The myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans have been the stuff of bedtime stories and the world's greatest art and literature. They can teach important morals to children and they can be the tools adults use to reflect on themselves. The most important trait of mythological tales is their adaptability. In this course, students will study the Greek and Roman stories in their many manifestations in the ancient world and beyond.
The course will start at the beginning of time, when there existed only the primordial Chaos. Students will learn about the Greek and Roman versions of the birth of the gods and the creation of humanity. These stories of the southern and eastern Mediterranean world did not exist in a vacuum. The course will also compare these tales to similar stories from Babylonian and Hebrew societies, including the Biblical creation and flood stories in Genesis.
In addition to the creation stories, we'll hear the tales of the Olympian Gods: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Hestia and Dionysus, and their Roman counterparts: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Mars, Mercury, Vulcan, Vesta and Bacchus. Which goddesses are virgins? Which gods have children by seducing mortal women? What happens when you please one god but anger another? What happens when a mortal man sees a goddess naked? (Warning: tales about Greek and Roman gods can be rated R!)
And then there are the adventures of the Heroes. Bellerophon rides the winged horse Pegasus, and Perseus slays the Gorgon Medusa. Jason gathers the greatest band of heroes ever assembled to sail on the Argonaut and seek the Golden Fleece. Oedipus murders his father and marries his mother. Oedipus's sons battle over his kingship and die at each other's hand. Heracles, the most famous hero of all, tames the world's monsters, steals the three-headed dog Cerberus from the Underworld, and is made into a god. Over in Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus found the new city, but when Remus disobeys his brother's law, he suffers the first execution.
Finally, there is the epic saga of the Trojan War. The mightiest warriors of Europe and Asia battle over Helen. The Trojan prince Hector fights to protect his beautiful bride Andromache and their son Astyanax. The Greek king Agamemnon leads a force that includes Menelaus, Ajax, Nestor, Diomedes and, the best of the Achaeans, Achilles. The course concludes with a detailed study of the adventurer Odysseus, Trojan War soldier and world wanderer. He faced the Cyclops and the Sirens, but also proved to be the most adaptable character in classical mythology. He appears in every major genre of fiction in the ancient world, and has continued his importance into the modern world in novels such as James Joyce's Ulysses and the Coen brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (which we will watch). Odysseus's career helps us to comprehend why humans in all societies turn to the timeless tales of mythology in order to understand themselves.
