Undergraduate Course: Gods, Mortals, and Monsters: Classical Literature in Context (CLGE08007)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Classical Greek and Latin literature came out of societies and ways of thinking wholly alien from our own - and for all that it seems strangely familiar because its stories and mythology remain ubiquitous in the modern world. This course introduces the study of Classical literature through two key texts, one Greek and one Roman; and the close reading of literary texts is set within the context of the ancient world, including mythology, religion, philosophy, material culture and society more broadly. The course thus teaches students how to recognise and to evaluate critically the enormous influence of Classics in the modern world. The many ways Classical literature has influenced and keeps influencing modern cultures will also be considered. No prior knowledge of ancient literature is required |
| Course description |
This course introduces students to the study of ancient literature in contrasting genres and historical contexts. Students will embark on a careful in-depth study of two works in translation, one of Greek and one of Latin Literature, typically Homer's Odyssey and Apuleius' Golden Ass or Metamorphoses. We will treat these texts not purely as literary artefacts -though literary analysis and the texts' reception in later literature, art, and other media will be important - but also as ways into understanding the strikingly alien social, material, religious and mythological contexts in which they were written and set. Two particular themes will stand out. First, in the ancient Mediterranean, humans understood both their lives and their conceptions of the afterlife in relation to the gods they saw around them: this course will focus on texts about human experience that views them in relation to the gods and we will consider ancient Greek and Latin literature within the context of ancient cultures and debates about the gods. Second, we will focus on the reception and reinterpretation of the works from antiquity to the present, and in genres ranging from poetry and fiction to the visual arts and film.
Questions of what it means to be human and of how ideas of humanity are negotiated through literature resonate strongly in our contemporary world; the course invites students to reflect on these issues through classical literature and through its various cultural contexts.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | ** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- relate ancient literary texts to their social, material, and religious context:
- recognise the key questions that 1) arise from ancient literature and 2) that are asked of ancient literature;
- recognise the relevance of ancient literature for postclassical literature, art and the modern world more widely;
- locate and use scholarly resources independently, demonstrating the foundations of research skills appropriate to the disciplines involved in the study of the ancient world;
- construct and form an independent argument about ancient literature based on the available evidence in written and oral forms.
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Reading List
L.E. Doherty, Homer's Odyssey (Oxford, 2009)
C. Dougherty, Travel and Home in Homer's Odyssey and Contemporary Literature : Critical Encounters and Nostalgic Returns (Oxford, 2019)
J. H. Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass (Princeton, 2008)
S. J. Harrison, Apuleius: A Latin Sophist (Oxford, 2000)
E.J. Kenney, Apuleius, The Golden Ass (Harmondsworth, 1998)
A.C. Loney, The Ethics of Revenge and the Meanings of the Odyssey (New York, 2018)
R. May, Apuleius and Drama: The Ass on Stage (Oxford, 2006)
J. C. Relihan, Apuleius: The Golden Ass (Indianapolis, 2007)
S. Said, Homer and the Odyssey (Oxford, 2011)
E. Wilson, Homer: The Odyssey (New York, 2017)
J.J. Winkler, Auctor & Actor: A Narratological Reading of Apuleius' Golden Ass (Berkeley, 1992) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course embeds curiosity in ILO 1, which specifies the literary texts to their social, material, and religious contexts; reflection and critical thinking in ILO 2, which specifies the ability to recognise the
key questions that arise from ancient literature; inclusivity in ILO 3 which specifies the ability to recognise the relevance of ancient literature for the modern world; data and digital literacy and individuality in ILO 4, which specifies the ability to approach scholarship and find bibliography independently; and problem solving and communication in ILO 5, which specifies the ability to construct and form an independent argument.
This course surfaces the same skills, collaboration and adaptivity via assigned readings, lectures, and discussion-based tutorials. In particular, lectures will be supported with preparatory guidance for students, handouts, and presentations that surface the skills in view in each week.
This course articulates the same skills in the writing of summative coursework (essay and exam) and formatively via assigned readings, lectures, and informal discussions in tutorials. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gavin Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3581
Email: Gavin.Kelly@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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