Homer: Iliad
GRW5345 sec. 2/GRW6930 sec. 2
Thursday 3:30 – 6:00 PM
MON 0004
1. CONTACT INFORMATION
instructor: Dr. Allen J. Romano, Assistant Professor of Classics
email: aromano@fsu.edu
office: Dodd 328
office hours: M and T 2:30 - 4:00 and by appointment
course website: campus.fsu.edu
2. ABOUT THE COURSE
2.1 Course Description
This seminar seeks to train advanced graduate students in the scholarly study of Homeric poetry. We
will read approximately half of the Iliad in Greek, focusing especially on issues of language, style, and
oral poetics. Secondary readings will introduce students to significant trends in the modern study of
Homeric epic.
3. COURSE MATERIALS
3.1 Required Books
1. Homer, Opera, Volume I: Iliad, Books I-XII (3rd edition). Edited by D.B. Monro and T.W. Allen.
Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN13: 978-0-19-814528-8 ISBN10: 0-19-814528-4
2. Homer, Opera, Volume II: Iliad Books XIII-XXIV (3rd edition). Edited by D.B. Monro and T.W.
Allen. Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN13: 978-0-19-814529-5 ISBN10: 0-19-814529-2
3. Cunliffe, Richard J. (ed). Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect. University of Oklahoma Press. 1977.
ISBN-10: 0806114304 ISBN-13: 978-0806114309
3.2 Optional Books [The following books will be available in Thompson Library but if you plan on
pursuing the study of Greek poetry and/or Homeric poetry further, these are all good volumes to own.]
1. West, Martin, ed. Homerus: Rhapsodiae. Ilias (volume 1). Stuttgart: K.G. Saur Verlag . (Series:
Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana). 2000. ISBN 978-3-598-71423-8
(paperback)
2. West, Martin, ed. Homerus: Rhapsodiae. Ilias (volume 2). Stuttgart: K.G. Saur Verlag. (Series:
Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana). 2000.
ISBN 978-3-598-71435-1 (paperback)
3. Kirk, G.S. (editor) et al. The Iliad: A commentary (6 volumes), Cambridge University Press.
4. Edwards, M. Homer: Poet of the Iliad
5. Lord, A. The Singer of Tales (2nd edition, revised by Stephen Mitchell and Gregory Nagy)
6. Martin, R. The Language of Heroes
7. Fowler, R. The Cambridge Companion to Homer
4. EVALUATION (I.E. GRADES)
4.1. Grade Breakdown
Class Participation
Oral Presentation
Writing Assignments
a. Homeric Depths (3-6 pages)
b. Research Paper (15-20 pages)
Translation Exam
4.2 Grade Scale
A
93-100%
A90-92.9%
B+
87-89.9%
B
83-86.9%
B80-82.9%
C+
77-79.9%
25%
15%
10%
30%
20%
C
CD+
D
DF
73-76.9%
70-72.9%
67-69.9%
63-66.9%
60-62.9%
59.9% and lower
<------- "Ph.D. F"------->
4.3 Participation
The easiest part of class: show up on-time, prepared to translate, and then participate fully and
competently in all class activities.
4.4 Oral Presentation
Each student will deliver a short presentation (c. 15 minutes) on a portion of the poem. Typically this
presentation will coincide with the week in which that portion of the poem is read. There will be a signup for presentations which will start in February. You must meet with me well in advance of your
presentation date. Note too that it is highly desirable that the subject of your oral presentation feeds
into your final paper.
4.5 Writing Assignments
4.5.1 Homeric Depths Assignment
Choose 1 line of the poem and investigate it in exhaustive philological detail. The details of the
assignment are given on a separate sheet. Due Monday March 23.
4.5.2 Research Paper
Due on the last day of class (April 23); 15-20 pages double-spaced/max 12 pt. font. You should meet
with me well in advance to discuss the details of your paper.
4.7 Translation Exam
The final exam will be solely a translation exercise covering all portions of the Iliad read during the term.
5. OTHER UNIVERSITY-MANDATED FINE PRINT
5.1 Honor Code
Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in the FSU Bulletin and the
Student Handbook. The Academic Honor Code is based on the premise that each student has the
responsibility to uphold and foster the highest standards of academic integrity in the student’s own
work and in the university community. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy
and for living up to their pledge to “be honest and truthful and...[to] strive for personal and institutional
integrity at Florida State University.” (Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at
http://www.fsu.edu/~dof/honorpolicy.htm.)
5.2 University ADA Policy
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should (1) register with and provide
documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC), and (2) bring the letter provided by
the SDRC, indicating the academic accommodations that are needed, during the first week of class. For
more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact:
Student Disability Resource Center
97 Woodward Avenue, South
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167
(850) 644-9566 (voice)
(850) 644-8504 (TDD)
sdrc@admin.fsu.edu
5.3 Multiple Submission Policy
No work completed in a previous or concurrent class may be submitted for credit in this class.
5.4 Collaboration Policy
You are encouraged to hold group study and review sessions and, if you so choose, share resources such
as vocab lists, paradigm study sheets, and notes. You may work on translations together if you choose to
do so. Note however that such study partnerships should be mutually beneficial and should be aimed
primarily at helping each of you improve in your translation of the assigned material on your own during
class. That is to say, everyone in such study partnerships or groups must contribute and each individual
must complete the entire assignment.
5.5 Syllabus Change Policy
Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this
syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.
6. SCHEDULE
We will read a book of the poem in Greek per week. You are expected to prepare the full assignment
and consult the Cambridge Iliad commentaries edited by Kirk et al. In addition to the readings in Greek,
there are required readings in English of intervening books from the poem and from works of secondary
literature: Edwards, Homer: Poet of the Iliad; Lord, The Singer of Tales; Martin, The Language of Heroes;
and The Cambridge Companion to Homer (ed. R. Fowler) [CCH] and other individual essays.
Recommended (but not required) readings for each week are on the course shelf in Thompson and
posted on the course website.
Date
Readings
1/15
Anger
In Greek: Iliad book 1
In English: Edwards, Homer: Poet of the Iliad pp. 173-87
1/22
The Formula
In Greek: Iliad book 2
In English: Edwards, pp. ix-60; Lord, vii-67 (with CD)
1/29
2/5
2/12
2/19
2/26
3/5
3/12
3/19
3/26
4/2
4/9
4/16
4/23
Tuesday
4/28
The Story
In Greek: Iliad book 3
In English: Edwards, 61-70, 188-97; Scodel in CCH
Type Scenes
In Greek: Iliad book 5
In English: book 4, Edwards, pp. 71-87, Lord 68-98
Women and Family
In Greek: Iliad book 6
In English: Edwards, pp. 198-213; Felson and Slatkin in CCH
Speech
In Greek: Iliad book 9
In English: books 7 and 8; Martin 1-42, 146-205
Book 10-ness
In Greek: Iliad book 10
In English: Morris, "The Use and Abuse of Homer"
Battle
In Greek: Iliad book 11
In English: van Wees, Status Warriors Chapter 3 "The Importance of Being Angry"
Spring Break
Homeric Questions
In Greek: Iliad book 14
In English: books 12 and 13, Lord 99-138, Fowler in CCH
Textual Depths Assignment Due March23
Myth and Ritual
In Greek: Iliad book 16
In English: book 15, Willcock "Mythological Paradeigma in the Iliad"
Description and Simile
In Greek: Iliad book 18
In English: book 17, Edwards 102-23, 267-86
Gods
In Greek: Iliad book 20
In English: book 19, Griffin "The Divine Audience and the Religion of the Iliad"
Hector
In Greek: Iliad book 22
In English: book 21, Edwards 287-300
Grief
In Greek: Iliad book 24
In English: book 23, Edwards 301-323
Final Paper Due
Final Exam; 5:30 – 7:30 PM