Professors:  Jenny Lynn and Kirk Ormand

Course Syllabus

Required Texts:    Homer: Iliad  (tr. by Richmond Lattimore, Chicago)

The Odyssey of Homer (tr. by Robert Fagles, Penguin)

Seth Schein, The Mortal Hero (California)

Selected articles on reserve (you may read them there or make your own photocopies)

 

Classics 100 concentrates upon two great epic poems at the beginning of European literature: the Iliad and the Odyssey.  We will focus on the literary, social, cultural, and ethical interpretation of these works.  The required reading is the text of the poems themselves (in translation) together with selected criticism, including Schein and photocopied articles on reserve.  There are also additional works on criticism and background on reserve which you may wish to read.  These will be particularly helpful in the preparation of your papers and essays.  Remember that ideas which you use from any outside reading, whether you support or oppose them, should always be properly footnoted in papers.

Students desiring credit for the course must complete all five of the following requirements satisfactorily:

First, the most important requirement is meaningful participation in the course.  This includes taking part in discussions, attending lectures, and completing reading assignments on time.

Second, Third and Fourth, there will be three papers assigned in the course of the term.  The first will be very short (2 pages) and rely only on readings of the primary material.  The second will be somewhat longer (3-5 pages) and may include secondary readings.  The final paper will include a rough draft (to be read by a classmate) and a final draft. For the final paper you may substitute a creative project (work of fiction, dramatic presentation, plastic or visual arts, etc.) provided that you obtain the approval of one of the instructors for your concept in advance. All non-standard final papers will include a written component; further details of requirements will be forthcoming. Please note the syllabus for all due dates; penalties will be imposed on late work.

 Fifth, there will be a two-hour take-home final examination, due before 11:00 am on Dec. 18.

The class will meet three times a week; ordinarily one meeting will be devoted to lecture, the other two to discussion.  Please note that readings in the primary texts are due on discussion dates, while secondary readings (criticism) are assigned for lecture dates.

Class Assignments

Sept. 5     Lecture I             Reading: Lattimore’s Introduction 

7              Iliad 1-2                                                              

               

10            Iliad 3-4                                                              

12            Lecture II           Reading: Schein, ch. 1              

14            Iliad 5-6                                                              

               

17            Iliad 7-8                                                              

19            Lecture III          Reading: Schein, ch. 2              

21            Iliad 9-10                                                            

               

24            Iliad 11-12         ***Paper #1 due***

26            Iliad 13-14        

28            Lecture IV          Reading: Schein, ch. 3                                                                                

               

Oct. 1      Iliad 15-16                                                          

3              Iliad 17-18                                                          

5              Lecture V           Reading: Schein, ch. 4              

               

8              Iliad 19-20                                                          

10            Lecture VI          Reading: Schein, ch. 5              

12            Iliad 21-22                                                          

               

15            Iliad 23-24                                                          

16            Movie                Unforgiven                              

17            Lecture VII         Reading: Schein, ch. 6, Eastwood’s Unforgiven  

19            Discussion         ****Paper 2 due****

                                                                                            

                                           [Oct. 20-28:  Fall Break]         

               

29            Odyssey 1-2                                                        

31            Lecture VIII       Reading: Knox’s Introduction to Fagles’ Odyssey

Nov. 2     Odyssey 3-4                                                                                                                     

               

5              Odyssey 5-6                                                                                                                     

7              Lecture IX          Reading: V. Wohl, “Standing by the Stathmos,” Arethusa 26

                                          

9              Odyssey 7-8                                                                                                                     

               

12            Odyssey 9-10                                                      

14            Odyssey 11-12                                                    

16            Lecture X           Reading: P. Walcot, “Odysseus and the Art of Lying,” Ancient Society 8

               

19            Odyssey 13-14                                                                                                                 

21            Odyssey 15-16                                                    

23                 ¾                  Thanksgiving Break                                                                              

               

26            Lecture XI          Reading: Eckert, “Initiatory Motifs in the story of Telemachus”                      

28            Odyssey 17-18   **** Draft Term Paper due ****                                                      

30            Odyssey 19-20                                                    

               

Dec. 3      Odyssey 21-22 

5              Odyssey 23        

7              Lecture XII        Reading: F. Zeitlin, “Figuring Fidelity in Homer’s Odyssey”               

               

10            Odyssey 24        

11            Movie                O Brother Where Art Thou?   

12            Discussion         O Brother Where Art Thou?   

14            Summary discussion  **** TERM  PAPER  DUE ****                                                    

               

Dec. 18    Noon                  **** Final Exam due ****              

 

Select Bibliography (*On Reserve)

 

 

Austin, N. Archery at the Dark of the Moon (California 1975)

PA4167.9

 

*

Beye, C.R. The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic Tradition (Anchor 1966)

PA4037.B503.1976

 

*

Clarke, H. (A) The Art of the Odyssey (Prentice-Hall 1967)

883.1.710C553

 

*

     “       (B) Homer’s Readers (Delaware 1982)

PA 4037.C49

 

*

     “       (C) Twentieth Century Interpretations of the Odyssey (Prentice-Hall 1983)

PA4167.T85.1983

 

 

Clay, J.S. The Wrath of Athena (Princeton 1983)

PA4167.C54.1983

 

*

Dodds, E.R. The Greeks and the Irrational (Berkeley 1951)

913.38.D661G

 

 

Doherty, L.E. “Gender and Internal Audiences in the Odyssey,” AJP 113:2 (1992) 161-177

 

*

Edwards, M.W. Homer: Poet of the Iliad (Baltimore 1987)

PA4037.E39

 

*

Eckert, “Initiatory Motifs in the Story of Telemachus”

 

 

 

Felson-Rubin, N. Regarding Penelope (Princeton 1994)

PA4170.P46F45

 

 

Fenik, B.C. Studies in the Odyssey (Wiesbaden 1974)

480.8.H428.v.30

 

*

Finley, M.I. The World of Odysseus (revised ed., New York 1965)

883.1.75F.2

 

*

Foley, H.P. “Reverse Similes and Sex Roles in the Odyssey,”  Arethusa 11 (1978) 7-26

 

*

Greenberg, N. “The Attitude of Agamemnon,”  CW 86 (1983) 193-205

 

 

*

Griffin, J. Homer on Life and Death (Oxford 1980)

PA 4037.G74

 

 

Hexter, R. A Guide to the Odyssey (Vantage 1993)

PA4167.H5.1993

 

 

Jones, P.V. Homer’s Odyssey: A Companion to the Translation of Richmond Lattimore (Carbondale 1988)

PA4167.J66.1988

 

 

Kirk, G.S. The Songs of Homer (Cambridge 1976)

883.1.7Ki

 

*

Lord, A. Singer of Tales (Harvard 1960)

809.1.L884S

 

*

Murnaghan, S. Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey (Princeton 1987)

PA4167.M8.1987

 

 

Nagler, M.  Spontaneity and Tradition (California 1974)

PA 4037 N34

 

 

Nagy, G. The Best of the Achaeans (Johns Hopkins 1979)

PA 3015.H43 N34

 

 

Oberhelman, S., V. Kelly, & R. Golsan, Epic and Epoch (Texas Tech 1994)

PN1303.E59

 

*

Owen, E. The Story of the Iliad (Oxford 1947)

883.1.71 IO

 

*

Parry, H. “The Apologos of Odysseus: Lies, All Lies?” Phoenix 48:1 (1994) 1-20

 

 

*

Parry, M. The Making of Homeric Verse (Oxford 1971)

883.1.7P

 

 

Redfield, J.M.  Nature and Culture in the Iliad (Chicago 1975)

PA 4037.R38

 

*

Russo, J. “Interview and Aftermath: Dream, Fantasy, and Intuition in Odyssey 19 and 20,” AJP 103 (1982) 4-18

 

 

*

Rutherford, R.B. “From the Iliad to the Odyssey,” BICS 38 (1991-1993) 37-54

 

 

*

Schein, S. The Mortal Hero (Berkeley 1984)

PA4037.S394

 

*

Segal, C. (A) The Theme of the Mutilation of the Corpse in the Iliad

883.1.71ISe37

 

 

     “   (B) “The Phaeacians and the Symbolism of Odysseus’ Return”, Arion 1.4 (1962) 17-64

 

*

     “   (C) “Kleos and Its Ironies in the Odyssey,”  L’Antiquité Classique 52 (1983) 22-47

 

 

*

     “   (D) “Divine Justice in the Odyssey: Poseidon, Cyclops and Helios,” AJP 113:4 (1992) 489-518

 

 

*

Stanford, W.B. The Ulysses Theme (Oxford 1954)

883.1.71 OS

 

 

Taylor, C.H. Essays on the Odyssey (Indiana 1963)

883.1.71 OT 212

 

 

Tracy, S. The Story of the Odyssey (Princeton 1990)

PA 4167. T7

 

*

Van Nortwick, T. (A) “Penelope and Nausicaa”, TAPA 109 (1979), 269-276

 

 

*

     “    (B) Somewhere I Have Never Travelled: The Second Self and the Hero’s Journey in Ancient Epic  (Oxford 1992)

PA3022.E6V36.1992

 

*

Whitman, C. Homer and the Heroic Tradition (Harvard 1958)

883.1.7 W 591

 

*

Willcock, M.W. A Companion to the Iliad (Chicago 1976)

PA 4037.W734

 

*

Wohl, V.J. “Standing by the Stathmos: The Creation of Sexual Ideology in the Odyssey”, Arethusa 26 (1993) 19-50

 

 

 

Wright, J. Essays on the Iliad (Indiana 1978)

PA 4037.A5E8