The myths and sagas of the Greeks and Romans, taught in particular through ancient literature.
Athena Title
Classical Mythology
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in CLAS 1020E, CLAS 1020H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to recall and summarize the major Greek and Roman gods and heroes and the stories associated with them.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to identify the story patterns and narrative of classical myths, which reappear throughout western literature.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to discuss and interpret symbols in classical myths and their use in ancient literature as guideposts to broader cultural ideas and meanings.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to locate, interpret, and appraise references to classical myths in subsequent western literature, art, and culture.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to organize and compose written work of various lengths and genres (including but not limited to essays) on topics of ancient mythology and its legacy in western culture.
Topical Outline
I. The meaning of myth - methods and approaches
II. Early Greek thought: the myths of creation in Hesiod's Theogony
III. Development of divine power: Apollo, Demeter, Hermes, and Aphrodite in the Homeric Hymns
IV. The basic story patterns: the wasteland, the return, the impossible quest, the abandoned hero, etc.
V. Hero tales in Greek tragedy and comedy: the transformation of myth in dramatic literature
VI. Myth and the philosophers: Plato's republic, Gorgias, Phaedrus, Timaeus
VII. Myth in roman dress: the elegiac poets and Ovid's Metamorphoses
General Education Core
CORE IV: Humanities and the Arts
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
