This course fulflls the Upper Level Humanities course requirement in CLA and the Writing Intensive requirement in the University. It forms part of the Ancient Mediterranean Studies Minor and counts also towards a Major or Minor in Classics. If you are especially interested in Classics, please subscribe to the departmental listserv for our students: etasigmaphi.

Please note that as this course is under revision and its instructor adapts his teaching to suit student needs, requirements and schedule are subject to change.

General Description and Purpose: A comparative study and close reading of the major heroic epics of ancient Indo-European culture: Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia), Iliad and Odyssey (Greece), Aeneid (Rome) and Mahabharata (India). Topics to be discussed include the warrior ethic, heroic friendship, oral vs. literate poetry, the social function of epic and its historicity, myth and epic, and the changing nature of heroism. We will also pay attention to the heritage of classical epic in the modern world. Students will leave with a thorough understanding of this genre that is so important for Western and World literature. We will focus on close readings of the texts, though occasionally I will ask you to read important secondary materials. This course will also attempt to wed technology and great literature as you learn to use computer databases to study Homer. Your reading and analytical skills should improve, but, more importantly, you will learn to love Homer. If you don't, please don't tell me!

Approach to teaching and class dynamics: I would like to see this course function as a quasi-seminar with a high level of student participation through discussion and reports, with students working closely with me and each other. Technology will also feature here, as students use the Internet, including the World Wide Web and Perseus, an exciting multi-media resource for studying ancient Greek civilization, in class. Please note that I am available in my office every day, and my door is open; I am here to help you understand this material. Since there are no pre-requisites for this course, it is likely that you will encounter some ideas or texts that are new and "foreign" to you. Please ask questions in class, post them to Blackboard or come see me if you need more help; don't wait until the term is almost over! There is no such thing as a "dumb" question; questions are actually one of the best contributions you can make to class

Web Site: The web site for this class (www.temple.edu/classics/epic.html), which contains study guides and links to outside resources. You can read the guides on-line, save them to disk, or print them. We will also be using Blackboard (blackboard.temple.edu). You will need an astro account (AccessNet ID) to access Blackboard. This is required, as you will post some of your course work to Blackboard. Course materials and details on assignments will be on Blackboard. I will also post key terms and lecture summaries and previews ("Talking Points" under "Communication") there.

Evaluation: Participation will be an important part; this will include giving brief oral reports. Assignments are on Blackboard; click on Assignments.

1. Attendance and participation. You must notify me about missing class, especially on days where there are writing assignments.(%15)
2. Very short writing assignments, at home or in class, about every other week. These will be announced in advance. The first one will be due on Monday 1/27. Unexcused late papers will not be accepted. (%20)
3. On-going research project on a character from the Iliad, posted on Blackboard (details available there under Assignments). (%30)
4. A two-page book review, to be presented orally at some time after spring break, on a scholarly book on any aspect of the epics read in this course. You should consult with me about which work of scholarship you will study. (15%)
5. A take-home final or a creative project, using the epic cycle summary as a basis to draft your own epic. This will be due on Monday 5/11. (%20)

Books: Available at the University Bookstore, under GHR Classics. Please use these editions

• The Epic of Gilgamesh, Penguin
• Homer, The Iliad, translated by Lombardo, Hackett
• Homer, The Odyssey, translated by Lombardo, Hackett
• Virgil, The Aeneid, translated by Copley, Library of the Liberal Arts
• Buck, Mahabharata University of California Press

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, we will host the Curio Theatre Company's dramatized reading of Homer's Iliad. The performance, in Kiva Auditorium, lasts 80 minutes and will be in Kiva Auditorium at 2:40 p.m.