Classics 24 Myths and Legends of the Trojan War
MW 4:05-5:20
Votey 105
Fall 2013
Robert Rodgers
481 Main Street, Room 103
[email protected]
656-4626
Office hours: TBA, and by e-mail appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVE: Introducing students to a careful reading of ancient works of literature which
deal with the general theme of the war between Greeks and Trojans. The theme of the Trojan War was a
part of the Greek sense of self-identity, and it was used again and again as the historical-mythological
background against which Greeks and their successors turned in recurrent searches to know themselves.
Textbooks:
Susan Woodford, The Trojan War in Ancient Art
The Iliad of Homer, trans. Richmond Lattimore
Homer Odyssey, trans. Richmond Lattimore
Aeschylus I Oresteia, trans. Richmond Lattimore
Sophocles Plays
Euripides Ten Plays
Virgil Aeneid, trans. Fitzgerald
Week 1 (26-28 Aug.)
Weeks 2-4 (4-18 Sept.)
Weeks 5-7 (23 Sept.-9 Oct.)
Weeks 8-10 (16 -30 Oct.)
Weeks 11-14 (4 Nov.-4 Dec.)
August
M 26
W 28
Introduction
Homer's Iliad
Homer's Odyssey
Athenian drama
Virgil's Aeneid
Weekly Quizzes
Homer paper due: 14 October
Midterm Test: 14 October
Drama/Aeneid paper due: 6 December
Final Exam (cumulative): F 6 Dec. 1:30-4:15
Introduction: Synoptic story
READING (first week): Woodford
Epic as genre; Homer; Dates; Narrative conventions
September
M 2
LABOR DAY
W 4
Homer's Iliad, Books 1-4
M 9
W 11
Homer's Iliad, Books 5-8
Homer's Iliad, Books 9-12
M 16
W 18
Homer's Iliad, Books 13-16
Homer's Iliad, Books 17-20
M 23
W 25
Homer's Iliad, Books 21-24
Homer's Odyssey, Books 1-5
M 30
October
W 2
Homer's Odyssey, Books 6-10
M 9
W 11
Homer's Odyssey, Books 16-20
Homer's Odyssey, Books 21-24
M 14
W 16
MIDTERM TEST (Homer paper due)
Drama and the Polis: Aeschylus, Agamemon
Homer's Odyssey, Books 11-15
M 21
W 23
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers
Aeschylus, Eumenides
M 28
W 30
Sophocles, Ajax
Sophocles, Philoctetes, Electra
November
M 4
Euripides, Andromache, Iphigeneia at Aulis
W 6
Euripides, Trojan Women
M 11
W 13
Trojans to Italy: Virgil's Aeneid, Book 1
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 2-3
M 18
W 20
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 4-5
Virgil's Aeneid, Books, 6-7
M,W 25.27 THANKSGIVING BREAK
December
M 2
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 8-10
W 4
Virgil's Aeneid, Books 11-12
F 6
FINAL EXAM: 1:30—4:15 PM (same room as class) *** PAPER DUE
*** Students with exam conflicts MUST make arrangements with instructor during the first three weeks of the
semester (by Friday, 13 September.)
PAPER. There will be two required papers, SHORT (4 pages each, MAX), to be based on
readings: one from from Homer's Iliad or Odyssey, the other on Athenian drama or Virgil's
Aeneid. Paper details will be announced later, but you will choose a short passage (scene or
episode) and discuss how the details of narrative and/or dramatic techniquescreate something
you find effective as literature and meaningful for yourself as a modern reader.
GRADING:
quizzes (in class) or exercises, announced and unannounced*
midterm test (14 October)*
papers (due 14 October, 6 December)
final exam (cumulative) (6 Decmber)
±40%
±20%
±10%
±30%
*ALL quizzes are required, except for CERTIFIED ABSENCE. There will be NO MAKEUPS (a missed
quiz will count as zero, EVEN for persons who register on or after the date the quiz is given). The one
lowest quiz grade will be eliminated from calculation.
Midterm test: MAKEUP will be allowed only for CERTIFIED REASONS.
Students who require special accommodations for quizzes and/or exams should make
arrangements with the instructor as early in the course as possible.