CLS178 (S12)
(Ancient) World Mythology
Tarik Wareh
Humanities 214a, 388-6743
wareht@union.edu
Office hours: Tu 10:45-11:45 and F 10:15-11:15
(Drop by anytime! Or make an appointment.)
The myths of the Ancient Near East, Greece, Rome, Africa, and the Anglo-Saxons allow us to observe the
interactions and conflicts of differing peoples, religious traditions, and gods. A comparative approach to
sacred stories, to myths, illuminates not only strikingly different conceptions of creation, gods, life after
death, and heroes, but also intriguing similarities and influences. This year’s course focuses on heroic
epic, and readings range from The Odyssey to a West African epic performed in 1994. We will compare the
legends of three Near Eastern hero-kings (Gilgamesh, the Biblical David story, and the royal epic of the
Israelites’ Canaanite neighbors).
Required books
[in the order we will read them]
1. Seamus Heaney (trans.), Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition, Norton, ISBN 0393330109
2. David C. Conrad (trans.), Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples, Hackett, ISBN
0872206971
3. Andrew George (trans.), The Epic of Gilgamesh, Penguin, ISBN 0140449191
4. Stanley Lombardo (trans.), The Essential Homer: Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey,
Hackett, ISBN 0872205401
5. Anne Carson (trans.), Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides, NYRB Classics, ISBN
1590172531
6. Robert Alter (trans.), The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel,
Norton, ISBN 0393320774
Schedule
Tu 3/27
Th 3/29
Tu 4/3
Th 4/5
Tu 4/10
Th 4/12
Introduction to the course, to Beowulf, and to heroic epic
Beowulf, pp. 3-147
Beowulf, pp. 149-209; Sunjata, pp. ix-xxxix and 1-13
Sunjata, alternate beginnings of the epic (Moodle) and pp. 14-88
Sunjata, pp. 89-168
Sunjata, pp. 169-97
EXAM 1
1
Tu 4/17
Th 4/19
Tu 4/24
Th 4/26
Tu 5/1
Th 5/3
Tu 5/8
Th 5/10
Tu 5/15
Th 5/17
Tu 5/22
Th 5/24
Tu 5/29
Th 5/31
Date TBA
Gilgamesh, pp. xiii-xviii and 1-75
Gilgamesh, pp. 75-99; Odyssey, pp. 241-284
Odyssey, pp. 285-360
Odyssey, pp. 360-436
Odyssey, pp. 437-482; Carson, pp. 7-9, 163-169, and beginning of Hippolytos
Carson, the rest of Hippolytos and pp. 309-312, 13-17, 89-97, 247-249
EXAM 2
The David Story, pp. ix-xvi and 3-134
The David Story, pp. 135-264
The David Story, pp. 265-384; Coogan, introduction and Kirta (Moodle)
Iliad 1-4; Weil, “The Iliad, or the Poem of Force” (Moodle)
Iliad 5-9
Iliad 11-16
Iliad 18-24
FINAL EXAM
Course requirements and grading
Attendance, participation, discussion questions
Exam 1 + Exam 2 + Exam 3
25%
15% + 25% + 35%
The electronic devices & coming to class prepared policy
If you have with you a laptop or any other mobile device, it must remain stowed away
in your bags and off during the entire class period. If part of the day’s reading was made
available on Moodle, you should have a printout of it with you. I f y o u d o n o t h a v e
the day’s readings with you in printed form, or if you use an electronic
device in class, you will be counted absent and asked to stop.
The leaving the room policy
I expect us all to be on time and to remain in the room and give each other our full
attention while class is in session. Any personal needs—including bathroom needs and
electronic device needs—should be taken care of before coming to class. We will
sometimes take a short break. If we have not yet taken one, and it is becoming difficult
for you to continue, you are welcome to ask if we can have a break sooner.
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Reading notes and class notes
You are encouraged to take notes on the reading and on the lectures and class
discussions. Don’t just record information, but organize your thoughts! Write down
what is most interesting and confusing, and why (“exclamation marks and question
marks”). Make sure you have a list of the important points and some thought about
what the big ideas of the day’s readings are. T h e r e m a y b e p o r t i o n s o f t h e e x a m s
for which you are permitted use of your own original handwritten notes.
Daily discussion questions
For every class (except when an exam is scheduled), you will bring, in writing, two
discussion questions for the class. A good discussion question does the following three
things:
1. contains an observation, insight, or appreciation (“I keep noticing how this
poem is really interested in…”) (“I think the most beautiful detail in this story is
when…”)
2. asks a real question—one worth debating and to which we might propose
differing answers (“I’d like to know whether you believe that…”) (“Do you think
that this statement is meant to apply to Odysseus?”)
3. offers a specific detail from the text (with page number) that is relevant to
thinking about the issue it raises (“This helps me see the meaning of the dead
fish simile on p. 449”) (“This is why Achilles uses four different words on p. 96
that all mean…”)
Please consider these three elements to be requirements of the
d i s c u s s i o n q u e s t i o n s . (#1 and #3 overlap a bit. I include #3 in case your insight in #1
is so general that it’s not yet tied to a specific i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of some word, image,
phrase, etc., in the text.)
You will be called on to contribute your questions to our discussion, and
these contributions are an important part of your grade.
Absence and make-up policy
No absence is ever excused without advance notice. More than two absences, or any
absences that necessitate a make-up, are only excused with documentation (note from
Dean of Studies, Health Services, etc.). More than two undocumented absences are
penalized with a half letter grade off the final course grade per additional absence.
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