Classical Mythology (260-0-1)

Instructors

German Campos-Munoz

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 3-410: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This course provides an overview of the multicultural and transhistorical phenomenon of ancient Greek mythology. We will pay close attention to the literary and narrative aspects of the mythological corpus (stories, characters, themes, perspectives, etc.) while interrogating their various material and historical implications. Along these lines, we will consider myths as indicative of Mediterranean intercultural transactions; as ornamental and symbolic presences in everyday artifacts and urban monuments; as symptomatic of or allusive to major military tensions among kingdoms, leagues, and city-states; as religious, ritualistic, and philosophical meditations; as performative tools for dramatic and oratory practices; and as mechanisms to negotiate questions of identity in the messy geopolitical scenario of ancient Greece from the late Bronze Age through the Classical period. By using those premises to explore the heterogenous array of textual and non-textual sources that have served to preserve and transmit the tales, we will foreground the importance of integrating archeological findings, historiographic methods, and socio-political and cultural analyses in the discussion of ancient Greek mythology.

Class Materials (Required)

Aeschylus. Oresteia. Trans. by Peter Meineck. Introd. by Helene P. Foley. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0872203907

Euripides. Bacchae and Other Plays. Trans. by James Morwood. Oxfordf: Oxford UP, 2000. ISBN-13: 978-0199540525

Homer. The Essential Homer. Selections from the Iliad and the Odyssey. Trans. and ed. by Stanley Lombardo. Introd. By Sheila Murnaghan. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000. ISBN-13: 978-0872205406

Plato. Symposium. Trans. by Avi Sharon. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998. ISBN-13: 978-0941051569

Sophocles. Theban Plays. Trans. by Peter Meineck and Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000. ISBN-13: 978-0872205857

Trzaskoma, Stephen and R. Scott Smith, Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. 2nd. ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-1624664977

Class Notes

Waitlist information for this course can be found here: https://classics.northwestern.edu/courses/2024-2025/classics-waitlist.html

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-Registration -- Reserved for Classics majors or minors.