This course offers an introduction to Classical Mythology. We’ll begin with Hesiod and his account of Creation and the birth of the gods, and then we’ll study in turn each of the major gods and heroes from classical mythology. This will involve readings from our primary textbook, Morford and Lenardon, and selections of Greek and Latin literature. We’ll also give a thought (time permitting) to the physical spaces in which pagan worship took place (i.e. temples) and a few features of classical art and archaeology, to enlighten the errant lives of pagan gods and men. Any of this, however, will be secondary to our study of the individual lives of classical gods and heroes, which is after all the focus on this course.
Texts:
Morford and Lenardon, eds. Classical Mythology, 9th Edition (2010). Hesiod. Theogony and Works and Days, trans. M. L. West (1988). Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Lattimore (1951). Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Fagles (1996). Ovid. The Metamorphoses. Trans. Melville (1986). L.R. Lind, ed. Ten Greek Plays in Contemporary Translations (1972).
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