Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2019 - HUM 102W D100

Classical Mythology (3)

Class Number: 5732

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Thu, 8:30–10:20 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Apr 12, 2019
    Fri, 8:30–11:30 a.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    .

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to the central myths of the Greeks and Romans. The course will investigate the nature, function, and meaning of myths in the classical world and their considerable influence on western civilization. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Equivalent Courses: HUM102 Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course will focus on the stories the people of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds told: to entertain each other, to explain the nature of their world and its institutions, to reflect on current challenges, and to preserve a memory of their distant past.  Their mythology was a pervasive vehicle for communication, a sort of language.  Because classical mythology is also so thoroughly anthropomorphic, it also raises questions about the nature of the human condition.  These questions have led people to return to its stories continually since antiquity.  While keeping aware of our own, modern perspective, our goal in this course is to begin to master and appreciate these stories and the role they played in the Greek and Roman cultures that produced them.  We shall read the stories in the great literary forms of the ancient Greek world, epic and tragedy, and seek an appreciation of them as storytelling forms.

Grading

  • 4 short papers 55%
  • Midterm 15%
  • Tutorial presentation 10%
  • Final exam 20%

REQUIREMENTS:

For every class, students will be expected to have done the required readings and to be able to participate in discussion about the assigned topics.  Grades for participation rely on the following factors: presence, constructive oral discussion, and reading preparation.  (In order to be constructive, discussion must shed some light on the texts.)  Each student must hand in four 450-500-word prepared papers. The papers must address the topics each week and be handed in at the lectures the day the material is being discussed (keep a copy for yourself). Both the mid-term and final (90 minutes) will have both multiple-choice essay questions based on the readings and lectures. 

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Homer (trans. Fagles), The Iliad.                            Penguin Classics
ISBN: 9780140445923

Homer (trans. Fagles), The Odyssey.                      Penguin Classics
ISBN: 9780140268867

Ovid, Metamorphoses.                                         Oxford World’s Classics
ISBN: 019283472X

Greek Tragedies I                                           University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226035284

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS