and read “The House of Cadmus”
Wed, Nov 18 ... Myth revisited I
•read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 1
Fri, Nov 20
•read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 3
Mon, Nov 23
•read Apollonius, Argonautika, Book 4
Wed, Nov 25 ... Myth revisited II
•view Dassin, “A Dream of Passion”
Fri, Nov 27
HOLIDAY
Mon, Nov 30
•view Dassin, “A Dream of Passion” (cont’d)
Wed, Dec 2 ... Myth Revisited III
•download and read “Poets Reflecting on Myth”
Fri, Dec 4: FURLOUGH DAY
•view selections from the movie “Jason and the Argonauts”
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 10th, at 9 am
SLIDE SHOWS
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Mon, Sept 28: The Olympians
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Fri, October 2: The Powers Above
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Wed, October 7: The Story of Orpheus
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Mon, October 12: Classical Greece &
The Legacy of Prometheus
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Mon, October 19:The Afterlife
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Wed, October 21:Myths of Athens
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Fri, October 23; The Greek Theater
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Wed, October 28: Aeschylus and Athens
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Mon, November 2: Women In Myth and Society
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Fri, November 6: The House of Cadmus
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Fri, November 13: Greek Religion
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Mon, November 16: Dionysus in '69
