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CCIV 110 (Spring
2000)
MW 8:30-9:50 (SC
339)
Prof.
Marilyn A. Katz
Department of
Classical Studies
335 Science
Tower
mkatz@wesleyan.edu
Many of the
archetypes of the female in the literature and culture of
the West are derived from the myths and literature of
Ancient Greece: Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, Antigone, and
Medea, for example. In this course we will read many of the
texts in which these figures and their associated myths
appear, and we will consider how the category of gender
affects our understanding and interpretation of them. No
previous knowledge of the material is assumed. In the papers
described below students will have an opportunity both to
articulate their own reactions to the material and to
subject their responses to critical analysis. The goals of
the course are: (a) to learn about the representation of
women in the literature of ancient Greece, and (b) to
develop an understanding of the assumptions we commonly
bring to these texts, and of the ways in which they affect
our interpretations.
The course is
organized around three genres of ancient Greek
literature:
(1) EPIC POETRY,
including Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod's
Theogony and selections from Hesiod's Works and
Days;
(2) HYMNIC AND LYRIC
POETRY of the archaic and Hellenistic periods, including the
Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the poems of Sappho, and the
Odes of Pindar;
(3) TRAGEDY,
including Aeschylus' Oresteia, Sophocles' Antigone
and Electra, and Euripides' Medea and
Electra.
Course
Requirements
1. Reading: Required and Optional Texts
and Other Materials
All texts are available at Atticus; be
sure to check the Book Co-op, too, for used versions of some
of these. There are also links on the Web to most of the
assigned readings, but these are not available for the
Fagles translations of the Iliad, Odyssey and
Oresteia, which are the texts we will be using in
class.
Copies of all required texts for the course are also
available in the Classical Studies Seminar Room (334 Science
Center), which is open 24 hours a day. These texts can be
used only in the seminar room and should not be
removed.
Katz, "Daughters
of Demeter" (Web Site). This
is a background essay available on the Web. Please read it
before coming to the first class on January 26.
Homer, THE ILIAD, trans.
Fagles. This is the required text; no
substitutions.
Homer, THE ODYSSEY, trans. Fagles. This is
the required text; no substitutions.
Hesiod, WORKS AND DAYS AND THEOGONY,
trans. Athanassakis. You can use another translation, so
long as it has line numbers.
Aeschylus, THE ORESTEIA, trans. Fagles.
This is the required text; no substitutions.
Sophocles, ANTIGONE, OEDIPUS THE KING,
ELECTRA, trans. Kitto. You can use another
text, so long as it contains both Antigone and
Electra and has line numbers.
Euripides, MEDEA AND OTHER PLAYS,
trans. Vellacott. You can use another text, so long as it
contains both Medea and Electra and has line
numbers.
Course Packet (either this or the
group of optional texts below is
required):
Homeric Hymn to Demeter; Sappho, Poems;
Pindar, Odes IV, V, and IX
Purchase from Debbie Sierpinski, Classical Studies
Department Administrative Assistant
Optional
Texts:
HOMERIC HYMNS, trans. by Athanassakis.
SAPPHO'S LYRE, trans. Raynor.
Pindar, VICTORY ODES, trans.
Nisetich
Other
Materials:
For each week, there
are supplementary materials (background information,
historical guides, maps, artistic representations, etc.)
available on the web site for the course. Students should
familiarize themselves with these materials as they are
preparing their assignments, and before coming to
class.
2. Writing: Written
Assignments
 Each
student in the course will be required to write three 3- to
4-page essays, to comment on the essays written by other
students in the class, and to write a final course paper of
7 to 10 pages. The first three papers will be posted on a
web site, and students will be able to enter their comments
there. Assignments will be staggered, so that at nine dates
throughout the semester one group of five students will
write the essay, and the other ten students will read and
comment.
The first set of paper topics will cover Homer's
Iliad, Homer's Odyssey, and Hesiod's
Theogony and Works and Days.
The second set of paper topics will include the Homeric
Hymn to Demeter, the poems of Sappho, and the poems of
Pindar and Corinna.
The third set of topics will comprise the tragedies of
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
For each set of paper topics, two choices will be offered:
one that emphasizes the exercise of students' creative
imaginations, and another that draws more on analytic
abilities. Students who wish to may also construct a topic
of their own, after consultation with the instructor.
Student-designed topics must stay within the parameters of
the covered material for that particular set of papers.
The final paper for the course will be in place of a final
exam, and the topic will require students to develop a
comparison and contrast among themes in the readings from
the three principal genre groupings of the course (epic,
hymnic and lyric poetry, and tragedy). There will also be an
option for students to construct their own topics for this
paper, after consultation with the instructor.
3. Discussion: Class Attendance and
Other Requirements
 This
course is a discussion seminar. Students are expected to
complete the readings and other assignments before class,
hand in papers on time and come to class prepared to discuss
the material assigned for that day.
Each student will receive a grade for class participation,
which will include a grade reflecting their comments on
other students' papers, and this grade will make up
25% of the final grade for the course.
The first three papers together will make up 50% of
the final grade. No late papers will be accepted. The
final paper grade for the first three papers will be an
average of the grades received on each of the individual
papers.
The last paper, which will be due at noon on the first day
of exam period, will make up 25% of the final
grade.
Syllabus
and summary of course deadlines
Note: From the Syllabus you can link
to all course materials. Locally-created maps and images,
however, will not be visible on the WWW; they will appear on
all pages accessed from servers within the Wesleyan domain
only.
Image credits:
1. Bell Krater with the Return of Persephone. ca. 440 BCE.
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fletcher Fund 1928,
28.57.53); ARV2 1012.1. Source: Ellen Reeder, Pandora:
Women in Classical Greece, Princeton, Princeton
University Press, 1995.
2. White-ground lekythos by the Klügmann Painter with
Woman Reading from Papyrus Scroll. ca. 440 BCE. Paris:
Louvre (CA 2220); ARV2 1199.25.
3. Red-figure stemless cup by Douris with School Scene. ca.
490 BCE. Berlin: Staatliche Museum (F2285). ARV2 431-2.48.
Source: T. B. L. Webster, Everyday Life in Classical
Athens, New York, G. P. Putnam, 1969.
4. Terracotta pair of women conversing from Myrina. ca. 200
BCE. London: British Museum (C529, H. B. Walters,
Catalogue of Teracottas [1903]). Source: J.
G. Pedley, Greek Art and Archaeology, Englewood
Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1993.
Last Revised 11 January 2000
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