Classical Mythology
CLAS-210-01
Class time: 12:40-2:30 TuTh
Class location: Dewing 310
Instructor: Julia Shapiro (jshapiro@kzoo.edu)
Office: Humphrey House 107
Office hours: Monday 1-3PM and by appointment.
Course Goals
Most students will have encountered Classical mythology in a modern volume of
mythography, a compilation of myths assembled into a continuous narrative (for
example, Bullfinch’s Mythology). This encourages students to think of Classical myth as
a coherent, fixed body of knowledge to be learned, or enjoyed as a work of fiction.
While such contemporary approaches have their antecedents in the Classical
world, such as Apollodorus’ Library, they erase the original contexts of the literary and
artistic sources in which these stories were told and re-told. Myths were part of a usable
past which was constantly adapted to serve the purposes of the present. In this course, we
will examine retellings of Classical myths in the primary sources (mainly Greek and
Roman texts in translation) and explore their literary, cultic, or political significance. We
will pay special attention to apparent innovations in myths, and investigate the reasons
for and consequences of the innovation in the cultural context of the text where it
appears.
A second goal of the course will be to learn more about Greek and Roman
cultures from the myths they create and retell. The figures of mythology - gods, kings and
heroes – often move in social environments which closely mirror those of the humans
telling the story. Aetiological myths, which give an origin for a part of the social or
natural world, reveal how Greeks and Romans conceptualized both.
Classical mythology is an extremely broad topic, and we have only ten weeks to
cover it. I have designed the class to provide some breadth and exploration of Greek myth
overall. For example, we are beginning with the canonical version of the birth of the gods
(which is what Theogony means). However, the course has two four-week sections
designed to give students an opportunity to study mythological topics and sources in
depth. Each of the two sections is devoted to reading multiple versions of the same myth
cycle or myths involving the same characters (Agamemnon and the house of Atreus, and
Medea, respectively). In addition, for a course at this level, students should ideally
engage with primary sources in discussion and writing without being required to resort to
heavy use of secondary sources or independent research. Studying multiple sources
containing the same myth allows students to compare and contrast readings for
themselves, and to find and explore original insight into the texts. The last week will be
another attempt at some breadth, in the form of a week-long investigation of only two
retellings of the same myth, Odysseus and the Cyclops. One of these two versions is our
only preserved satyr-play, which affords a unique opportunity to see how myth was used
in this largely lost genre set in the mythological world. In addition, the Cyclops section is
timed to allow students an additional week after the last Medea-themed reading to work
on a Medea-themed mini-paper. Thus the course is designed to facilitate students coming
to grips with the primary texts and investigating this material for themselves. While I
hope to provide some general background, a general overview of Classical mythology is
only a minor goal, intended to support students’ more in-depth work.
While mythology as a general topic will be found primarily in anthropology
departments, Classical Mythology is taught out of the Classical Studies department. In
the modern world of academia, it enjoys special status, rooted in the cultural authority of
Classical Greece and Rome. The class will review the historical role of Classical
mythology and Classical studies in Western education as groundwork for considering
how we might construct the study of Classical mythology specifically, as opposed to the
mythologies of other cultures.
Learning goals for students


Gain basic familiarity with Greek and Roman culture, through readings and
lecture, as a necessary background for understanding the readings and analyzing
them in written work.
Produce nuanced written work which analyzes the use of myth in sources from
ancient Greece and Rome, and demonstrates mastery of the cultural and historical
context of the primary sources (Classical texts).
Assigned textbooks
Please purchase or rent the texts which the class will be using. It is confusing and
difficult to deal with citation and reading together in class when people all have different
translations. Also, if you have a different edition, you cannot read the edition-specific
introductions when I assign them.
The textbook information is available through the Kalamazoo College bookstore,
and there is a link to it in the entry for this class on this semester’s course schedule.
Homer, Iliad (transl. Robert Fagles)
Homer, Odyssey (transl. Robert Fagles)
Hesiod, Works&Days / Theogony (transl. Stanley Lombardo)
Seneca, Medea (transl. Frederick Ahl)
Aeschylus, Oresteia (transl. Peter Meineck)
Ovid, Metamorphoses (transl. David Raeburn)
Vergil, Aeneid (transl. Robert Fagles)
Additional readings will be provided as .pdf documents on Moodle as they are assigned.
If you need to do research or get more background on any Classical topic, the
Oxford Classical Dictionary is the first line of defense for scholars from beginning to
emeritus. It can be found on the first floor of the library in the reference section, with the
call number DE5.09 2003.
Assignments and assessments
Calculation of total grade:
%15 response papers
%15 online reading/lecture quizzes
%10 in-class participation
%5 mini-paper 1 (2-4 paragraphs)
%10 mini-paper 2 (2-3 pages)
%15 mini-paper 3 (3-4 pages)
%15 midterm exam (short answers, passage ID of author, date, speaker, significance)
%15 final exam (short answers, passage ID of author, date, speaker, significance)
Reading assignments –
Reading assignments for the following week will be posted on Moodle on
Wednesday mornings. You will receive an email notification when the reading
assignment for the next week is posted. Proper citations for the text will come with the
reading assignment. If you do not cite passages properly, you will not receive full credit
on your weekly response papers.
Completing the readings in advance of the lecture will make the lectures far more
useful and comprehensible. Please bring readings to class, unless you cannot print out an
online reading because of its length. The class may refer to passages in the text during
lecture or discussion.
Please join the Moodle site for this course. Otherwise, you will not have access to
the online quizzes and submission site for the response papers.
Response papers –
The purpose of response papers is to give students an opportunity to practice the
critical engagement with sources necessary for successful academic writing (e.g. the
mini-papers) and to ask questions not covered in class. Once per week, the class will
spend 50 minutes reflecting on students’ responses to readings and questions raised in
response papers.
For each response paper, students will be asked to find and reproduce a passage in
the readings (not more than 15 lines long, please) which they find especially relevant to
course themes or lecture topics, or which they find puzzling and want to investigate
further. The student should then explain, in one to two paragraphs, how the passage
illustrates the course theme or point made in lecture. If the student chooses to select a
passage which puzzles him or her or otherwise warrants further investigation, the student
should explain what about the passage he or she finds important or intriguing, and to
phrase his or her questions about it as precisely as possible.
Each passage must be properly cited for the paper to receive full credit.
Improperly cited papers will receive only partial credit. You will receive proper citation
information for the assigned texts with each reading assignment.
In-class participation –
I will not formally take roll, but in a class of thirty, students and teachers alike
know who has never participated and who participates regularly. Regular attendance in
class and participation in weekly discussions is required for full in-class participation
credit.
Online reading/lecture quizzes –
The purpose of weekly online quizzes is to gauge students’ basic comprehension
of the reading and lecture material, and to encourage and reward students who keep up
with the readings.
Online quizzes will be posted on Moodle. They will be available by the end of
Tuesday’s lecture, and you will receive email notification to this effect. You may take
them at your leisure, but you must complete them before Friday, 8PM of the week in
which they are posted.
In order to perform well on a reading quiz, students will need to know the names
and nationalities of the authors assigned for that week, the date and performance context
of the sources, and be familiar with the content of the readings (e.g. know what happens).
The quiz is open-book, but is timed, so students will probably not have sufficient time to
look up answers.
Mini-papers –
These assignments help students practice written analysis of literary texts in
cultural context. This is a specific kind of academic writing, where passages from
Classical literature (primary sources) are used as evidence to discuss that literature in its
historical and cultural context.
Students will receive directions, along with a prescriptive rubric which describes
principle writing goals on which to focus, via Moodle, with concurrent email notification.
Writing skills developed will include finding a thesis, supporting it with textual evidence,
and incorporating counter-evidence to build a more nuanced and sophisticated argument.
As in the response papers, improperly cited papers will only receive partial credit.
Correct citation instructions for all relevant texts will be provided with the instructions.
Midterm and final exam –
The goal of the midterm and final exams is to gauge students’ long-term
comprehension of the readings and lectures. Without knowing the content of the readings,
their dates and cultural and historical context, and the significance of passages discussed
in class, students will not be able to draw informed conclusions about textual evidence in
their papers.
The midterm and final exam will consist of short answers, which means students
must write the answer for themselves (not multiple choice), but it will not be longer than
a sentence. Students will also be required to identify passages from the readings by
author, date, historical context, speaker (if applicable), and signficance in class discussion
or lecture. These identifications need not be longer than one or two paragraphs. Students
will receive study guides in advance with a list of terms. Short answers and passage ID
will both be based on the study guide.
Office hours
I will be in my office during the regular office hours unless otherwise noted. I will
give you advance notice if I have to change them in a given week due to conflicts. Please
make appointments. I am aware that we all have busy schedules, and no office hours are
likely to suit everyone. In an email requesting an appointment, give me two or three times
when you would like to meet, in order of preference. I will make an effort to meet at the
time most convenient for you. I am willing to meet off campus and/or on weekends, since
sometimes that is the easiest thing for overbooked individuals (myself included).
Policy on late work and make-up exams
Unexcused late work will be graded down 10% if it is received after the due date,
and another 10% every 24 hours thereafter. If you must miss an exam, please contact me
as soon as you know about it.
Notice that no one assignment or test counts for an overwhelming percentage of
your grade. Unless you have many unexcused, late papers, the effect of one late paper on
your grade will be negligible.
I want to make sure your reasons for missing exams or submitting late work are
valid, but do not need to invade your privacy to do this. If you do not feel comfortable
telling me directly about your reasons for missing the exam, I would appreciate an email
from your college advisor, whose job it is to help students negotiate and survive conflicts
between academic and other spheres of life.
Disability accomodations
If you have a disability and use accomodations, please let me know as soon as
possible and provide the proper documentation from the Associate Dean of Students
Office (269-337-7209). I respect your privacy, and you need not disclose the nature of
your disability to me. You need only clarify what accomodations best suit your needs. It
may be tempting to put off this paperwork, but it is best to have the accomodation from
the start, rather than “winging it” until a problem emerges.
Schedule of due dates, lecture topics
The following is a schedule of due dates for assignments, tests and quizzes, and
also shows lecture topics. Note that you will receive weekly reading assignments
separately on Moodle (and via email notification).
Week
1
Tuesday
Jan 8
Students identify and procure
textbooks and join Moodle course
site
Thursday
Jan 10
Introduction to the syllabus and student
responsibilities (30 min)
Introduction to the Classical Tradition
and the study of Greek myth (20 min)
Uses and skepticism of myth in the
Classical world (20 min);
2
3
Jan 15
Lecture on Hesiod’s Theogony (50
min)
Lecture on Hesiod’s Works and Days
(50 min)
Introduction to Hesiod’s Theogony and
Works and Days (15 min)
Jan 17
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Introduction to Homeric epic (50 min);
Response papers to Hesiod due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
Reading/lecture quiz on Hesiod due on
Moodle Friday, 8PM
Jan 22
Lecture on Homeric Epic (50 min)
Receive instructions for mini-paper #1
Jan 24
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Student writing in-class exercise
(ordering sentences in a paragraph)
Introduction to Aeschylus’ Agamemnon
and introduction to the prescriptive
writing rubric (50 min)
Response paper to Homer due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
4
5
(50 min)
Mini-paper #1 due on Moodle, Friday,
8PM (no reading quiz)
Jan 29
Lecture on Aeschylus’ Agamemnon
(50 min)
Jan 31
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Lecture on Aeschylus’ Agamemnon
(50 min)
Introduction to Euripides’ Iphigeneia at
Aulis (50 min)
Response paper to Aeschylus due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
Reading/lecture quiz on Homeric Epic
and on Aeschylus due on Moodle
Friday, 8PM
Feb 5
Lecture on Euripides’ Iphigeneia at
Aulis (50 min)
Lecture on Euripides’ Iphigeneia at
Aulis (50 min)
Receive list of study terms for the
midterm exam
Feb 7
Midterm exam – 50 minutes
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
No assignments
Response paper to Euripides due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
6
Receive instructions for mini-paper
#2
Feb 12
Lecture on Euripides’ Medea (50
min)
Lecture on Euripides’ Medea (50
min)
Response paper to Euripides due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
7
Feb 19
Lecture on Seneca’s Medea (50 min)
Feb 14
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Introduction to Seneca’s Medea
Mini-paper #2 due on Moodle, Friday,
8PM (no reading quiz)
Feb 21
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Lecture on Seneca’s Medea (50 min)
Introduction to Colchian Medea (50
Response paper to Seneca due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
8
Feb 26
Lecture on Colchian Medea (50 min)
min)
Reading/lecture quiz on Euripides’
Medea and Seneca’s Medea due on
Moodle Friday, 8PM
Feb 28
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Lecture on Colchian Medea (50 min)
Response paper to Colchian Medea
readings due on Moodle, Wednesday
10AM
9
Mar 5
Lecture on Vergil’s Aeneid (50 min)
Introduction to Vergil’s Aeneid (50
min)
Reading/lecture quiz on Colchian
Medea readings due on Moodle Friday,
8PM
Receive instructions for mini-paper #3
Mar 7
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Lecture on Vergil’s Aeneid (50 min)
Response paper to Vergil due on
Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
10
Receive list of study terms/ questions
for the final exam
Mar 12
Lecture on Cyclops in Homer and
Euripides (50 min)
Lecture on Cyclops in Homer and
Euripdes (50 min)
Introduction to Homer’s Odyssey and
Euripides’ Cyclops (50 min)
Reading/lecture quiz on Vergil due on
Moodle Friday, 8PM
Mar 14
Class response to issues raised in
response papers (50 min)
Midterm review (50 min)
Mini-paper #3 due on Moodle, Friday,
Response paper to Cyclops narratives 8PM (no reading quiz)
due on Moodle, Wednesday 10AM
Final Exams March 17-19th – there will be a final exam during the prescribed final
exam period, for which you should plan to be physically present.