Department ___MCLL________
Course Number __CLST 202______
AREAS OF INQUIRY
Course Name: Ancient Epic
(formerly Classical Mythology and Its Influence)
WESTERN TRADITIONS
This form must be submitted to the Faculty Council on Liberal Learning and Academic Life as part of the
submission process.
Please attach a proposed syllabus for this course and the Undergraduate Curriculum Course Proposal Form.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: 11 February 2005
Please answer the following questions:
Check Only One:
 This course is an existing course (in the current curriculum) that we are now proposing for this Area of
Inquiry.
This is a new course that we are now proposing for this Area of Inquiry.
1. Name and contact information for the department chair administrating this course.
Prof. Danielle Cahill
Dept. of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures
Riverside 6, #204
(757) 594-7107 or (757) 594-7020
dcahill@cnu.edu
2. In any given semester, how many sections of this course is your department willing to offer? 2-3
3. Why is this course being offered/what is it designed to achieve (Course purpose/goal)?
Students’ goals for this course are:
1. to become familiar with the characters and events of the Trojan War cycle of myths.
2. to understand the role of mythology for the Greeks and Romans.
3. to engage in the analysis and interpretation of texts in their concrete historicity – that
is, in their diverse philological, historical, aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical contexts.
4. to develop an understanding and appreciation of the development and relationship
of some of the literary traditions, cultural values, modes of thought, and uses of language in classical Greek and
Roman literature.
5. to practice comparative literary and historical analysis.
6. to enlarge the body of literature that you have read by becoming familiar with texts
from other times and cultures, written in languages other than your own.
7. to understand why and how literature both transcends the time and place in which it
was created and retains its significance and potency even after several millennia.
4. Check the objectives below that the course will address. The first two objectives are required and
every proposal must include at least one more objective from the list below.
 Critically examine the thought processes that have evolved in Western culture (required)
 Analyze primary works within the framework the course provides (required)
 Situate (locate and explain) one or more of the historical, artistic, or intellectual traditions of the
West in its cultural context
Describe how the material under study has influenced the development of Western culture
 Connect the historical roots of phenomena with later aspects of the tradition
5. Briefly explain how this class addresses the above objectives. A course may cover more than three
objectives.
a.) In this course students will critically examine how the concepts of heroism, patriotism, family,
love, and friendship are represented in Greek society, how they are transformed within the cultural
context of Roman society, and then in contemporary American society.
b, c, e.) Students will read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil’s Aeneid in their entirety, analyze
the themes of heroism, patriotism, family, love, and friendship in each work, and examine how each
author (and modern society) treats each theme.
6. Course Assessment: Identify how this course will accomplish the above objectives (choose at
least one).
 Participating in class discussion and debate
Engaging in teamwork and other collaborative exercises
 Writing analytical or evaluative papers, perhaps incorporating original research
Making oral presentations
Creating an artistic product or a performance
Participating in fieldwork
Other means – please identify
7. Attach a proposed syllabus, which includes a statement of purpose, course objectives, and how these
objectives will be accomplished.
See syllabus attached.
8. Please identify and explain if this course contributes to the Foundations of Liberal Learning
expectations for:
 Oral Communication Literacy:
Students will be required to engage in discussion and debate in class.
 Information Literacy:
 Writing Literacy:
All quizzes and exams will take the format of short answers and essays.
8. Explain how this course connects to Vision 2010 – the CNU Strategic Plan.
By examining how the concepts of heroism, patriotism, family, love, and friendship are treated in
ancient epic poetry, students will come to appreciate the traditions from which western literature
derived. In addition, students will have an opportunity to evaluate critically issues that are
fundamental in their own lives-family, country, love—and to reflect on how these concerns drive
human behavior in both the public and private spheres.
Submission Checklist:
By the deadline, submit a packet with the following documents to the Assistant Dean for Liberal
Learning. Please submit in electronic and hard copy form.
____ Area of Inquiry Course Proposal Form
____ Syllabus for the Course
_____ Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Course Proposal Form
Mythology and Its Influence: Ancient Epic
Statement of Purpose
The most popular myths (for ancient and modern audiences alike) treated the Trojan War – in particular, as they were shaped
by the epic poets Homer and Vergil. For example, according to Plato, “Homer educated all of Greece” and, according to T.S.
Eliot, Vergil’s Aeneid is “the classic of all Europe.” Indeed, few authors could lay claim to having influenced the Western
literary tradition more than these two poets. In this course, students will read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Vergil’s Aeneid
in their entirety. For each poem, they will be introduced to the literary and historical background, cultural significance, and
major characters. Furthermore, class discussions will focus on four themes that unify all three epics and serve as a vibrant
reminder of the universality of the human experience: family, society, love, and death.
(NB: CLST 201, The Mythic Imagination, differs from CLST 202, The Epic Tradition, in that The Mythic Imagination
explores the myths of all the principal Greco-Roman gods and heroes, examines both literary and artistic representations of
the myths, and considers the Nachleben of these mythical figures in western art, literature, and thought from Late Antiquity
to the present. The Epic Tradition, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on three literary works, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
and Vergil’s Aeneid; in addition, although the course examines universal issues at stake in these poems— family, society,
love, and death —and asks students to consider these issues with respect to the world in which they live, it does not require
students to study the influence of these texts in the post-Classical literary or artistic traditions.)
Objectives
By the end of the course, I want you
1. to become familiar with the characters and events of the Trojan War cycle of myths.
2. to understand the role of mythology for the Greeks and Romans.
3. to engage in the analysis and interpretation of texts in their concrete historicity – that
is, in their diverse philological, historical, aesthetic, cultural, and theoretical contexts.
4. to develop an understanding and appreciation of the development and relationship
of some of the literary traditions, cultural values, modes of thought, and uses of language in classical Greek and Roman
literature.
5. to practice comparative literary and historical analysis.
6. to enlarge the body of literature that you have read by becoming familiar with texts
from other times and cultures, written in languages other than your own.
7. to understand why and how literature both transcends the time and place in which it
was created and retains its significance and potency even after several millennia.
Grading and Implementation of Objectives




3 Quizzes: 20%
3 Exams: 40%
Final Exam: 20%
Homework/Participation: 20%
[Attendance and preparedness are, of course, mandatory; especially since the exams – while based on the assigned readings –
will emphasize material raised in lectures and class discussions.]
Quizzes (Objective 1)
Quizzes will consist primarily of identification and short
answer questions; their purpose is not so much to treat a
text’s broader themes, as it is to ensure that students are
familiar with major characters, episodes, and concepts, as
well as essential background material.
Exams (Objectives: all)
Exams will require students to demonstrate a familiarity with major characters, events, and concepts, as well as essential
background material, and to explore in essay form several broader themes of a given work: in particular, how they are
developed, how might an ancient reader have reacted, and how a contemporary reader reacts. Typical essay questions will
require you:




to discuss how and why authors depict characters and/or events as they do.
to synthesize and analyze similar characters, episodes, and themes treated by different authors.
to consider various aspects of a work from ancient and modern perspectives and
to speculate as to what accounts for the differences and similarities.
Final Exam (Objectives: all)
The Final Exam will consist of a single essay question that will require students to explore a theme central to all three poems.
Homework/Participation (Objectives: all)
Class discussion is an integral component of the course, and all reading assignments will be supplemented with a series of
questions designed to emphasize key concepts, themes, and episodes. All students will be expected to contribute on a regular
basis.
Required Texts



Homer’s Iliad, R. Fagles, tr. (Penguin 1991).
Homer’s Odyssey, R. Fagles, tr. (Penguin 1997).
Vergil’s Aeneid, R. Fitzgerald, tr. (Vintage 1990).
Recommended Texts



E. T. Owen, The Story of the Iliad (Bolchazy-Carducci 1989 [first published 1946]).
S. V. Tracy, The Story of the Odyssey (Princeton 1990).
W. S. Anderson, The Story of the Aeneid (Bristol Banner Books 1994).
Outline of Assignments and Exams
Weeks 1-2: Introduction (the function of myth: muthos vs. logos); introduction to Homer,
the Oral Tradition, and the Iliad (with Knox’ introduction, pp. 3-64).
Weeks 3-4: Iliad 1-12 (with Owen, pp. 3-125); Quiz 1.
Weeks 5-6: Iliad 13-24; Exam 1.
Weeks 7-8: Introduction to the Odyssey (with Knox’ introduction, pp. 3-64); Odyssey
1-12 (with Tracy, pp. 3-77); Quiz 2.
Weeks 9-10: Odyssey 13-24 (with Tracy, pp. 78-147); Exam 2.
Weeks 11-12: Introduction to the Aeneid (with Perkell, pp. 3-28 [handout]); Aeneid 1-6
(with Anderson, pp. 1-62); Quiz 3.
Weeks 13-15: Aeneid 7-12 (with Anderson, pp. 63-100); Exam 3.
Final Exam: Thursday, April 28th (2:00-4:30/5:00-7:30).
MEMO
To: Faculty Council on Liberal Learning
From: Jana Adamitis
Re: CLST 201 and CLST 202
Dear Members of the Faculty Council on Liberal Learning,
I am writing in response to your queries concerning the difference between CLST 201 and CLST 202. The
following paragraphs constitute a succinct answer to the question at hand. I have also resubmitted the complete
course proposals and syllabi electronically to Bobbye Bartels.
CLST 201, The Mythic Imagination, is a general survey of Greek and Roman mythology in which students
examine ancient myth from a variety of analytical perspectives, e.g. anthropological, psychological, sociohistorical, etc. The course content, which is quite broad, covers the Greco-Roman worldview as it is expressed in
the ancient myths of creation, the concrete and abstract functions of the gods in Greek society, fertility myths and
mystery cults, the historicity of the heroic legends, and the main arguments of Joseph Campbell’s Hero With a
Thousand Faces. The readings comprise selections drawn from a wide array of texts ranging from epic poetry to
drama to religious hymns. Lectures on Greco-Roman religion and on the evidence for cult practice derived from
the archaeological record supplement the readings. In addition to studying literary representations of myth,
students also learn to analyze visual representations of myth in ancient art, particularly Greek vase paintings.
Finally, this course introduces students to the ways in which authors and artists from Late Antiquity to the present
appropriated Greco-Roman myths for their own ideological purposes.
CLST 202, Ancient Epic, on the other hand, is not a general survey but rather a seminar-style literature course
that focuses exclusively on ancient epic poetry, including (but not necessarily limited to) Homer’s Iliad and
Odyssey and Vergil’s Aeneid. This course examines in detail the universal issues at stake in the epic poems under
consideration—heroism, patriotism, family, love, friendship—and asks students to consider these issues with
respect to the world in which they live. Whereas in CLST 201 students devote only a few weeks of the semester
to an examination of the Trojan War and its aftermath and take into consideration a variety of both literary and
artistic representations of the story, in CLST 202 students devote an entire semester to careful analysis of
Homer’s and Vergil’s literary accounts of the war; in addition the 201 students read only short excerpts of the epic
poems, but the 202 students read the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in their entirety. Finally, in contrast to CLST 201,
CLST 202 does not trace the influence of ancient epic in the post-Classical literary or artistic traditions.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions:
Email: jadam@cnu.edu
Office Phone: 594-7057
Office Address: Commonwealth Hall #4
Respectfully,
Jana Adamitis