The College of the Humanities Humanities (or Greek and Roman Studies) Program Course Number and Section: FYSM 1106B Course Title: Issues in Classics Sub-Title: Traditions and the Transmission of Ideas Instructor: Dr. Raymond J. Clark Length of course: One Year during F/W terms 2015-2016 Time and Place: Mondays at 6:05-8:55 pm in SA 303 >But 1 st class is on Friday 4 th September (time & place above) because 1 st Fri = Monday schedule! Office Hours: I am available for consultation immediately after each evening class or by phone at 613-236-1953 any day up to 8:00 pm, or before class in PA 2A 60 (please phone to make an appointment). Brief Course Content: This course explores how Greco-Roman literary themes reflect human aspirations and became adapted from age to age in an ongoing tradition. Because story-tellers of the ancient world liked to adapt existing stories for their own purposes, rather than create new ones, authors in different ages gave their own contemporary twist to inherited stories about the Trojan war and many other themes. The aim of the course to trace how various ideas and cultural figures and literary themes develop over time until they form a significant portion of the humanistic literary tradtion influencing western culture. A fuller explanation is given below. TEXTS STUDIED: FALL SEMESTER 2015 The following, published by Penguin, are available from the Bookstore: 1. Nancy K. Sandars, The Epic of Gilgamesh. ISBN 0-14-044100-X 2. E.V. Rieu, revised by D.C.H. Rieu, with Introduction by Peter Jones, Homer: The Odyssey. ISBN 978-0-14-044911-2 3. Philip Vellacott, Aeschylus: The Oresteia. ISBN 978-014-044067-6 In addition to the above several handouts will be distributed in class. >IMPORTANT NOTE ON TEXTBOOKS< Please buy these editions with ISBN numbers as given above. Check carefully if you purchase second-hand copies because Penguin also publishes the same three works by different translators. If you buy different translations, the text and pages are different and you will find it difficult to follow during seminars. Please buy the books as soon as possible, since the bookstore returns unsold copies to the publisher after a while. TEXTS STUDIED WINTER SEMESTER 2015 The following are published by Penguin & will be available from the Bookstore: 1. E.V. Rieu, Apollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of Argo ISBN 978-0-140-44085-0 2. E.F. Watling, Seneca, Four Tragedies and Octavia ISBN 978-0-140-44174-1 3. Betty Radice, Terence, The Comedies I ISBN 978-0-14-044324-0 In addition to the above some handouts will be distributed in class.
COURSE EVALUATION FALL SEMESTER 2015: MARKS Four journal-entries to be handed in, three on Sept. 28, one on Oct. 19 10 See below for the definition of journal-entry. I will try to return marked journal-entries the following week. Mid-term exam: Oct. 19 (same day as final journal due) +10 Mid-year exam in December (covering this whole semester s work) +20 = 40% NB: Journals handed in late will not be accepted unless the cause is illness supported by a doctor s note. Just once in the whole year a journal will be accepted one week late because of forgetfulness etc. You cannot submit a journal-entry for a seminar that was not attended, for the obvious reason that you cannot summarize what you did not attend. If you miss a seminar due to illness supported by a doctor s note, you may write a journal-entry based on another seminar you attend when you return from illness. Since 4 journal-entries are worth 10 marks per semester, missed journals lose 2½ marks each. Discuss with me any problem you foresee such as missed seminars. Due dates for journal-entries are given above & under the Course Schedule below. WINTER SEMESTER 2016: MARKS Four journal-entries to be handed in, three on Feb. 1, one on Feb. 22 10 Mid-term exam: February 22 (same day as final journal due) +20 Final exam in April (covering this semester s work only, not the whole year) +30 = 60% Total of 40% earned in the Fall and 60% earned in the Winter 100% A Journal-entry is just another expression for a précis or concise summary of the passage analyzed in each seminar. > Imagine you are a reporter writing a column for a high-class newspaper. < You are granted between 500 and 600 words in length. You are asked to give a concise summary of ideas arising from the set passage in each seminar. Accuracy of information based on the analysis of set passages, density of ideas in the space allowed, and correct English grammar, spelling and clarity all count. Begin each journal-entry with your NAME and the following headings: WEEK # (e.g. 3) DATE # WORD COUNT # (e.g. 563 words) The value of doing this weekly exercise for the first four weeks is as follows: Starts you in the habit at university of making notes as you listen to what is discussed in class. I personally recommend that you handwrite your notes as best you can in class. Then go over them afterwards checking and expanding them in accordance with the passage analyzed in class. As you expand your notes after class, you will recall more of what was said in class (you recall more if you do this within a day or so after each seminar) & will be able to keep quite full notes. Your journal-entry can be summarized from your fuller notes, which you can keep for review purposes in preparation for exams. Continued on next page.
This exercise enables you to keep a thorough log or portfolio of the main ideas raised by analysis of the texts read in each seminar. If you make a practice of doing this in good English, you will find it easier to review for exams. Writing compressed, succinct summaries is a special skill that is difficult to acquire, but very useful for all your work in university and your eventual career. Constant practice helps you to acquire and further develop this skill. I recommend you keep notes in the above manner after all seminars and not just the first 4 weeks of each semester. Additional notes concerning evaluation Please retain for your own record a copy of all journal-entries submitted. Also remember to do computer back ups. All exams will ask for answers to be written in essay format, not multiple choice. Each of the two mid-term exams will ask for 2 essay questions to be answered in one hour. (i.e. ½ hour each). Please write all exams in ink. Each of the two end-of-semester exams will ask for 4 essay questions to be answered in two hours. (i.e. ½ hour each) There will be a choice of questions in each exam. The mid-term exams will be returned to students with comments. Each end of semester exam will be retained. A FULLER EXPLANATION OF COURSE CONTENT THAN APPEARS ON p. 1. Modern story-tellers usually aim to think up brand new stories. The Greeks and the Romans thought differently. They liked to tell existing stories in new ways. They thus gave old stories a new spin or twist that was designed to attract the attention of contemporary readers. They were thus constantly adapting old themes inherited from earlier writers in ways that reflected the human aspirations of each age for which they were written. For example, the adventures of the great heroes in the Trojan war as originally told by Homer are retold over and over again by his successors, each time with a new twist. It thus becomes possible to see how a whole literary tradition arises on the theme of the Trojan War and we can study a whole history of contemporary twists embedded in successive stories about the Trojan War. Some writers from other cultures have been so influenced by the Greco-Roman way of writing that they too have adopted it when composing their own poetry. This explains why some great English poets like Milton, Shelley, Byron and Tennyson have also adapted old themes in their work. The Greeks & the Romans were not the first to do this. The Babylonians did it before them. We know this from, for example, a Babylonian epic called The Epic of Gilgamesh, which the Babylonian author created out of earlier Sumerian stories. We will read this epic and see how he adapted Sumerian stories and we will see in particular how his adaptation of these stories gave him the idea of creating a brand new tale of how a mortal (Gilgamesh) journeyed out of this world into an Otherworld and back. In turn the Babylonian story influenced the Greek poet Homer, who tells in the Odyssey how Odysseus journeyed to the Land of the Dead and back.
The continuity of ideas, as successive writers adapted existing stories to new purposes is what gives this course its title: Traditions and the Transmission of ideas. Thus this course at times becomes comparative and cross-cultural as illustrated in the previous paragraph comparing Sumerian, Babylonian and Greek stories. In short, we will aim, where possible to trace the development of literary themes and cultural figures through different ages in order to see how they acquire different overtones or contemporary twists, and we end up studying a significant portion of what can be called the humanistic tradition influencing western culture. A recommendation and an objective: 1. Because exposure to the process of seeing how inferences are made from literature and how traditions are formed is regarded as an essential educational part of the course, you are strongly advised to attend all lectures. Attendance is of course necessary for the writing of the eight journal-entries. 2. Through the process of showing how inferences are made in great works of literature composed by the ancient Greeks and Romans in different genres of literature (epic, tragic, comic, and pastoral), my aim is to raise your awareness of how ideas get transmitted from culture to culture and age to age in different forms and traditions. It is my hope that you will acquire this way of looking at literature for yourselves. Essay writing: I will outline in class how to approach answering essay-questions. Please also note: > The recording of in-class lectures is not permitted, unless with my permission for a medically documented hearing disability < Course Schedule: Topics are planned as follows FALL TERM > 1 st class Sept. 4 (Fri = Mon. schedule). Last Mon. Dec. 7. Week 1 Sept 4 (Friday) Early Greek ideas about the creation of the world and our place within it + How these ideas survive in Milton. Labour Day Sept. 7 No class Week 2 Sept. 14 Hesiod s succession myth of the gods + origins and influence. Week 3 Sept. 21 Prometheus from Hesiod to Shelley + cultural comparisons. Week 4 Sept. 28 3 journal entries due. The Epic of Gilgamesh + how the Babylonian epic-maker created his epic out of earlier Sumerian stories. Week 5 Oct. 5 Homer s Odyssey books 1-5. Seminars focus on showing how Homer adapted and incorporated world-wide folklore themes in his epic. We start with folklore themes associated with the inheritance of the kingdom of Ithaca (Od. 1-4) and the Calypso adventure (Od. 5). Thanksgiving Oct. 12 No class
Week 6 Oct. 19 Mid-term exam (1 hour). Final journal-entry due. After the exam: How some ancient myths can be located and dated with a focus on the Minotaur myth. Fall break Oct. 26 30 No class October 26. Week 7 Nov. 2 Resume Homer s Odyssey: The folklore themes underlying Odysseus Nausicaa adventure (Od. 6-8) and the Cyclops adventure (Od. 9). Week 8 Nov. 9 A comparison of Circe s instructions to Odysseus on how to reach the Land of the Dead + what Odysseus learns in the Otherworld (Od. 10-11) with pertinent parts of The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Odyssey is then completed. Weeks 9 Nov. 16 The Changing Face of Odysseus. A comparison of the portrayal of Odysseus (also called Ulysses) in Homer s Odyssey with his portrayal in later literature such the Epic Cycle, Dante, and Tennyson. Week 10-11 Nov. 23 & 30 Aeschylus Oresteia. A comparison of Aeschylus and Homer s treatments of the Agamemnon myth to show how myths are transformed and given a contemporary twist. Week 12 Dec. 7 More on Tammuz and a review of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Mid-year final exam Scheduled by the university during exam period Dec. 9-21. WINTER TERM First Monday: Jan 11. Last Monday: April 4 2016. Weeks 1-2 Jan. 11 & 18 Introduction to Vergil s 10 Eclogues (they are examples of Latin pastoral poetry derived from Greek origins). Eclogue 1 is political with lots of pastoral elements. E. 2 is a lover s lament, E. 3 a song contest in amoebean style. The beginning of E. 6 introduces the idea of allegory. All these ideas will be explained. Week 3 Jan. 25 Apollonios of Rhodes Argonautica. The legend of Jason s search for the Golden Fleece in this epic is based on a folktale that is also told in Homer s Odyssey. This seminar therefore also throws new light on a passage in Homer s Od. Week 4 Feb. 1 Three journal entries due. Plato s Atlantis myth and flood-legends in general. Week 5 Feb. 8 The Octavia in the context of the early Roman Empire. Winter Break Feb. 15-19 No class Feb. 15 Week 6 Feb. 22 Mid-term Winter exam (1 hr). Final journal-entry due. The Greek and Roman gods: attitudes and equivalences. Week 7 Feb. 29 Terence s Adelphoe to p. 355. Week 8 March 7 Complete Terence s Adelphoe. Week 9 March 14 Orpheus and the Underworld. A comparison of versions. Week 10 March 21 The Eclogues revisited: E. 4, The Messianic Eclogue, has had an immense influence upon world thought! Week 11 March 28 E. 5 and 9 are political and allegorical. Weeks 12 Apr. 4 A brief history of Rome. Final exam Scheduled by university during exam period Apr. 11-23.
BOOKS ON RESERVE IN THE LIBRARY IN CARLETON UNIV. LIBRARY The aim of FYSM 1106B is achieved mainly through analytical readings of the primary Greek and Roman texts (in translation) in the seminars. However, I have put some supplementary books on reserve with descriptions of their use. You will also find related books on the library shelves. Where shelf marks (e.g. PA 6825 C53) are indicated below, closely related books can be found by looking on the main library shelves in the PA section for books with closely numbered shelf marks. FALL SEMESTER Raymond J. Clark, Origins: New light on Eschatology in Gilgamesh s Mortuary Journey. I have supplied a photocopy of this chapter from John Maier (ed.), Gilgamesh: A Reader (Illinois 1997). It analyses in greater detail than my book (see next item) how the epic-maker used earlier Sumerian tales. Raymond J. Clark, Catabasis: Vergil and the Wisdom-Tradition (Amsterdam 1979): PA 6825 C53. Has a section on Gilgamesh in chapter 1, and another chapter on Odysseus descent to the underworld in Homer s Odyssey. This chapter is designed to answer the problems raised by Denys Page (see immediately following). Denys Page, The Homeric Odyssey (Oxford 1955): PA 4167 P3. Has a chapter on the Cyclops myth, as well as on Odysseus descent to the underworld in Homer s Odyssey. Page claims that Odysseus descent is not the work of Homer, but was added ( interpolated ) by later bards. [Page quotes many passages from the Greek, but he always gives references, e.g. Od. 3.26. You can find the English translation easily, because 3 means Book 3, and 26 means verse 26, which are given in the margins of the Penguin translation which you have. W.J. Woodhouse, The Composition of Homer s Odyssey (Oxford 1930): PA 4037 W8. A brilliant book, easy to follow, with chapters on the individual folktales which are embedded in the Odyssey. J. Griffin, Homer: The Odyssey PA 4167 G 75. A short readable book on the Odyssey. THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ARE USEFUL IN EACH SEMESTER The Oxford Classical Dictionary cannot be put on reserve specifically for this course because it is ALWAYS on reserve in the reserve section of the library. The latest edition is by S. Hornblower & A. Spawforth, 2012. Every entry (over 6, 700 of them; see below) is written by an expert. This easy-to-use dictionary lists everything in the Greek and Roman world alphabetically. You can therefore look up authors like Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Plato, Vergil, Seneca, Terence etc. Or mythical heroes or historical characters or gods such as Odysseus, Agamemnon, Prometheus, Alexander the Great, Zeus and Apollo. There are also articles on places, e.g. Mycenae and Sparta where the kings Agamemnon and Menelaos lived.
Also topics are included, such as Architecture, History, Spinning, Religion, Inns including Restaurants, and literary genres such as epic and pastoral any aspect of Greek and Roman civilization, in fact, can be looked up easily. Works by Greek and Roman authors are translated in the Loeb edition, running into several hundred volumes, published by Harvard University Press. They are nice, small books, easy to handle, in two series: (1) those with green covers have the original Greek text on the left, English on the right; (2) those with red covers have the original Latin text on the left, English on the right. Both sets of Loebs can be found on the library shelves in the PA section. E.g., both the Theogony and the Works & Days by the Greek author Hesiod are translated in this series. Look under PA for the green Loebs because Hesiod is Greek and then look along the collection for Hesiod in his alphabetical order. Both works are in the same vol., and at the end, as a bonus, is the translation of the Epic Cycle. WINTER SEMESTER: J. Griffin, Virgil (Oxford University Press). This short book is brilliant on the Eclogues.
REGULATIONS COMMON TO ALL HUMANITIES COURSES COPIES OF WRITTEN WORK SUBMITTED Always retain for yourself a copy of all essays, term papers, written assignments or take-home tests submitted in your courses. PLAGIARISM The University Senate defines plagiarism as presenting, whether intentional or not, the ideas, expression of ideas or work of others as one s own. This can include: reproducing or paraphrasing portions of someone else s published or unpublished material, regardless of the source, and presenting these as one s own without proper citation or reference to the original source; submitting a take-home examination, essay, laboratory report or other assignment written, in whole or in part, by someone else; using ideas or direct, verbatim quotations, or paraphrased material, concepts, or ideas without appropriate acknowledgment in any academic assignment; using another s data or research findings; failing to acknowledge sources through the use of proper citations when using another s works and/or failing to use quotation marks; handing in "substantially the same piece of work for academic credit more than once without prior written permission of the course instructor in which the submission occurs." Plagiarism is a serious offence which cannot be resolved directly with the course s instructor. The Associate Deans of the Faculty conduct a rigorous investigation, including an interview with the student, when an instructor suspects a piece of work has been plagiarized. Penalties are not trivial. They can include a final grade of F for the course GRADING SYSTEM Letter grades assigned in this course will have the following percentage equivalents: A+ = 90-100 (12) B = 73-76 (8) C - = 60-62 (4) A = 85-89 (11) B- = 70-72 (7) D+ = 57-59 (3) A- = 80-84 (10) C+ = 67-69 (6) D = 53-56 (2) B+ = 77-79 (9) C = 63-66 (5) D - = 50-52 (1) F ABS DEF FND Failure. Assigned 0.0 grade points Absent from final examination, equivalent to F Official deferral (see "Petitions to Defer") Failure with no deferred exam allowed -- assigned only when the student has failed the course on the basis of inadequate term work as specified in the course outline. Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval of the Faculty Dean. WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT ACADEMIC PENALTY The last date to withdraw from FALL TERM courses is DEC. 7, 2015. The last day to withdraw from FALL/WINTER (Full Term) and WINTER term courses is APRIL 8, 2016. REQUESTS FOR ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term because of disability, pregnancy or religious obligations. Please review the course outline promptly and write to me with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. You can visit the Equity Services website to view the policies and to obtain more detailed information on academic accommodation at: carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/ Students with disabilities requiring academic accommodations in this course must register with the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) for a formal evaluation of disability-related needs. Documented disabilities could include but not limited to mobility/physical impairments, specific Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/psychological disabilities, sensory disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and chronic medical conditions. Registered PMC students are required to contact the PMC, 613-520-6608, every term to ensure that your Instructor receives your Letter of Accommodation, no later than two weeks before the first assignment is due or the first in-class test/midterm requiring accommodations. If you only require accommodations for your formally scheduled exam(s) in this course, please submit your request for accommodations to PMC by Nov. 6, 2015 for the Fall term and March 6, 2016 for the Winter term. For more details visit the Equity Services website: carleton.ca/equity/accommodation/ PETITIONS TO DEFER If you miss a final examination and/or fail to submit a FINAL assignment by the due date because of circumstances beyond your control, you may apply a deferral of examination/assignment. If you are applying for a deferral due to illness you will be required to see a physician in order to confirm illness and obtain a medical certificate dated no later than one working day after the examination or assignment deadline. This supporting documentation must specify the date of onset of the illness, the degree of incapacitation, and the expected date of recovery. If you are applying for a deferral for reasons other than personal illness, please contact the Registrar s Office directly for information on other forms of documentation that we accept. Deferrals of a final assignment or take home, in courses without a final examination, must be supported by confirmation of the assignment due date, for example a copy of the course outline specifying the due date and any documented extensions from the course instructor. Deferral applications for examination or assignments must be submitted within 5 working days of the original final exam. ADDRESSES: (Area Code 613) College of the Humanities 520-2809 Greek and Roman Studies Office 520-2809 Religion Office 520-2100 Registrar's Office 520-3500 Student Academic Success Centre 520-7850 Paul Menton Centre 520-6608/TTY 520-3937 Writing Tutorial Service 520-2600 Ext. 1125 Learning Support Service 520-2600 Ext 1125 300 Paterson 300 Paterson 2A39 Paterson 300 Tory 302 Tory 501 Uni-Centre 4 th Floor Library 4 th Floor Library