NEW YORK UNIVERSITY GALLATIN School of Individualized Study FATE AND FREE WILL IN THE EPIC TRADITION

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NEW YORK UNIVERSITY GALLATIN School of Individualized Study FATE AND FREE WILL IN THE EPIC TRADITION IDSEM UG.1116 (4 credits) Tel. 212-992-7764 Dr. Antonio Rutigliano ar31@nyu.edu Spring 2017 Wed.

1 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY GALLATIN School of Individualized Study FATE AND FREE WILL IN THE EPIC TRADITION IDSEM UG.1116 (4 credits) Tel Dr. Antonio Rutigliano Spring 2017 Wed. 3:30-6:10 GCASL room 375 Neither heavenly nor earthly, neither mortal nor immortal have we created thee, so that thou mightest be free according to thy own will and honor, to be thy own creator and builder. To thee alone we gave growth and development depending on thy own free will. Thou bearest in thee the germs of a universal life. (Pico della Mirandola, Oratio de Hominis Dignitate) In the world of nature everything is subject to a causal law, or rather every event has in itself a cause. If this is true, then every event that happens is preordained. Likewise any event that does not happen was not meant to happen. The principle of determinism often considered to be most comprehensive of all the laws of nature, also appears frequently as a causative factor in many fields of research. The dominant school of Quantum physics maintains that the ultimate laws of nature are not causally deterministic but assert only the statistical probability of occurrences at a subatomic level. If human actions are determined in this way then it follows that no one could ever have acted otherwise than he did, and therefore no one is morally responsible for his/her actions. From the beginning of his/her existence man/woman is confronted with the choice between different courses of action, unlike the animal who is completely subjected to an automatic chain of reactions starting with the stimulus (hunger) and ending with a strictly determined course of action. Instead of a predetermined course of action, man/woman has to weigh possible courses of action in his mind; that is, he/she starts to think. Ultimately he/she tries to transcend nature and the tragic fate of death. This class on Fate and Free Will in the epic tradition is designed to make the student recognize the central issues and ideas that comprised the classical Western canon of Epics from Gilgamesh to James Joyce s Ulysses. Literature essentially embedded in the realms of metaphysics and society sometimes becomes indelible by its transformation of pure thought into a pattern of human behavior. This class will likewise explore those metaphoric patterns coming out of the chief literary achievements of Western Epics that greatly inspired and served as a guide to subsequent writers and thinkers in the Western World, and consequently became the norms and mores of modern society.

2 Structuralist and deconstructionist literary criticism will be adopted for the interpretation of some of the works in this course. Eventually this will develop and refine students' analytical and critical thinking skills of literary works. Finally, the student will gain technical competence in recognizing genres, decorum and dominant literary tropes of the Ancient and Modern European period and of literature in general. Course Goals and Objectives -Students will learn to analyze literary texts that have influenced the greatest epics in the Western Canon such as The Aeneid and The Odyssey and across a variety of periods or genres. -Students will demonstrate an awareness of how literary texts inform and are informed by sociopolitical, economic, cultural, historical, and biographical factors. -Students will learn to recognize important literary trends, noting key distinctions and continuities among literary texts. -Students will compose formal essays and research paper which demonstrates their knowledge and understanding of the literature covered in the course. -Another goal of this class will be to investigate the moral issues connected to the themes of Fate and Free Will in the texts used in class. Students will learn to locate human actions in a historical and philosophical context, students will, moreover, become familiar with the theoretical infrastructure originating cultural production and human experience. This will allow them to view literature in the context of classical and medieval cultures and values, and understand the complex interactions of critical interpretation and the creative process. -Another objective of this course is to introduce students to The Aeneid, The Consolation of Philosophy, and Inferno, and to the political, religious, and cultural context in which they were written. -At the end of the course students will be able to account for the development of ideas during the classical- medieval-modern world and understand the intricate dynamics of a theo-centric world, clashing against the modern humanist-secular movement and how some people in the twentieth century and today world still choose to escape freedom. LECTURES Jan. 25: INTRODUCTION (Epics) Feb. 1: THE ROMAN WORLD The Aeneid (i-ii) Feb. 8: MASTERING THE SELF The Aeneid (iii-iv) (essay 1 is due Feb. 15: BEYOND SEX The Aeneid (v-vi) Feb. 22: THE REIFICATION OF PHILOSOPHY Consolation of Philosophy (i-ii) Mar. 1: WORDS IN ABSENCE OF THINGS The Consolation of Philosophy (iii-iv) (essay 2 is due)

3 Mar. 8: UNDERSTANDING TO UNDERSTAND The Consolation of Philosophy (v) (essay 3 is due) Mar. 15: NO CLASS: SPRING RECESS Mar. 22: THE TRANSFORMATION OF DESIRE Inferno (1-10) Mar. 29: THE EDUCATION OF DESIRE Inferno (11-26) (essay 4 is due) Guest lecturer: Prof. Arcuri on Canto 26) Apr. 5: CANNIBALIZING THE SELF Inferno (27-34) Apr. 12: FATE OR FREE WILL Escape From Freedom (essay 5 is due) Apr. 19: ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM Escape From Freedom *Apr. 22: TRIP TO CLOISTERS AND ST. JOHN THE DIVINE (Meet at 9:30 am in front of Bobst Library ) Apr. 26: TRIAL (Place to be announced in class) May 3: Cloisters date (Essay from Cloisters Trip is due electronically May 10: EPIC: Your individualized epic is due REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS: Vergil, Aeneid (trans., R. Fitzgerald, Vintage Books: 1984). Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (Penguin Classics: 1969). Dante, Inferno (Trans. Mendelbaum)(Bantam) Fromm, Escape from Freedom (Holt Paperback). *Reading is due each week before your section meets. RECOMMENDED TEXTS: Gilgamesh (trans., Stephen Mitchell, Free Press: 2004). Plato, Protagoras (Penguin Classics: 1986). Aristotle, Ethics (Penguin Classics: 1983). Homer, Iliad (trans., Fagles). Homer, The Odyssey (trans. Fitzgerald). Cicero, De Fato (Harvard University Press: 1957). The Confessions, Agustine, Rex Warner trans. (Mentor) Luther and Erasmus, Discourse on Free Will Joyce, Ulysses Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered Milton, Paradise Lost (Mentor Classics: 1961).

4 **ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READINGS ON NYU CLASSES WLL BE POSTED FOR EACH WORK CINEMATIC RECREATIONS: Blade Runner West World AUDITORY RECREATIONS: Bach, Ich habe genug Carl Orf, Carmina Burana. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Stabat Mater. Rameau: Dido s Lament COURSE REQUIREMENTS The grade in the course will be based on five essays, three examinations, a presentation, a writing of an epic, a trial, museum trip/essay, and class attendance/participation.. There will be a grade penalty for coming in late and for late-papers (two absences or more will result in an automatic failure of the class). ONLY HARD COPIES OF ESSAYS, TESTS, AND PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED. NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES WIRELESS AND VIBELESS WILL BE ALLOWED TO BE USED IN CLASS (i-pads, i- phones, laptops, kindle, blackberries or blueberries, blue-tooth or no- tooth, ear-phones, all-sorts of other artificial devices, etc ). YOU ARE WELCOME TO USE A PEN, PENCIL, PAPER AND YOUR VOICE FACE TO FACE IN REAL TIME!!! (not to be confused with face time or skype) 1. ESSAYS: five sets of essay questions will be posted on NYU-Classes, for each one you are to select one essay question and write a two to three page response (single or double spaced). If a late essay is accepted you will automatically lose a full letter grade. [25pts] 2. EXAMINATIONS: Three examinations based on the class readings will be given in class unannounced during the semester. If you are absent the day the examination is given you will not be able to make it up. (25pts) 3. READING PRESENTATION: Students will pick by fate from a grab bag a selected topic presentation from one of the assigned class readings, he/she will present and determine by their own free will a literary analysis/

5 interpretation to the class. If you are absent the day of your presentation you will not be able to make it up.[10pts] 4.CLOISTERS AND ST. JOHN THE DIVINE ATTENDANCE AND ESSAY: [10 PTS] Based on the experience from the Cloisters and St. John the Divine on April 22 nd describe your liminal transformation; essay is due on April 27 th. If you are absent the day of the trip you will not be able to make it up on your own! 5. EPIC: Write a six to eight pages long mini-epic (Due May 10). Details will be given in class. The following are possible characters to be assigned: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Ishtar, the Bull of fire, En lil, Helen, Hector, Achilles, Penelope, Agamemnon, Zeus, Paris, Homer, Ulysses, Ajax, Apollo, Athena, Hera, Aeneas, Dido, Bellona, Aeolus, Tiresias, Boethius, Lady Philosophy, Fortuna, Reification, Noumena, Judith, Aristotle, St.Paul, St. Augustine, Plato, Lucretius, Roland, Britomartis, Wife of Bath, Cid Campeador, Dante, Paolo, Francesca, Beatrice, Count Ugolino, Milton, Michael, Metraton, Lucifer, Adam, Eve, God, Fate, and Free Will.[10pts] POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND PLAGIARISM During the process of a research paper and writing of essays or the mini-epic project, students must be able to acknowledge information derived from other sources that have contributed to the development of his or her ideas. Students must master the standard procedures for citations and using footnotes, endnotes, parenthetical references and/or bibliographies, as determined by the character of their assignments. Not doing so will result into plagiarism. Gallatin does not tolerate such behavior; and substantiated cases of plagiarism can result in serious sanctions including dismissal. Consequently it is essential for every student to develop the habits of identifying sources and learn and use the proper forms of citation, as specified in the recommended style sheets. Any of the following acts constitutes an offense of plagiarism: Using a phrase, sentence, or passage from another person's work without quotation marks and attribution of the source. Paraphrasing words or ideas from another person s work without attribution. Reporting as your own research or knowledge any data or facts gathered or reported by another person. Submitting in your own name papers, tests, examinations, or reports completed by another person. Submitting creative works, including images or reproduction of the creative works, of another person without proper attribution. Submitting oral or recorded reports of another without proper attribution. Downloading documents in whole or part from the Internet and presenting them as one s own. Other offenses against academic integrity include the following: Collaborating with other students on assignments without the express permission of the instructor. Giving one s work to another student who then submits it as his or her own. Sharing or copying answers from other students Copying material from any digital resource/website during examinations (unless expressly authorized). Using notes or other sources to answer exam questions without the instructor's permission. Secreting or destroying library or reference materials. Submitting as one s own work a paper or results of research purchased or acquired from a commercial firm or another person. Submitting original work toward requirements in more than one class without the prior permission of the instructors. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of papers and other materials to be found on the World Wide Web, whether purchased or freely available. Students should keep in mind that faculty members, in addition to having access to the same search engines as students, have at their disposal a number of special websites devoted to detecting plagiarism from the Web. 6.TRIAL: On May 4th students will impersonate and defend their individual miniepic hero/heroine/theme in a mock trial (following the guideline of Oreste's trial in the Eumenides) to the charges of the protagonist's determinism and/or indeterminsm (challenging fate). [10 pts.]

7. ATTENDANCE AND LATENESS. ATTENDANCE is necessary since we will be covering a lot of material (two absences or more will result in an automatic failure of the class).

6 7. ATTENDANCE AND LATENESS. ATTENDANCE is necessary since we will be covering a lot of material (two absences or more will result in an automatic failure of the class). There will be a grade penalty for coming in late. Two lateness will be equal to an absence. 8. DISCUSSION will form an important part of this seminar, class participation will also be counted in assessing the final grade. Regular and active participation in class discussions can make a difference in the grade of as much half of a grade. Students are urged, therefore, to attend class regularly and to be prepared to discuss the readings. Ten (10) points will be assigned for participation. OFFICE HOURS: Wed. 2:15-3:25 room 608 in 715 Broadway. If a problem arises do not hesitate to call me.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY GALLATIN School of Individualized Education DANTE S WORLD Dr. Antonio Rutigliano

IDSEM-UG.1609.1.001.FA15 Wed. 3:30-6:10pm (Silver rm. 518) NEW YORK UNIVERSITY GALLATIN School of Individualized Education DANTE S WORLD Dr. Antonio Rutigliano ar31@nyu.edu Dante's Divine Comedy has left