We’ve spent the semester deciphering what myths tell us about the culture of ancient Greece and Rome and how these myths functioned in their societies. Reflect back on all the myths we’ve read this semester and take inventory of how your perception of Classical myths have changed throughout the semester.
Using examples from the texts you have read this semester (discuss 2-3 or more myths from each unit—list on the back), write a paper that reflects on the themes of the course:
How has your understanding of the function of myth in ancient society evolved over the course of the semester?
How has your ability to appreciate these myths through the eyes of ancient Greeks and Romans improved?
What do you/will you notice in modern retellings now that you have the above skills?
This is a reflection paper, not a research paper, so the emphasis is on the connections you see between these objectives and the stories we’ve read using just your brain, the texts, and topics we’ve discussed in class.
The nuts and bolts:
Use basic essay format: intro, body paras. with evidence from the texts (and from lecture, where needed), and conclusion.
When citing texts, use line numbers or page numbers where
possible (approximate is fine). Ex: (Hymn to Hermes, 15)
Double-spaced, 12 pt font.
3-5 pages.
Bibliography not necessary.
Due via electronic submission (Assignments) before class Tuesday, April 23.
Texts read by Unit:
Unit I: Hesiod’s Theogony; Homeric Hymns (Aphrodite, Hermes,
Dionysus, Apollo, Demeter).
Unit II: Ovid’s cosmogony and 4 ages of man in Metamorphoses; Pandora, Prometheus and 5 races of men in Hesiod’s Works & Days; Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound; Apollo & Daphne, Diana & Acteon, Jupiter & Semele, Arachne & Minerva, Niobe & Latona, Orpheus & Eurydice, and Orpheus’s death in Ovid’s Metamorphoses; Euripides’s Bacchae; (Attis and Cybele in Catullus).
Unit III: 12 labors of Herakles; Perseus; Theseus; Jason & the Argonauts; Medea readings from Ovid; Book 1 and selections from Iliad; Aeschylus’s Agamemnon; Book 4 or 11 of The Odyssey; Book 6 of The Aeneid.
Unit IV: Oedipus summary; Antigone; Cupid & Psyche; legendary Roman men and women in Livy; Roman myths from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
