Summer 2024 - HUM 102W OL01
Classical Mythology (3)
Class Number: 3454
Delivery Method: Online
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Online
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Exam Times + Location:
Jun 25, 2024
Tue, 7:00–8:00 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
David Mirhady
dmirhady@sfu.ca
1 778 782-3906
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. Students with credit for HUM 102 may not take this course for further credit. 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.
COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:
To guide the student to a basic understanding of, and a fluency with, the fundamental elements of classical mythology.
Grading
- 4 Short Papers 55%
- Mid-term (In-person) 15%
- Participation 10%
- Final Exam (In-person) 20%
NOTES:
This course is designated B-HUM and meets the Breadth-Humanities undergraduate degree requirements.
This is a writing intensive (W) course. Students will receive specific guidance on how to craft a written argument. The assignments are designed to teach critical thinking and writing skills that are of use not only in other Humanities courses, but in courses in other disciplines as well.REQUIREMENTS:
Each week, students will be expected to have done the required readings and to be able to participate in written tutorial discussion about the assigned topics. On Canvas, discussion must shed some light on the texts by discussing specific passages and by reacting to others’ discussion of passages. Each student must also submit four 450-500-word prepared papers. The papers must address the topics each week (but students must only submit in 4 of the weeks). Both the mid-term (60 minutes) and final (90 minutes) will be held in person and have both multiple-choice and essay questions based on the readings and lessons.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
- Homer,The Odyssey, translated by Fagles. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1996.
- Homer, The Iliad, translated by Fagles. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1990.
- Greek Tragedies I, Vol. 1, 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2013.
- Shelmerdine, Susan. The Homeric Hymns. Newburyport: Focus Publishing, 1995.
- Caldwell, Richard, trans. Hesiod Theogony. Newburyport: Focus Publishing, 1987.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity website 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