The Ancient Novel in Context 01:190:397 Katherine Wasdin wasdin@rci.rutgers.edu Office Hours: TBA Ruth Adams Bldg 005 Phone: 732-932-9784 COURSE DESCRIPTION The ancient novels are action-packed adventure stories filled with romance, intrigue, and pirates. Written in both Greek and Latin, these works are primarily products of the world of the Roman Empire, though they have few direct references to contemporary political structures. In almost all of the novels, the characters travel widely through the ancient Mediterranean, moving from Sicily to the Near East, Egypt, and even the moon! The ancient novels also offer a unique picture of romantic love, as the hero and heroine undergo many sufferings and separations before their final reunion. This course will focus on reading the ancient novels and related works in translation, accompanied by select secondary sources, investigating the philosophical, romantic, and cultural background that gave rise to these unique works. COURSE GOALS Students will gain an understanding of the literary and social setting to the ancient novel by reading the ancient Greek and Latin novels in translation. They will become familiar with important issues including gender, class, race, and narrative technique. Students will also learn to identify generic traits that define narrative prose fiction in antiquity and trace the development of this literary form. REQUIRED TEXTS Reardon, B. P. Collected Ancient Greek Novels. University of California. Apuleius, The Golden Ass. Trans. E.J. Kenney. Penguin Classics. Petronius, Satyricon. Trans. S. Ruden. Hackett. Whitmarsh, T. (ed). The Cambridge Companion to the Greek and Roman Novel. Cambridge. Other texts will be available on Sakai in the Resources folder as .pdf or link to an online source: these texts are marked with an asterisk in the schedule. EVALUATION Attendance and participation: 15 % Attendance is mandatory: there will be a daily sign-in sheet. This grade will fall by half a letter for every three unexcused absences. If you must miss class, please let me know in advance if possible, and make sure to document your reason for absence. This grade also includes participation in class: discussion questions will be circulated each week, and students should come to class prepared to discuss them. Weekly quizzes: 10 % There will be a brief quiz each week over the primary reading (i.e. the novels, not the Companion chapters). The lowest quiz grade will be dropped. Written assignments: 30 % Each student will also write two essays (c. 2 pages each). I will accept drafts for revision up to a week before the final due date. Midterm: 20 % The midterm will consist of three sections: Short answers on basic factual information; identification and brief discussion of passages; and an essay section. Final: 25 % The final will have the same format as the midterm, but will be longer. The final will be comprehensive. PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE Week 1: Introduction to the ancient novel and its historical and geographical background Reading: Ch. 1 Companion; Selections from Herodotus’ Histories and Xenophon’s Cyropaedia* Week 2: Travel and History Reading: Chariton, Chaereas and Callirhoe (Reardon 17-124) Ch. 7 Companion Week 3: Generic markers and Standards Reading: Xenophon of Ephesus, Ephesian Tale (Reardon 125-169) Ch. 2 Companion Week 4: Erotic Philosophy I (Greek) Reading: Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon (Reardon 170-284) Ch. 3 Companion Week 5: Narrative technique Reading: Heliodorus, Aethiopica 1-5 (Reardon 353-472) First Essay due Week 6: Egypt and Ethiopia Reading: Heliodorus, Aethiopica 6-10 (Reardon 472-588) Ch. 14 Companion Week 7: Country vs. city on a Greek island Reading: Longus, Daphnis and Chloe (Reardon 285-348) Midterm Week 8: Fragments of Greek novels: Fantasy and Utopia Reading: Fragments from Reardon (775-827) and Sakai* Ch. 11 Companion Week 9: Italian adventures and social commentary Reading: Petronius, Satyricon Ch. 5 Companion Week 10: Erotic Philosophy II (Latin) Reading: Apuleius, The Golden Ass 1-6 Ch. 6 Companion Week 11: Inspiration and sources Reading: Apuleius, The Golden Ass 7-11; Ps.Lucian, The Ass (Reardon 589-618) Second Essay Due Week 12: Philosophical heroes and tall tales Apollonius of Tyre (Reardon 736-772); Lucian, True Story (Reardon 619-649) Ch. 15 Companion Week 13: Historical Fiction Ps. Callisthenes, The Alexander Romance (Reardon 650-735) Ch. 4 Companion Week 14: Generic Definitions and Final thoughts Ch. 16 and 18 Companion Bibliography for further reading Anderson, G. Ancient Fiction: the Novel in the Graeco-Roman World. (London 1984). Bartsch, S., Decoding the Ancient Novel: The Reader and the role of Description in Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius. (Princeton 1989). Hägg, T. The Novel in Antiquity. (Oxford 1983). Konstan D. Sexual Symmetry: Love in the Ancient Novel and Related Genres. (Princeton 1994). Morgan, J. R. Stoneman, R., (eds.) Greek Fiction: Tthe Greek Novel in Context. (London 1994). Schmeling, G. (ed.) The Novel in the Ancient World (Leiden: Brill, 1996) Stephens, S., Winkler, J., (eds.) Ancient Greek Novels: the Fragments. Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary. (Princeton 1995). Swain, Simon (ed.) Oxford readings in the Greek novel. (Oxford 1999). Tatum, J. (ed.)The Search for the Ancient Novel. (Baltimore 1994).