Hagerstown Community College COURSE SYLLABUS Mythology ENG 114 Professor Mike Harsh KEP 116 Office Hours: COURSE DESCRIPTION: The emphasis of this course is upon Greek and Roman gods and those classical myths which have had the greatest impact upon Western arts and culture. The modern use of classical myths is also examined. TEXTBOOK: Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth, Fifth or Sixth Edition, or more recent edition. Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2007 or 2009 or later (0-13-196294-9); or Sixth Ed., 2009 (978-0-13-696171-7) and handouts STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: To be able to read and interpret mythic metaphors, symbols, and analogies present in myths, legends, and folktales and to compare and contrast significant characters, events, symbols, and actions (motifs) in one myth with similar events in another myth, in this way enabling students to read various types of literature in general with greater comprehension and insight. To be able to identify mythological images and archetypes that continue to pervade modern thought and art and thereby to recognize how myths function as building blocks of culture, high and low, in such areas as art, architecture, literature, music, film, cartoons, humor, etc. By the end of this course, students should understand more profoundly a range of matters in the world around them, from political symbols to Star Wars to TV ads. To see how Greek and Roman myths, stories of gods and heroes from civilizations long past, contain, in some sense, truths that are real, for all their embodiment in fiction. Teasing out the nature of these truths is difficult, but by examining these mythic tales in the context of the culture that produced them, we can more easily formulate and explore meaningfully important human questions about divinity and humanity, life and death, female and male, rational and irrational, freedom and necessity, etc. What is the role of myths in human thinking and what do they have to do with religion? With psychology? With the natural world? With the history and society of the peoples who produced them? How do they relate to rituals and morality? In what ways are myths practical? In what ways recurring? And last but not least, to improve students’ analytical, conceptual, and connective skills, and to marshal these with textual backing in support of arguments in formal expository writing assignments. COURSE CONTENT OBJECTIVES: 1. To know the most basic definition of "myth," different categories (divine, legend, folktale), functions, and constituent parts (plot, conflict). 2. To familiarize students with the major gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome, their spheres of influence, their names, character, their relationships, and their exploits as well as the principal Greek and Roman heroes and legends, essential for understanding these ancient societies and indispensable for appreciating the far-reaching influence their thinking has had on Western civilization. 3. To examine the Greeks' attitude towards the relationship between the human and divine spheres and how the myths and legends of the Greeks relate to their society and religion through history, religious festivals (e.g., the Olympics), and the importance of competition, reason, moderation, pride. 4. To examine the nature and social function of myth by studying a number of different ancient and modern theories which attempt to account for this universal phenomenon (e.g., allegorical, neoplatonic, feminist, psychoanalytic). 5. To become familiar with several examples of major ancient Greek and Roman literary works (for example, those of Homer, Hesiod, Ovid, Vergil) that preserve the Greek myths for us. 6. To gain some familiarity with the visual arts which depict the myths and legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, both from antiquity and in subsequent eras, as well as examples of literary works based on such myth. 7. Wherever possible, to note some correspondences between the classical myths and those of other cultures (Hindu, Native American, Germanic, Celtic, Egyptian, African). 8. To deal with three kinds of questions: reading, interpretive, and critical: a) Reading questions ask about facts: subject, content, plot, the literal story-line. b) Interpretive questions ask about thinking: theme, metaphors, symbolism, form. c) Critical questions ask about evaluating and judging: taste, period, history, politics, and ethics. (Answers depend on the evidence and reasoning you can bring to back up your opinions and usually contain phrases like "do you think" or "why do you suppose.") 9. To lead students not toward or away from any position of belief but to enable one to see what the subject means, not to accept or reject it. Some students may resist being led towards belief, while others may resist being led away from it. This course encourages open-mindedness for individual beliefs while also exploring the many ways of reading and understanding religious stories. 10. To have, as one professor has stated, “a jolly good time learning some ripping yarns from antiquity that continue to be crowd-pleasers two and a half millennia later,” and which continue to supply the “endless and ever-adaptive arsenal” of European arts, literature and thought. Total Hours of Coursework: For most classes, students should expect to do at least 2 hours of coursework outside of class for each hour of in-class coursework. In-class instruction, including any exams or inclass essays Assigned readings and short reflection assignments 37.5 hours One documented essay amounting to roughly 4 or 5 pages of writing and research in the final draft, not to include worked cited pages TOTAL MINIMUM TIME AN AVERAGE STUDENT SHOULD EXPECT TO SPEND ON THIS CLASS 15 hours for prewriting, writing, research, documentation, and revision 60 hours 112.5 HOURS To earn one academic credit at HCC, students are required to complete a minimum of 37.5 clock hours (45 fifty-minute “academic” hours) of coursework per semester. Those hours of coursework may be completed through a combination of hours within the classroom and hours outside the classroom. Certain courses may require more than the 37.5 minimum hours of coursework per credit. For most classes, students should expect to do at least 2 hours of coursework outside of class for each hour of in-class coursework. ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES: Your final grade will be determined by: 1/3 attendance and active participation in all projects 1/3 essay and short answer written assignments 1/3 final research project Note: Instructor may make changes in the syllabus with prior notice. Stay alert. COURSE POLICIES: 1. All work turned in by students must be their own and consistent with the honor code currently in place at the College. Plagiarism will result in an F and an Honor Code violation. A plagiarized research project will result in an F for the course. 2. Class is required. You will be allowed the standard two cuts. Any absences beyond that number will be reflected in the grade for the course. (See college attendance policy in the HCC catalog.) Plan on two hours of study for each in-class hour. 4. Snow-days: Class will meet if the College is open. (See College website.) Services for Students with Special Needs: Students who have special needs are encouraged to identify themselves to the coordinator of special student services as early as possible. Reasonable accommodations based on current documentation are provided to qualified students. TOPICAL OUTLINE: Preliminary discussion: kinds of myths, interpretations of myth, examples, definitions Myths of Creation (Hesiod’s Theogony) Zeus, Hera and the Twelve Olympians: Legends and Heroic Myths: Perseus Heracles Theseus Oedipus Odysseus The Trojan War Jason and the Argonauts Topic(s) and Readings 5th edition (6th edition) Week 1: Chs. 1 and 2: What is a myth? 2-13; Divine: Phaethon, 84 (82); Tithonus: 85 (82); Legend: The Judgment of Paris, 540-42 (514-16); The Trojan Horse, 571 (543), The Fall of Troy; Laookon, 574 (546); death of Priam, 576-77 (548-549); Folktale: Polyphemus, 596-606 (566-576); Sirens, 608 (577). 2: Ch. 24: Theories of Myth, 674-99 (642-667); types of myth continued 3: Ch. 4: 4: Ch. 5: Origin of mortals, Pandora; the five races/ages, the flood 5: Ch. 6: Zeus and Hera 6: Ch. 7: Male deities: Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes, Pan, 7: Ch. 8: Female deities: Hestia, Aphrodite (Adonis); Artemis, Athena 8: Ch. 9: Demeter and Persephone 9: Ch. 10: Dionysus and Ch. 11: The Underworld, the sinners, Orpheus, 10: “Black Orpheus” 11: Ch. 13: Perseus “Clash of the Titans” 12: Ch. 15: Theseus, the Amazons, the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, death of Theseus Myths of creation 13: Ch. 17: Oedipus 14: Ch. 14: Heracles, The Twelve Labors, Death 15: The Hero – group project 16: Final Exam meeting – Project Presentations