Suggested Readings

It is the expectation and hope of the Instructor that the student will have read all (or at least some) of the items listed for each week before that class actually meets. This will mean that the student will have a sense of what the basic outline of the myth or mythological character is, will have read some at least of the ancient sources about that character (This is, after all, a course in a language and literature department, and the literature in itself interests your Instructor, at least), and will perhaps have problems or questions that can be addressed efficiently. The Instructor welcomes questions at any time: better to say you aren't following something and get a clarification, than to have the course move on into deepening perplexity. The readings also form part of the basis for the quizzes and exams. The quizzes basically test whether you have read and discovered the major facts in a chapter or topic or lecture; the midterm and final test whether you can organize and compare on a larger scale so that you can see the significance of sets of myths and themes.

Lectures will follow the order of items in the Course Outline, not the schedule of Suggested Readings..

For weekly on-line assignments, click on "Assignments" button at left.

There is a new editionof the textbook: Barry B. Powell, Classical Myth (Pearson Longman 2011)   SEVENTH Edition Paper, due out on July 1, 2011.   The publisher has provided an extensive web site with useful chapter outlines (goals), study sheets, practice quizzes and other materials for the textbook. Click on Powell's name to access this site, or use the link listed in the Introduction of your textbook.

NOTE: Below is the reading list for the SIXTH EDITION (December 2008).

Week 1

INTRODUCTION. Books and Course rules.
"What is mythology?"

Week 2

Basic Principles: Some Ancient Ideas (etymology, aetiology, meteorology)

- Powell, Chapter 1, pp. 1-14; 658-659.

Week 3

- Powell, pp. 336-340 and 139 (Danaë); p. 168; 647 and 650 (Daphne). pp. 604-610; 620-623 (Aeneas, Numitor & Amulius, Rhea, Romulus & Remus)
- Powell, (Xenophanes) pp. 135 (quotation under title); 643-644; (Euhemerus) pp. 646-647.

Week 4

Myth Tools: Modern Theories of Mythology (follow the Myth Tools handout)

-Dumezil and the Tripartite Function Theory
-Levy-Strauss and the Structuralist Theory
-Freud and the Psychiatric Theory
-Jung and the Psychological Theory. New Age Theories.

-Powell, Chapter 24, pp. 659-665.

Week 5

Week 6

HESIOD'S STORY. THE TITANS. THE THIRD GENERATION (Zeus and the Olympians)

- Powell, Ch. 3: pp. 65-67.
- Powell, Ch. 4: pp. 77-87; 97-98.

Week 7

THE THIRD GENERATION (Zeus and the Olympians). THE FIVE AGES OF HUMANITY. PROMETHEUS.

- Powell, Ch. 5, pp. 109-126; 128-132 (with genealogical tree). Ch. 6:, pp. 135-150 (Zeus and his children).

THE SEA: POSEIDON

- Powell, Ch. 6: pp. 150-152; and pp. 338-349 (Medusa)

Week 8

APHRODITE ( Adonis )

- Powell, pp. 248-251 (Adonis); pp. 246-253 (Cybele & Attis)

ATHENA. (Athens and the Contest with Poseidon. Arachne.)

- Powell, pp. 214-218; 473-474 (Argo); pp. 348-349 (the Gorgon).

MIDTERM (Friday)

Week 9

A POSEIDON STORY: (Minos and Pasiphae, Ariadne, Theseus & Hippolytus):

- Powell, Ch. 15, pp. 400-414; Ch. 16: pp. 419-425; 426-441 (Theseus, Ariadne, Phaedra, Minotaur)

Week 10

APOLLO (Cassandra, Cumaean Sibyl, Coronis, Asklepios)

- Powell, Chapter 7, pp. 156-171; 552-560 (Cassandra, Murder of Agamemnon,Orestes).

THE AFTERLIFE, I: THE GEOGRAPHY OF HADES.

- Powell, Ch. 11: pp. 286-297.

Week 11

THE AFTERLIFE, II: THE CULT OF DEMETER AT ELEUSIS

- Powell, Chapter 9, pp. 228-246.

DIONYSOS. Death, Communion, Resurrection. (Myth)

- Powell, Chapter 10, pp. 256-280.

Week 12

DEATH AND RESURRECTION. ORPHEUS and Eurydice myth. Orphic Cults and Practices (Spiritual purity)

- "Orphic" lamellae [Text in Handouts, "Orpheus" ]
- Powell, 297-302 (Orpheus and Orphism).

Week 13

HERAKLES: THE TWELVE LABORS

- Powell, Chapter 14 (pp. 352-375 only)
- "Twelve Labors of Herakles" in Handouts

Week 14

SAGA: THE TROJAN WAR. Causes: The House of Pelops. Atreus & Thyestes. Agamemnon and Menelaus. Tyndareus and his family. Achilles, Patroclus.

- Powell, chapter 19 (at least pp. 504-519; 534-537)
- Powell, Chapter 20 (pp. 543-552).

Week 15

LOOSE ENDS. COURSE ASSESSMENT.

Course Assessment Instrument