Classics 2273 X1 Gods in Classical Fall 2015

Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION

A study of the gods of classical mythology in Greek and Roman art and literature. From eighth century BCE epic poets of the Greek world through to the reassessment of classical myth under Roman authors. The course also considers contemporary approaches to studying classical myth.

BAC 207 Slot 12 Tuesday/Thursday 10:00-11:30 am

CONTACT INFORMATION

Janice Worthylake-Perry, Administrative Assistant Office: BAC 441 Phone: (902) 585-1504 E-Mail: [email protected]

Professor Vernon Provencal Office: BAC 444 Phone: (902) 585-1374 E-Mail: [email protected]

Office Hours:

 Monday through Friday 11:30- 12:30  Monday and Wednesday 2:00-2:30

Email to schedule an appointment during office hours:

COURSE REGULATIONS

 You will need your laptop to leave a class note at the end of class.  Non-class-related use of the laptop in the classroom is not permitted.  Regular attendance is expected.

TEXTS (Oxford University Press editions – available through Acadia Bookstore)

and (West)  The (Crudden,)  The Complete Aeschylus II - Bound & Other Plays (Burian and Shapiro)  The Complete Euripides III - Hippolytus and Other Plays (Burian and Shapiro)  (Melville & Kenney)  The Complete Euripides IV – Bakhai and Other Plays (Burian and Shapiro)

ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION

Description Value Class Note 10% A brief summary of the day's class posted to ACORN at end of class. You must attend class to post a note. Midterm 1 20% Prep Review posted to ACORN on Thursday September 24 Midterm on Tuesday September 29 Midterm returned October 8 Midterm 2 20% Prep Review posted to ACORN on Thursday October 29 Midterm on Tuesday November 3 Midterm returned November 12 Term Paper / Project Assigned Thursday October 8. 20% Due: Tuesday December 1 – Returned: Monday December 7 Late projects NOT ACCEPTED after *Noon* Friday December 4 Late penalty: loss of grade step (B+ to B) Exam (30%) 30% Exam prep: Tuesday December 1 (last day of classes) Exam: Exam period (tba) Gymnasium

COURSE OVERVIEW

Principally, we are interested in studying the nature of the divine as it is experienced and comprehended in Classical myth.

We begin with the consideration of the role the epic poets attributed to the . Both of Hesiod's works begin with invocations to the Muses. In both Theogony and Works and Days, the call for divine inspiration is also a way of setting out what the principal themes of these poems are, and thus act as a kind of advertisement to the reader informing her of what to expect and how one should approach each poem.

From Hesiod's Theogony the learned of the generation of the primordial gods, Chasm, , , Earth and Heaven. After a consideration of the nature of these first or primordial gods, we consider their children, of which there are two principal families: the descendants of Chasm, such as Darkness, Night, etc., and those of Earth, including the children she bears to Heaven- the . The leader of the Titans is Kronos, who castrates his father at his mother's request, but then attempts to prevent his own overthrow by swallowing the children born to him by his sister .

The rule of the Titans come to an end when Kronos is outwitted by his youngest son, , who with help from Prometheus and the , overthrows the Titans (in the war called the ) and imprisons them in Tartarus. Zeus then take up residence on Mt. Olympus and fathers a number of gods and goddesses who become known as the Olympians. "When the blessed gods had completed their work, and settled the matter of privileges [timai] with the Titans by force, then on Earth's advice they urged that Olympian Zeus, the wide-seeing should be king and lord of the immortals. And he allotted them privileges [timai] satisfactorily."

We shall need to give thoughtful reflection to the manner in which Zeus and the Olympians come to establish the divine order by which the Greeks believed the cosmos was now ruled, and the nature of Olympian rule. Perhaps something can be said about how the Greek myth of the establishment of the Olympians compares to the earlier Mesopotamian about their gods, and also how the Greek gods differ in character both from the Mesopotamian gods as well the theriomorphic gods of Egypt.

The Theogony ends with the birth of the 2nd generation of Olympians, mostly the children of Zeus such as Athene, , and , and finally the birth of the heroes, children of mortals and gods, foremost among whom was , who later joined the Olympian pantheon himself.

Turning to the Works and Days we learn of the birth of mortals in the 5 Ages of Man. Most of the work is then given over to instruction in how to live in accordance with the justice of Zeus, which is of enormous interest in its own right for informing us how the Greeks related to the divinities who ruled over them, but also for how this part of the story of the origin of things relates to the myth of Prometheus and Pandora. The myth of Prometheus (and Pandora) is absolutely central to Greek myth about the gods, and it appears in slightly different forms in both Theogony and Works & Days. We shall study these versions and then look at the Greek tragedy, Prometheus Bound, the first play of a trilogy by Aeschylus, and the only one to survive. The Promethean myth is the locus classicus for studying how the Greeks viewed their relationship to the Olympian pantheon.

Our principal text for our study of the Romanization of Greek myths concerning the gods is Ovid's Metamorphoses: a Roman metamorphosis of Greek myth concerning the gods, infused with the spirit of rationalism - right from the start with his transformation of Hesiod's account of the 5 ages of man, and right to the end with the of Caesar as joining the Olympian pantheon. In between are all the stories with which we are familiar, always with an unexpected twist to consider. Since we are interested in the gods and not heroes in this course (heroes in classical myth is offered in the winter term), we shall need to divide up the work--and this always means having to introduce a break in a story which is ever continuous. The Metamorphoses is itself a continuous narrative which moves from one story to the next by way of relating another metamorphosis--so that the story being told turns into the next story that is told--what ingenious artifice!! So utterly Roman!!!

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, religious myth becomes the subject of literary art. In Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns, poetry is the medium of divine revelation-- the verses of a poets are like the of a prophet. In Metamorphoses, myth has lost its sacral solemnity and splendor and has becomes the traditional material out of which the poet crafts the artifice of a literary masterpiece. The Metamorphoses is more concerned with art than religion, transforming the religious vision and moral didacticism of Hesiodic myth into a sophisticated poem reflecting an urban sensibility. The gods are fully humanized, and often are portrayed as acting much like Roman counterparts -principally the Emperor, Senators and other classes of the Roman hierarchy. On the other hand, there is also a great tragic sense of pathos in the accounts of human suffering at the hands of the gods-the old myths are are given new life as stories recast with a truly human interest.

After a comparison of the Greek and Roman creation myths, we turn to a comparative study of individual gods in Greek and Roman sources. We shall find, for example, that the Roman Jupiter is imagined as more solemn yet also more comic than Zeus—unlike Homer, who invites us to laugh with Zeus, Ovid invites us to laugh at Jupiter.

Our study shall include three plays by the Greek tragic poet, Euripides, where we are particularly interested in the relationship between divine timeh or honor and human hubris or arrogance. We shall find that Euripides portrays the gods as much more human than does Aeschylus, with a more subjective personalized character. Ion concerns the relation of humans to Apollo at a of religious skepticism. Hippolytus is about a young man who offends in his desire to devote himself to Artemis, the goddess of chastity. We shall conclude the term with the study of Euripides’ Bakhai, a fascinating tragedy about , god of wine and religious ecstasy, and compare it with Ovid’s Roman account of it. Term Paper / Project (20%) You may choose from 3 options

Option 1. Students who opt to write a 2500 word essay on an assigned topic must fulfill the essay requirements set out below. A list of topics for each project essay will be made available as scheduled on ACORN: October 8

Option 2. Students who wish to propose their own 2500 word essay topic must first obtain approval by the Instructor, who may request revision of the proposal, and fulfill other essay requirements set out below. Proposals must be emailed to professor for approval by Thursday October 22.

Option 3. Students may opt to propose another kind of class project, which must first be agreed to by the Instructor, who may require revision of the proposal. Projects must include a written component of 1000 words. Proposals must be emailed to professor for approval by Thursday October 22.

NOTE: Options 2 & 3 require that student proposals first be approved by the Instructor; without authorization, papers or projects may not be accepted.

Essay Requirements: 2500 words (10 pages double-spaced Roman font size 12). Essay should begin with a clear thesis statement followed by a logical, consistent argument in its defense. Must use at least 3 scholarly secondary sources--books or articles; all sources, including primary texts used, must be properly cited in a bibliography. Extensive paraphrasing and quotation of sources is unacceptable--if more than half your essay is 'sourced' in this manner, it will be graded unacceptable and you will have to resubmit as late. All sources must be properly referenced to avoid charge of plagiarism. MLA or APA style is acceptable.