CLAS 430 A: Greek And Roman Mythology

Classics 430 A (3 credits)     Greek and Roman Mythology         Autumn 2023

MWF 9:30-10:20,  Smith 120

(course taught in-person)

Prof. Stephen Hinds, Department of Classics,  shinds@uw.edu

SLN 12824      A&H

[Identical to these special-purposes listings: *CLAS 430 B, C LIT 496 A]

*CLAS 430 B is restricted to students co-registering for Engl 297 B, a linked 5-credit writing course:  for inquiries about this contact the Interdisciplinary Writing Program at iwpengl@uw.edu

DESCRIPTION:

Learn about Zeus and Hades, Athena and Aphrodite, Demeter and Persephone, Apollo and Dionysus, Hercules, Minos and the Minotaur, Jason and the Argonauts, the heroes who fought at Troy ... 

Olympian gods and goddesses; heroes, tricksters and shape-shifters; epic voyagers and adventurers; myths of creation and conflict, of justice and injustice, of birth, reproduction, death and escape from death ...  

These are the characters, this is the action, with which the ancient Greeks and Romans populated a supernatural world of religion, ideas and fantasy, from the creation of the universe to the dawn of recorded history and beyond.  It is now more than 1500 years since the myths of ancient Greece and Rome ceased to command literal belief; but those myths have never ceased to contribute to the Western and then the global imagination, on the printed page, in visual art, in new media and beyond.

ONE REQUIRED TEXT (used for every class meeting), available from U Bookstore:

        Barry B. POWELL, Classical Myth.  Ninth Edition.  Oxford U.P. 2020. 

Students may use earlier editions of the Powell textbook, but will be responsible for keeping track whenever content differs (occasionally), or when the page-numbers differ (usually). 

LECTURES will explore the full richness of Greek and Roman myth and storytelling, in the ancient world itself and since.  The two course examinations will focus upon the core information that will enable you to understand and to appreciate this material now and in the future.

ASSIGNED READINGS.  Regular attendance at lectures is strongly urged, as being essential to the study and interpretation of assigned readings (and accompanying visual images).  Students are strongly recommended to study the assigned reading bothbefore and after each lecture. 

MIDTERM EXAMINATION (50% of grade):

computer-scanned exam, featuring 40 multiple choice questions on material covered in first half of course.

FINAL EXAMINATION (50% of grade):

computer-scanned exam, featuring 40 multiple choice questions on material covered in second half of course.