SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS
Voyage: Summer 2013
Discipline: Art History
ARTH 3591: Mediterranean Art and Myth
Division: Upper
Faculty Name: Tyler Jo Smith
Pre-requisites: none
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course focuses on the mythological stories, figures, and settings of the ancient Greek and
Roman worlds, including the Near East and Egypt. Works of ancient literature and art are
introduced and analyzed, as well as the theories of anthropology, religious studies, and art history.
Important themes are landscape, memory, narrative, and the role of Classical myth on popular
culture.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
* Introduce textual and visual sources for ancient mythology
*Define the mythological systems of ancient Mediterranean cultures
*Understand mythology in relation to other phenomena (i.e. religion, ritual, rites of passage)
*Learn the basic principles of art historical analysis
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS
AUTHOR: Barry B. Powell
TITLE: Classical Myth
PUBLISHER: Pearson
ISBN #: 978-0-205-17607-6
DATE/EDITION: 2012/7th edition
AUTHOR: T.H. Carpenter
TITLE: Art and Myth in Ancient Greece
PUBLISHER: Thames and Hudson
ISBN #: 0-500-20236-2
DATE/EDITION: 1991
METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC
Attendance, Participation, Enthusiasm
Field Lab and ‘Flash’ Paper
Two Papers (3-4 pages; C12 and C18)
Final Exam
ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS
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25%
25%
25%
25%
These will be provided by the course instructor. They are indicated below as PDFs.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
I will very likely want to show a DVD in this class.
HONOR CODE
Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: “On my honor
as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment.” The pledge
must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed “[signed].”
TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
C1. Introduction: Myth, Legend, and Folklore
Powell, ch. 1
Recommended: Shapiro, Myth into Art, ‘Introduction’ [PDF]
C2. Places, Dates, and Evidence
Powell, ch. 2
Carpenter, ch. 1
C3. Egypt, the Near East, and Greece
Powell, ch. 3
Recommended: Boardman, The World of Ancient Art, ‘Egypt’ [PDF]
C4. Creation Myths
Powell, ch. 4-5
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO
C5. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades
Powell, ch. 6
Carpenter, ch. 3
C6. Apollo
Powell, ch. 7
Recommended: Graf, Apollo, ‘Apollo in Homer’ [PDF]
C7. Hermes, Pan, and Hephaestus
Powell, ch. 8
Carpenter, ch. 2
TUNIS, TUNISIA
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C8. Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena
Powell, ch. 9
Recommended: Cyrino, Aphrodite, ‘Birth, Origins, and Names’ [PDF]
C9. Demeter, Persephone, and Eleusis
Powell, ch. 10
Recommended: Bowden, Mystery Cults of the Ancient World, pp… [PDF]
C10. Dionysus, Wine, and Drama
Powell, ch. 11
Recommended: Seaford, Dionysos, ‘Theatre’ [PDF]
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT [OR ANTLAYA/CYPRUS]
C11. Myth, Death, and Afterlife
Powell, ch. 12
Recommended: Burkert, Greek Religion, 190-199 [PDF]
C12. Gilgamesh and Heroic Myths
Powell, ch. 13
[Paper 1 due in class: reading response on the gods]
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
C13. Perseus
Powell, ch. 14
Carpenter, ch. 5
C14. Heracles
Powell, ch. 15
Carpenter, ch. 6
PIREAUS, GREECE
C15. Theseus
Powell, ch. 16
Carpenter, ch. 7
C16. Crete and Knossos
Powell, ch. 17
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MARSEILLES, FRANCE
C17. Jason
Powell, ch. 19
Carpenter, ch. 8
C18. Oedipus
Powell, ch. 18
[Paper 2 due in class: object analysis]
LIVORNO/CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY
C19. The Trojan War I
Powell ch. 20-21
C20. The Trojan War II
Powell, ch. 22
Carpenter, ch. 9-10
BARCELONA, SPAIN
C21. Aeneas: From Troy to Rome
Powell, ch. 23
Recommended: Buxton, Complete World of Greek Mythology, ‘Greek Myths after the
Greeks’ [PDF]
C22. Roman Myth
Powell, ch. 24
Recommended, D’Ambra, Roman Art, ‘Empire and its Myths’
C23. Conclusion: The Reception of Classical Myth
Powell, ch. 25
Recommended: Morford, Classical Mythology, ‘Classical Mythology in Music and ‘Film’
[PDF]
C24. FINAL EXAM
4
FIELD WORK
FIELD LAB
The Field Lab for this course will be a group visit to an archaeological site and museum. Students
will have the opportunity to view ancient mythology in relation to the topography and built
environment of the ancient Mediterranean, as well as to study and analyze art objects firsthand.
1. Delphi (site and museum); Osios Lukas Monastery [Greece]
2. Paphos (site and museum) [Cyprus]
3. Tarquinia (site and museum) [Civitavecchia]
FIELD ASSIGNMENTS
One of the requirements for this class (25%) will be participation in the Field Lab. The site chosen
plays a fundamental role in ancient Mediterranean mythology. Students will tour the site and
museum and be asked to consider a list of important questions throughout the day. In advance of
the Field Lab, students will be provided with background reading about the site, including its dates,
major monuments, and the important discoveries made there. Immediately following the on-site
visit (within 24 hours), the students will write a ‘flash paper’ detailing their experience of the site
and museum; how these places, monuments, and objects have expanded their knowledge of ancient
Greek or other mythology; and how the place and/or objects apply to the themes and ideas
discussed in class.
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