kHUM 102W-3: Classical Mythology                                                          B-HUM

Semester: Spring 2010 (1091), D100 Burnaby, WMC 3260. Fridays 8:30 AM

Instructor: Dr. David Mirhady  (D101)  778-782-3906      dmirhady@sfu.ca

Office Hours: By appointment  AQ 5127

Teaching Assistants:

Dylan van der Schyff   D103, D104, D105     dva5@sfu.ca

Office Hour F 10:30-11:30 AQ5126 778-782-5378

Bill Dow D102, D104, D105 william_dow@sfu.ca

Office Hour F 11:30-12:30 AQ5126 778-782-5378

Course web site www.sfu.ca/personal/dmirhady/102.htm

Course Description:  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 thus an almost pervasive vehicle for communication, a sort of language.  Because classical mythology is also so thoroughly anthropomorphic, it has also raised 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 culture 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.

The course will emphasize writing, with four short (500-word) writing assignments required.

Required Texts:

Homer, The Iliad, trans. Fagles.

Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Fagles.

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

Greek Tragedy Vol. 3.  University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-30791-6

Greek Tragedy Vol. 1.  University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-30790-5

Grading:  60% 4 short papers, 10% mid-term quiz, 10% tutorial participation, 20% final exam

            For every tutorial meeting, 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 and bring it to the tutorial).

The mid-term quiz (25 minutes) will have multiple-choice questions based on the readings and lectures. 

The final exam (90 minutes) will have both multiple-choice and two essay questions.

Reading Schedule    HUM 102-3 D100 Classical Mythology                                              2009-1

January

8 Introduction: course procedures; what classical mythology is; historical overview; sources; Olympians.

15 Anger: Homer, Iliad 1, 3, 6, 9, 12

22 Peace: Homer, Il. 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 FIRST PAPER DUE FOR ALL: Write a synopsis of one of the books of the Iliad that we are not reading together for class.  Follow the guidelines (below).  Use the rosters circulated in the tutorials to avoid overlap.

29 The Power of the Gods: Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, Euripides, Bacchae, and Ovid, Metamorphoses 3, the stories of Cadmus, Diana and Actaeon, Semele and the Birth of Bacchus, Tiresias, and Pentheus and Bacchus Paper Topics: Is it possible to interpret the actions of Zeus in Prometheus Bound favorably? Or, what is the greater issue in Bacchae, sexuality or the effects of wine?

February

5 Heroes: Euripides, Alcestis and Hippolytus, and Ovid, Metamorphoses 9 Achelous and Hercules, Hercules, Nessus and Deianira, the Death and Apotheosis of Hercules, and the Birth of Hercules, and 7 Theseus, and 15 Hippolytus & Asculapius Paper Topics: Who gives the more unfavorable portrayal of Heracles/Hercules, Euripides or Ovid? Or, in the debate, or agon, at Hipp. 936-1035, who gives the better speech?

12 Thebes: Sophocles, Oedipus the King and Antigone: LAST DAY FOR SECOND PAPER Paper Topics: At line OT 874 the Chorus says, “insolence breeds the tyrant,” but the Greek word “tyrant” is translated as “king” in the rest of the play. In the logic of the play, is it a bad thing to be a tyrant/king? Or, in the debate at Ant. 494-540 does Creon’s argument properly rebut Antigone’s?

15-26 Olympic Games break. All classes postponed. Offices open.

March

5 MID-TERM QUIZ:  the quiz will take only 25 minutes and consist of 40 multiple-choice questions. After the quiz there will be a screening of the film Iphigenia, which is based on a play by Euripides. Read Ovid, Metamorphoses 12 The Expedition Against Troy.

12 The Oresteia: Aeschylus Agamemnon and Eumenides Paper Topic:  Is Agamemnon a popular king? Or, does Athena finally give an adequate explanation to the Furies?

19 The Revenant Hero: Homer, Odyssey 1, 5-6, 9-12 LAST DAY FOR THIRD PAPER Paper Topics: Are there parallels between the suitors and Odysseus’ crew? Or, does Odysseus’ character change?          

26 Home: Homer, Od. 13, 15, 17-18, 22, 24 Paper Topic: What do Odysseus’ relationships with his servants, male or female, reveal about his character?

April

2 Fri GOOD FRIDAY. All classes cancelled. Offices closed.

9 A New Mythology: Ovid, Metamorphoses 1-8: Creation-Ages of Mankind-Flood&Deucalion and Pyrrha-Apollo and Daphne-Io-Phaethon-Callisto-Narcissus and Echo--Pyramus and Thisbe-Salmacis and Hermaphroditus-Perseus and Andromeda-Perseus’Fight in the Palace of Cepheus-The Rape of Proserpine- Arachne - Medea and Jason-Medea and Aeson-Medea and Pelias: her flight-Minotaur&Daedalus and Icarus- Philemon and Baucis Paper Topic: Which two stories in today’s readings are most similar?

16 Myth into History: Ovid, Metamorphoses 9-15: Orpheus and Eurydice-Ganymede & Hyacinth – Pygmalion – Myrrha - Atalanta - Death of Achilles & Ajax and Ulysses-Fall of Troy & Hecuba, Polyxena, and Polydorus - Pilgrimage of Aeneas -Triumph and Apotheosis of Aeneas - Early Rome and Romulus & Numa -Apotheosis of Julius Caesar            Paper Topic:  Does Ovid have a consistent view of death and the afterlife?      LAST DAY FOR FOURTH PAPER

22 Th 8:30AM – 10:00 AM FINAL EXAM

A Guide to Doing the Papers          Classical Mythology            HUM 102

Goals:

· To have you engage in historia (research) and come to your own, independent view about some aspect of classical mythology.

· To have you learn some of the basic strategies of academic writing, especially in the humanities.  In this course, we'll work on two forms of writing, 1)  a narrative synopsis, and 2) an argumentative essay.

· To allow you to work through the material in such a way that you may appropriate it, i.e. make it your own (and remember it for the exams).

· To have you come to the tutorials with a position on the material already staked out.  (Those who have written on the assignment on any given day are expected to be able to speak for up to five minutes; that may form part of the paper's evaluation.)

· To have you develop your writing skills.  (If there are too many mechanical errors, you will be asked to correct and resubmit your paper in order to get a mark.)

· To have you work out some preliminary thoughts about a subject that you may want to take up in a more elaborate way in a senior course.  This paper can form what we call an "abstract" for your future essay.

Procedure for Paper 1:

· Do all of the assigned reading and take note of whatever is relevant to the plot of a story.

· Assume that your reader is another student in the class who has done the assigned reading but has not read your story.  You need to fill in the story economically but usefully. 

· Avoid getting too colloquial, but leave poetic language to Homer.

· Use the present tense throughout.

· Decide on a single term for each character and stick with it.  Ignore epithets, including patronymics.

· Make sure to include all significant names, places, and actions.

· Do not quote, but do cite the relevant line numbers in the translation for the events that you are referring to.

· Keep the paper within 500 words.

Procedure for Papers 2-4

· Do all of the assigned reading and take note of whatever may be relevant.  Take some time to brainstorm: look for opportunities to compare and contrast; seek out key terms and concepts; think about the source(s); anticipate objections.

· Assume that your reader is another student in the class who has done the reading but has not given as much thought to the point you want to make.  While you should use a formal, academic tone, there is no need to retell the story to this person.

· Make a single, clear statement of the point you want to make (your thesis statement, which must be the first sentence of the paper) and then back up that statement with arguments (in the first paragraph) and specific evidence, which support the arguments (in the subsequent paragraphs).

· The first paragraph should give your argument in a nutshell.  Do not cite specific evidence in it.  Subsequent paragraphs should detail the argument.  The conclusion should look beyond your paper to associated issues.                    

· Do as much of the thinking as possible by yourself.  Avoid quotations - they represent someone else's thinking.  Paraphrase rather than quote, but cite the relevant passages.

· Keep the paper within 500 words.

Mechanics (for all papers):

· Put all identifying information (e.g. your name, the date) on one line at the top of the first page.  Do not use a title page.  Do not bother with a title.

· For any specific or disputable information or a quotation, cite your source.  However, since these are very short papers, do not use footnotes.  For instance, if you use Homer for specific information, write (Il. 1.48) at the end of the sentence before the period to indicate that your information stems from the Iliad, book one, line 48. (Subsequent citations of the Iliad can omit the "Il.".)  Do not bother with a bibliography.

· Consider information gleaned from footnotes in your texts as background information.  It can save you from errors, but it should not play an active role in your papers.  The same is true of class lectures.  That is, neither the footnotes nor the lectures should ever be cited.  If specific information cannot be grounded on our texts, it should not appear in your papers.

· Check the mechanics of your paper thoroughly for grammatical errors, spelling, and typographical mistakes.  It is even better to ask a classmate to proofread your paper once you have done so.  Feel free to pencil in changes on your typescript.  The most common errors are comma splices, dangling modifiers, and confusions between "it's" and "its".  Beware that I tolerate split infinitives with difficulty.

· Double space and use standard margins, font (e.g. Times), and font size, that is, 12 point.

Caveats:

• When referring to events in a story that is in a text under discussion, use the present tense even if the text narrates them in the past tense.
• Avoid saying much about the modern world.  You may briefly illustrate a point by mentioning a modern parallel, but remember that you are writing about classical mythology and its context.  We are not interested in your views about the modern world (at least, not for this course).
• Write nothing about yourself or your opinions; it wastes space.  I know that what I'm reading represents your thoughts.  Instead of writing "in my opinion," write something like "it appears that" if you want to qualify a statement you are unsure of.  Better yet, explain why the statement needs to be qualified.
• Avoid trite conclusions such as those that claim that the classical world and the modern world are similar.
• Avoid colloquialisms, slang, and contractions.  Although you are writing as if to your classmates, keep a formal distance.
• The spellings of classical names vary in this course as they do in our language in general.  You need to get used to this fact.  Some spellings are influenced by the literary transmission through Latin, while others attempt to transliterate Greek spellings directly.  You don’t want to bother with all the details, and you can certainly use in your writing any spelling that appears in our course material.  As rules of thumb, remember that C = K (Kastor/Castor), OI = OE (Oidipous/Oedipus), AI = AE (Aiskhylos/Aeschylus), and OS = US (Ouranos/Uranus).

Abbreviations

Eum. Eumenides

Bacch. Bacchae

Il. Iliad  (e.g. Il. 6.25 = Iliad book 6 line 25)

Met. Metamorphoses

Od. Odyssey

Alc. Alcestis

OC Oedipus at Colonus

OT Oedipus Tyrannus

Hipp. Hippolytus

Ag. Agamemnon

PB Prometheus Bound

Ant. Antigone