CLASSICS 2200: Greek and Roman Mythology 2018-19
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CLASSICS 2200: Greek and Roman Mythology
2018-19
Instructor: Prof. Aara Suksi
Makron Vase. Boston 13.186. Potter: Hieron. Painter: Makron. Attic (= Athenian) red-figure, ca.
490-480 BCE. Detail, Side A: showing, from left to right, Paris, Eros, Helen, Aphrodite.
Course Description Myths are culturally significant stories that change as they are retold
across space and over time. This course offers a survey of the major Greek and Roman
myths known from ancient art and texts ranging from the Mycenean period in Greece
through to the early Roman empire. We will consider the myths in relation to their cultural
contexts at different historical moments in the Greek and Roman worlds. We will see how
they reflected and reinforced (but also at times challenged) the values, fears and desires of
the Greeks and Romans. We will discuss ways of understanding the compelling
psychological and cultural power of mythic narratives.
1Your Instructor
Prof. Aara Suksi
e-mail: asuksi@uwo.ca
Dept. of Classical Studies (Lawson 3205)
My office: Lawson 3225
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 pm
Phone 661 2111 ex 81555
I am an Associate Professor in the
Department of Classics, I came to Western
in 2001, having completed my PhD in
Classics at the University of Toronto. I have
also worked at the University of Alberta.
In addition to Greek and Roman
Mythology, I teach courses in Greek
language and literature at all levels.
My research is in the field of Greek
literature, especially Greek Epic, Tragedy,
and the Ancient Greek Novel.
Professor Aara Suksi
Teaching Assistants
Information about Teaching Assistants, their office hours, and contact information will be posted
on OWL. You are welcome to attend any office hours held by any member of the teaching team.
Please check OWL announcements for any changes in office hours.
For e-mail correspondence, you will be assigned a TA, who should be your first contact for any
questions.
Time and Place Tuesdays 7-9 pm. NS 145
Lectures will begin promptly at 7 pm and will continue to 8:50 pm.
Objectives You will become familiar with the major myth cycles from ancient Greece and Rome.
You will know what types of evidence we have available for the myths, and be aware of the
limitations of that evidence. You will gain an understanding of how the myths functioned in their
cultural contexts. You will learn to compare different mythical narratives and to identify common
story-patterns. You will gain some awareness of how the myths of ancient Greece and Rome have
survived in different forms throughout the history of Western culture to the present day.
Learning Outcomes Successful students will have developed skills in closely reading and
interpreting literary texts and art images. They will be able to recognize the ways that narratives
reflect cultural contexts. They will be able to identify and to compare story patterns that arise in
different contexts. They will be able to identify the major characters of Greek and Roman myths
2as they appear in art. They will have some ability to apply this knowledge to the interpretation of
later cultural artifacts from the Western tradition that refer to Greek and Roman myths.
Assigned Readings
All assigned readings are available on-line and are indicated on the course outline. You should
complete these before the class for which they are scheduled. The length of the readings can vary
quite a lot from week to week. You should plan for this, and read ahead when you can.
Evaluation
30% term test 1 Hour. Nov. 13, 7 pm Multiple choice (50 Questions)
30% term test 1 Hour. Feb. 12, 7 pm Multiple choice (50 Questions)
40% Final Exam 2 Hours. Scheduled by the registrar Multiple choice (100 Questions)
The final exam will be CUMULATIVE
You can best prepare for the above by completing the scheduled readings before class and by
attending lectures regularly, taking a good set of notes. Lectures will supplement assigned
readings, rather than repeat them. If you find you are having trouble with any of the course
material, it is best to see your TA during office hours sooner in the course rather than later, so that
you can get help before you feel overwhelmed.
We will go over some practice questions in class, but if you are not comfortable with multiple
choice evaluation, then please consider carefully whether you want to take this course. The
Learning Skills Services office at the Student Development Centre (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/)
offers workshops on studying from a text-book, taking lecture notes, and on writing multiple-
choice exams, as well as individual counselling about study skills.
Important grading policies
Absence from a test or exam will result in a grade of zero. If extreme and unforeseeable
circumstances prevent you from writing any of the above, you must let me know as soon as
possible and also contact your Faculty Academic Counselor to request accommodation (see
information box below). Please do not wait until you get an appointment with your Faculty
Counselor to let me know that you will be seeking accommodation. Tests are scheduled during
regular class time, so there should be no conflicts with other courses.
Do not ask to do an extra assignment to improve your grade. In the interests of fairness to all
students, I do not grant such requests. For the same reason, final grades are not negotiable and,
unless there has been an error in calculating your grade, I will not grant any requests that a grade
be changed.
Website and Communication This course has an OWL site. We will use the site to post
announcements, PowerPoint slides from lectures, links to required readings online, instructions
and locations for tests, grades, etc. Please look on the syllabus and the website before e-mailing to
ask us for information that is already available in these places.
To communicate with us please use our email addresses, rather than the mail function in OWL,
and please use your own uwo email address in any correspondence. This will prevent your message
from getting blocked by spam filters.
3Classroom Expectations
This is a large lecture class with many students. It is important that all students have access to the
lecture material with the least distraction possible. For this reason, I ask that you be aware of the
following classroom expectations: do not carry on conversations during the lecture. If you have
a question about the lecture, please do raise your hand and we will be happy to address it. Do your
best to arrive on time and to remain until the lecture is finished; the lecture will begin promptly at
7 pm and will end by 8:50 pm. If you absolutely must arrive late or leave early, please sit where
you will cause the least distraction and inconvenience to other students. Cell-phones should be
turned off during lecture. Be aware that content on your laptop screen can be distracting to students
sitting around you, so restrict your activity on your computer to note-taking related to the lecture.
NOTE FROM THE DEAN OF ARTS and HUMANITIES: You are responsible for ensuring
that you have successfully completed all course prerequisites and that you have not taken an
antirequisite course. Lack of prerequisites may not be used as basis of appeal. If you are not
eligible for a course, you may be removed from it at any time, and you will receive no adjustment
to your fees. These decisions cannot be appealed.
PLAGIARISM and other Academic Offences: Students must write their essays and
assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage of text from
another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where
appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major
academic offence (see Scholastic Offence Policy in the Western Academic Calendar).
There are no written assignments for this course. Any type of academic offence committed
during tests or the exam will be taken very seriously. No aids of any kind are allowed in the
tests and exam, and no communication between students will be permitted during the tests and
exam. Copying answers from a neighbour’s test or exam is a serious academic offence for which
there are grave consequences. It is an academic offence to remove a test or exam from the room.
POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/medicalform_15JUN.pdf
[downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC):
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams
and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must apply to the Office of the
Dean of their home faculty and provide documentation. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION
CANNOT BE GRANTED BY THE INSTRUCTOR OR DEPARTMENT.
UWO ACCESSIBILITY POLICY: Western has many services and programs that support
the personal, physical, social and academic needs of students with disabilities. For more
information and links to these services: http://accessibility.uwo.ca/
MENTAL HEALTH: Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental
Health@Western http://www.health.uwo.ca/mental_health/ for a complete list of options
about how to obtain help.
4Tentative Schedule of Lectures and Readings
Date Topics Reading Assignment
Sept. 11 Course Introduction; The Read through the syllabus very carefully and make a
mythic hero; Historical special note of test dates, course policies, evaluation, etc.
background; You are responsible for the information on the course
Working definitions; outline and for any announcements posted to the course
Evidence for Greek and website.
Roman Myths.
Sept. 18 Creation of the world Hesiod, Theogony pages 3-79.
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
Politics of the gods com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/hesiod-
theogony/2007/pb_LCL057.3.xml
Sept. 25 Creation of Humans Hesiod, Works and Days pages 87-105.
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/hesiod-
works_days/2007/pb_LCL057.87.xml?rskey=sSJvbh&res
ult=6
Oct. 2 A later perspective on Prometheus Bound; read the play at this link:
divine politics from https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/2596054/mod_res
Athenian tragedy ource/content/1/PROMETHEUS%20BOUND%20BY%20
AESCHYLLUS.pdf
Oct. 9 Fall Study Break
Oct. 16 The Olympian Family 1: 1. Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite; read at this link:
Zeus, Hera, Hestia, http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns3.html#5
Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite
2. Excerpt from Homer, Odyssey: The Loves of Ares and
Aphrodite pages 291 (bottom) -299 (middle).
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
odyssey/1919/pb_LCL104.291.xml
Oct. 23 The Olympian Family 2: Homeric Hymn to Demeter pages 33-69
Demeter, Persephone, Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
Hades com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homeric_hymns_2_demeter/2
003/pb_LCL496.33.xml?rskey=2wfxLr&result=1
5Oct. 30 The Olympian Family 3: 1. Homeric Hymn to Apollo; pages 71-113
Apollo and Artemis, Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
Athena, Hephaestus, com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homeric_hymns_3_apollo/20
Hermes 03/pb_LCL496.71.xml
2. Homeric Hymn to Hermes pages 113-157
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homeric_hymns_4_hermes/2
003/pb_LCL496.113.xml
Nov. 6 The Olympian Family 4: 1. Homeric Hymn to Dionysus pages 185-189
Dionysus. Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homeric_hymns_7_dionysus/
The Underworld 2003/pb_LCL496.185.xml
2. Homer’s Odyssey Book 11 (the Underworld) pages 400-
447
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
odyssey/1919/pb_LCL104.401.xml
Nov. 13 Term Test 7-8 pm
Nov. 20 Early Heroes: Read ahead
Perseus and Heracles
Nov. 27 Early Heroes II: Read ahead
Jason, Theseus, Phaethon
and Icarus
Dec. 4 Causes of the Trojan 1. Sappho, fragment 16. Page 67
War https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/sappho-
Introduction to the Iliad fragments/1982/pb_LCL142.67.xml
2. Homer, Iliad Book 1
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
iliad/1924/pb_LCL170.13.xml?rskey=aHaTUJ&result=1
Holiday Read ahead
Break
6Jan. 8 The Trojan War: Homer, Iliad Books 5, 6, 9, 16
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
Iliad (Achilles) com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
iliad/1924/pb_LCL170.207.xml
Iliad Table of Contents: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/LCL170/1924/volume.xml
Jan. 15 The Trojan War: Iliad Homer, Iliad Books 18, 19, 22, 24
(con’t) Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
After the Iliad: The Fall iliad/1924/pb_LCL171.287.xml
of Troy
Iliad Table of Contents: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/LCL170/1924/volume.xml
Jan. 22 Coming Home 1: Homer, Odyssey Books 1, 5, 6, 9.
Odysseus Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
odyssey/1919/pb_LCL104.13.xml?rskey=GXxnRO&resul
t=1
Odyssey Table of Contents: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/LCL105/1919/volume.xml
Jan. 29 Odysseus and Penelope Homer, Odyssey Books 13, 19, 21, 22, 23
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/homer-
odyssey/1919/pb_LCL105.3.xml
Odyssey Table of Contents: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/LCL105/1919/volume.xml
Feb. 5 Coming Home 2: Aeschylus, Agamemnon pages 2-205
Agamemnon and
Clytemnestra Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/aeschylus-
Myth and Ritual oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.3.xml
Feb. 12 Term Test 7-8 pm
7Feb. 19 Reading Week
Feb. 26 Forms of Justice Aeschylus, Eumenides pages 354-485
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/aeschylus-
oresteia_eumenides/2009/pb_LCL146.355.xml
Mar. 5 Oedipus and Antigone Sophocles, Oedipus Rex pages 326-483
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/sophocles-
oedipus_tyrannus/1994/pb_LCL020.327.xml?rskey=4zRly
q&result=2
Mar. 12 Brides and Foreigners Euripides, Medea pages 285-413
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/euripides-
medea/1994/pb_LCL012.285.xml
Mar. 19 Gender and Greek myth Euripides, Bacchae pages 13-153
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/euripides-
bacchae/2003/pb_LCL495.13.xml?rskey=8urpCo&result=
1
Mar. 26 Roman Myth Read ahead
Apr. 2 A Roman Hero: Aeneas Virgil, Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 12
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/virgil-
aeneid/1916/pb_LCL063.263.xml
Table of Contents here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/LCL063/1916/volume.xml
April 9 The Poet as Hero 1. Ovid, Metamorphoses Book 1 pages 3-31
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
The Emperor as God com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/ovid-
metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL042.3.xml
2. Ovid, Metamorphoses Book 10 pages 65-71,
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/ovid-
metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL043.65.xml
83. Ovid, Metamorphoses Book 11 pages 121-125
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/ovid-
metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL043.121.xml
4. Ovid, Metamorphoses Book 15 pages 417 (bottom) –
427
Begins here: https://www-loebclassics-
com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/view/ovid-
metamorphoses/1916/pb_LCL043.417.xml
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