The hero’s journeys abroad and as he re-enters his homeland are fraught with perils. This week we’ll follow the exciting peregrinations of Odysseus, "man of twists and turns," over sea and land.
Along the way, we’ll examine questions of heroism, relationships between gods and mortals, family dynamics, and the Homeric values of hospitality and resourcefulness. This week we focus on the young Telemachus’ tour as he begins to come of age we also accompany his father Odysseus as he journeys homeward after the Trojan War. This core text not only gives us an exciting story to appreciate on its own merits but also offers us a kind of laboratory where we can investigate myth using different theoretical approaches. In week 2, we begin our intensive study of myth through Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. Quiz: Complete the quiz by the end of the week.
Readings: No texts this week, but it would be a good idea to get started on next week's reading to get ahead of the game. We’ll also begin to think about the topic at hand: myth! How can we begin to define "myth"? How does myth work? What have ancient and modern theorists, philosophers, and other thinkers had to say about myth? This week we’ll also begin our foray into Homer’s world, with an eye to how we can best approach epic poetry. Welcome to Greek and Roman Mythology! This first week we’ll introduce the class, paying attention to how the course itself works. Are myths subtle codes that contain some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of a particular culture? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though we do not realize it? Or are they just entertaining stories that people like to tell over and over? This course will investigate these questions through a variety of topics, including the creation of the universe, the relationship between gods and mortals, human nature, religion, the family, sex, love, madness, and death. We will also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves understood their own myths.
What are we to make of all these tales, and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations.
Still others are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into trouble or do some great deed. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Some of them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding of a nation. Myths are traditional stories that have endured over a long time.
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