CLAS 328 B: Sex, Gender, and Representation in Greek and Roman Literature

Winter 2024
Meeting:
MWF 2:30pm - 3:20pm / DEN 112
SLN:
12468
Section Type:
Lecture
Joint Sections:
CLAS 328 A
Instructor:
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

Classics 328 A and B  Winter 2024

Sex, Gender and Representation in Greek and Roman Literature

Prof. Stephen Hinds

3 credits; MWF 2:30-3:20; Denny 112

Taught in person

328A: SLN 12467  328B: SLN 12468

Counts for the following GE requirements: A&H/SSc, DIV

 

What kinds of stories did ancient Greeks and Romans tell about human interpersonal experience? This course will explore the worlds of myth, fiction and poetic self- representation through which Greek and Roman writers and readers push the envelope of everyday life and explore larger worlds of identity, desire and the imagination.

Presupposing no prior study of what we know as classical antiquity, the course will offer the opportunity to explore a formative period of civilization in the Mediterranean and beyond through consideration of some of its most characteristic texts and ideas, and to measure them in terms of the perspectives and expectations which we as readers bring to them from our increasingly diverse and interconnected 21st century societies.

To be studied, via Homer, Sappho, Euripides, Plato, Ovid and others: the affirmation and inversion in literature of culturally agreed gender roles; myths of male and female identity and self-fashioning; the marginalization and reclamation of female consciousness; and the ‘rules of engagement’ in ancient love poems and narratives of sexual encounter, in which gender, status, sexual identity and sexual preference are all bound up together ... and often problematized. 

Midterm and final exams. No term paper, but the final will include extended essay questions on topics assigned ahead of time.

 

Required Reading Texts (all to be available in Univ. Bookstore)

(1) R. Fitzgerald, tr., Homer:  The Odyssey

(2) P. Turner, tr., Longus:  Daphnis and Chloe

(3) P. Bing & R. Cohen, tr., Games of Venus

(4) A.D. Melville, tr., and E.J. Kenney, intro., Ovid:  Metamorphoses

 

Clas 328 A and B are two enrollment categories within the same class: no difference otherwise.

 

Catalog Description:
Affirmation and inversion of gender roles in Greek and Roman literature, myths of male and female heroism; marginalization of female consciousness; interaction of gender, status, and sexual preference in love poetry. Readings from epic, drama, historiography, romance, and lyric.
GE Requirements Met:
Diversity (DIV)
Social Sciences (SSc)
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits:
3.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
October 10, 2024 - 9:55 pm