Praise-singer (?), Palace of Nestor
Late Bronze Age fresco, reconstructed by Piet de Jong
Myths and Legends of the Trojan War
Abstract / Course Description:
"This course introduces students to a careful reading of ancient works of literature which deal with the general theme of the war between Greeks and Trojans, beginning with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, continuing through the reinterpretation of this war by Athenian dramatists of the fifth century B.C.E., and culminating with Virgil's Aeneid. Remembrance of the Trojan War was a part of the Greek sense of self-identity, and it was used again and again as the historical and mythological background to which Greeks and their successors turned in recurrent searches to know themselves. Examples from art and archaeology supplement the literary theme, and considerable attention will be given to historical contexts." (course abstract by R. Rogers)
FINAL EXAM
Current Syllabus (PDF)
Powerpoints
Euripides Helen
Midterm essay formatting requirements.
Basic Timeline of Early Greek History
Outline of Professor J. Bailey's lecture on Homeric Ethics
Outline of Professor Usher’s lecture on Aristotles Poetics
Outline of Charlie Blume’s lecture on the Golden Age
Instructions for Dactylic Hexameter exercise
First lines of Iliad for scanning quizzes
Greek transliteration (from Chicago Manual of Style)
Examples of Ring Composition / Geometric Structuring (Whitman)
Some ancient poetic techniques and tropes (not all relevant to Homer)
Thucydides Reading
Herodotus Reading
Bronze Age Sites in Google Earth
Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature at Harvard
Comparison of Homeric and South-Slavic singing
500 word introduction to ancient Greek music
Some useful online resources for the ancient world