CLAS 131: Greek and Roman Mythology Spring 2013 MWF 2-2:50 Murphey Hall 116

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1 CLAS 131: Greek and Roman Mythology Spring 2013 MWF 2-2:50 Murphey Hall 116 Robyn LeBlanc Erika Weiberg Office: Murphey 114 Office: Murphey 205 M 1-2, F 1-2 and by appointment M 12:30-1:30, W 3-4, and by appointment Teaching Assistants: Keith Penich Daniel Schindler Office: Murphy 114 Office: Murphy 305 kpenich@live.unc.edu dschindl@ .unc.edu T 11-12, W 1-2 MWF This course is an introduction to the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the stories about gods, goddesses, and heroes that were told, written down, adapted, and re-told over generations. We will explore the significance of these stories in the wider context of ancient Greek and Roman civilization, both through literary texts and through material culture, the physical remains of ancient settlements and their monuments and works of art. The goal is not simply to become familiar with the stories themselves, but to address some larger questions about their meaning and significance to the ancient civilizations that produced them. What functions did these myths have in their original context? What can we learn from them about the way that the ancient Greeks and Romans understood their world? How was myth used to create and frame civic and cultural identities? Finally, why do we keep retelling their stories? Course Objectives By the end of this course you should be able to: 1) identify major figures and summarize major stories of Greek and Roman myth 2) critically analyze individual works of literature, art, and architecture in their historical context 3) synthesize material from the lectures and your own close study of the primary sources in order to produce well-informed arguments about the nature, social role, and cultural significance of Greek and Roman myth in its historical context Required Texts (available in Student Stores) *Aeschylus, Oresteia. In Complete Aeschylus: Volume I. Ed. Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro. Oxford UP, *Barringer, Judith M. Art, Myth, and Ritual in Classical Greece. Cambridge UP, *Carpenter, Thomas H. Art and Myth in Ancient Greece. Thames & Hudson, *Homer, Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Hackett, *Ovid, Metamorphoses. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. Harcourt Brace, Reprint Edition, *Virgil, Aeneid. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. University of California Press, *Works of Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns. Trans. Daryl Hine. University of Chicago Press,

2 Additional reading assignments will be posted to Sakai. See syllabus for details. Note: We highly encourage you to find copies of these particular editions and translations. We selected these editions because we found the translations readable, but accurate, and they are all affordable and easy to find in used editions. We will be referring to the texts on a day-to-day basis and it is easy to become lost between different translations and page numberings. Furthermore, the passages for identification on the final exam will be selected from these editions. Grade Breakdown Reading Quizzes (10 at 2% each) 20% Short Written Exercise (3 pages, due February 11) 10% Midterm Exam (March 1) 20% Paper (7 pages, due April 12) 25% Final Exam (May 4, 4-7pm) 25% Course Requirements Lecture: Although attendance is not mandatory, you are expected to come to all lectures, pay attention to what is said and to learn the material. The assigned reading material consists of primary texts and articles about material culture, and will largely not provide you with crucial contextual and thematic information necessary to understanding the importance of myth in its historical setting. This information is provided only in lecture, so it is imperative that you attend regularly and do the assigned reading ahead of time. PowerPoints from the lecture will be posted to Sakai before class; these will largely consist of images with captions, and summary bullet points. It is up to you to take detailed notes to supplement these PowerPoints with information from the lecture itself. Reading: You are expected to read the assigned material in advance of the lecture in which it will be discussed. So, you should have read the material assigned on January 25 (Homer s Odyssey, Books 1-4) BEFORE coming to lecture that day. Please be sure to consult the syllabus ahead of time, and plan out your reading, as some assignments are longer than others. It is often the case that a day with no assigned reading will fall directly before or after a week of heavy reading; plan accordingly. While you read, make sure that you understand the major plot points of the story, the names of the characters and gods. We will not go over that information in class, but will instead focusing on analyzing the material and its significance in its historical context. You should read the texts carefully on your own, and begin to think critically about how the text is written, what the characters say and do, and what the story says about the society in which it was produced. Take ample notes, underline, highlight, post-it note whatever works for you. You will find that this way of reading, although more time-consuming, will aid your enormously when it comes time to write the short assignment and, especially, the paper. Also. please bring the text for that day s lecture to class, since you will sometimes need to consult it. 2

3 Graded Work: Your grade in this course will be based on your performance on the following assignments: 1) Reading Quizzes: Ten over the course of the semester, 20% of your total grade. These quizzes will test you on a particular portion of the assigned reading each week (see syllabus), and will be conducted entirely on Sakai. You are allowed to consult the text while taking the test, but please complete the quiz on your own. Reading quizzes will become available Monday at 7am; you will have until that Sunday at 7pm to complete the quiz on Sakai. Please note that you will have only one opportunity to take the reading quiz, although you may take as much time as you would like on it. Look over your answers before submitting. 2) Short Assignment: Three pages, due February 11, 10% of your total grade. The purpose of this short written exercise is to give you practice analyzing themes and concepts and making arguments in a humanities class so that you know what to expect both for the exams and for the final paper. We will post a prompt on Sakai that will require close engagement with one of the primary sources. This short exercise will not require research, but will require frequent citation of the primary source. If you have any questions about citation or about writing an essay in the humanities in general, please do not hesitate to contact us before the due date. The paper should be about 900 words, or three pages double-spaced. See the prompt on Sakai for more details. 3) Paper: Seven pages, due April 12, 25% of your total grade. The final paper will not be research based, but will focus on analysis and direct engagement with the primary sources; paper topics will be distributed in advance on Sakai. The paper should be about 2100 words, or seven pages double-spaced. See the prompt on Sakai for more details. 4) Midterm and Final Exams: March 1 & May 4, 20% (Midterm) and 25% (Final) of your total grade. The exams will have a small component of short-answer questions, but will consist mostly of essay-type questions; the emphasis will be on the analysis of themes and concepts and the synthesis of well-informed arguments about the significance of Greek and Roman myth in its cultural context. Sample exam questions will be available on Sakai before both the midterm and final. Consult this document carefully, as it also provides an overview on how to address essay and ID questions. We will also post a guide to writing papers in the humanities (including how to cite material, when to cite material and how to critically approach the primary source material) on Sakai. Grading Policy Tests must be taken and papers submitted in class on the day noted; they should be submitted in person to the instructors or to the appropriate TA. We will not be responsible for papers not submitted in person, and we will not accept electronic submission of papers. If you have a good reason why you cannot take the midterm or submit your essay on the day indicated, please talk to us in advance; we will otherwise not be allowing make-up tests, and will be marking down late papers half a grade per day. All grades will be available on the course s Sakai site. We will be calculating final grades on the following scale: A % A % 3

4 B % B 83-86% B % C % C 73-76% C % D % D 60-64% F 59% and below Please note that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has had a student-administered honor system and judicial system for over 100 years. If you have questions about your responsibility under the honor code, please consult the office of the Dean of Students or the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance. This document, adopted by the Chancellor, the Faculty Council, and the Student Congress, contains all policies and procedures pertaining to the student honor system; see further online at honor.unc.edu. Your full participation in and observance of the honor code is expected. Note that in this course all academic work, including quizzes, exams, and papers, is to be your own work; collaboration is not allowed on any assignment. It is also your responsibility to avoid plagiarism, which is defined by the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance as the deliberate or reckless representation of another's words, thoughts, or ideas as one's own without attribution in connection with submission of academic work, whether graded or otherwise. You must always indicate by quotation marks and provide a reference for any words that are not your own; in addition, if you paraphrase ideas from another source, you must likewise provide a citation. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult the instructors or one of the course TAs. Finally, please note that university policy prohibits us from discussing grades via . If you have any issues or questions, or would like to go over an assignment in person please make an appointment to discuss these issues in person with your instructors or TA during office hours. SCHEDULE Week 1 W 1/9: Introduction F 1/11: Gods and Goddesses in Vase Painting Reading: Carpenter, Ch. 2, pp ; Carpenter, Ch. 3, pp ; skim Carpenter Ch. 4, pp Week 2 M 1/14: Hesiod s Theogony and Works and Days Reading: Hesiod, Theogony (all) in Hine, pp ; Pandora and Ages of Man in Works & Days lines in Hine, pp Reading Quiz 1: Hesiod & Homeric Hymns 4

5 W 1/16: Homeric Hymn to Demeter and to Hermes Reading: Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Hine, pp ; Homeric Hymn to Hermes in Hine, pp F 1/18: The Mysteries at Eleusis and Greek Cult Reading: Barringer Ch. 4, pp ; re-read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Hine, pp Week 3 M 1/21: NO CLASS (Martin Luther King Day) W 1/23: Archaeology of the Trojan War Reading: Selections, Lowenstam 2008, The Trojan War Tradition in Greek and Etruscan Art (Sakai); Carpenter Ch. 9, pp (feel free to also skim Ch. 10). F 1/25: CLASSES CANCELED FOR WEATHER Week 4 M 1/28: Homer s Odyssey Reading: Odyssey, Books 1, 3, and 4 in Lombardo, pp. 1-14, Reading Quiz 2: Homer s Odyssey, Books 5, 6, 8-12, 14 W 1/30: Homer s Odyssey Reading: Odyssey, Books 5, 6, 8, and 9 in Lombardo, pp , F 2/1: Homer s Odyssey Reading: Odyssey, Books 10, 11, 12, and 14 in Lombardo, pp , ; skim Carpenter Ch. 10, pp Week 5 M 2/4: Homer s Odyssey Reading: Odyssey, Books 15, 16, 17, and 19 in Lombardo, pp , Reading Quiz 3: Homer s Odyssey, Books 15-17, 19 and W 2/6: Homer s Odyssey Odyssey, Books in Lombardo, pp F 2/8: Heracles & The Hero s Journey Reading: Barringer Ch. 1, pp. 8-58; skim Carpenter Ch. 6, pp Week 6 M 2/11: Civic Heroes & the City: Theseus Reading: Plutarch, Life of Theseus (Sakai); Carpenter Ch. 7, pp Short Written Exercise Due W 2/13: Aeschylus Agamemnon Reading: Agamemnon in Burian & Shapiro, pp

6 F 2/15: Athens: The Theater of Dionysos, the Agora and the Courts Reading: Barringer Ch. 3, pp Week 7 M 2/18: Aeschylus Eumenides Reading: Eumenides in Burian & Shapiro, pp Reading Quiz 4: Aeschylus Eumenides W 2/20: The Athenian Acropolis Reading: Barringer Ch. 2, pp F 2/22: Sophocles Antigone Reading: Antigone (Sakai) Week 8 M 2/25: Dionysus Readings: Begin reading Bacchae (Sakai); Homeric Hymn to Dionysos VII, Hine pp Reading Quiz 5: Euripides Bacchae W 2/27: Euripides Bacchae Readings: Bacchae (Sakai) F 3/1: MIDTERM EXAM Week 9 M 3/4: Euripides Medea Readings: Medea (Sakai) Reading Quiz 6: Apollonius Argonautika Book 3 W 3/6: Apollonius Argonautika Readings: Argonautika Book 3 (Sakai) F 3/8: Mythological Sarcophagi Readings: Sarcophagi Analysis Powerpoint (Sakai) Week 10 M 3/11 F 3/15: NO CLASS (Spring Break) Week 11 M 3/18: Myth and Greek Culture in the Hellenistic Period Readings: Barringer Ch. 5, pp Reading Quiz 7: Livy Book 1 W 3/20: The Myths of Early Rome 6

7 Readings: Livy Book 1 (Link on Sakai) F 3/22: Vergil s Aeneid Readings: Aeneid Books 1-3 in Mandelbaum Week 12 M 3/25: Vergil s Aeneid Readings: Aeneid Books 4-6 in Mandelbaum Reading Quiz 8: Vergil s Aeneid, Books 4-9 W 3/27: Vergil s Aeneid Readings: Aeneid Books 7-9 in Mandelbaum F 3/29: NO CLASS Week 13 M 4/1: Vergil s Aeneid Readings: Aeneid Books in Mandelbaum W 4/3: Augustus Part I (Introduction, Augustan Imagery & Forum) Readings: Review Livy Book 1 (link on Sakai; please bring copy to class!); Res Gestae of Augustus (link on Sakai) F 4/5: Augustus Part II (Ara Pacis, Campus Martius) Readings: Review Res Gestae; come up with paper thesis statement Week 14 M 4/8: Ovid s Metamorphoses Readings: Met Books 1-2 in Mandelbaum, pp Reading Quiz 9: Ovid s Metamorphoses, Books 1-4, 6 & 8 W 4/10: Ovid s Metamorphoses Readings: Met Books 3-4 in Mandelbaum, pp F 4/12: Ovid s Metamorphoses Readings: Met Books 6 & 8 in Mandelbaum, pp , FINAL PAPER DUE Week 15 M 4/15: Ovid s Metamorphoses Readings: Met Books in Mandelbaum, pp Reading Quiz 10: Ovid s Metamorphoses, Books 10-11, W 4/17: Ovid s Metamorphoses Readings: Met Books in Mandelbaum, pp

8 F 4/19: Roman Mystery Cults Readings: None Week 16 M 4/22: The Sebasteion Readings: Yildirim 2004, Identities and Empire, (Sakai), Carpenter Ch. 5, pp ONLY. W 4/24: Parodies of Myth Readings: Lucian, A True Story, posted on Sakai F 4/26: Modern Mythologies; Conclusions, and Review Readings: Optional--Selections from Reynolds 1994, Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology (Sakai) FINAL EXAM: Saturday, May 4, 4:00-7:00 pm in Murphey 116 8