Unit name | Epic |
---|---|
Unit code | CLAS12361 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Lampe |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will examine a selection of epic poems from ancient Greece and Rome - all studied in translation - to trace the development of the genre from the oral tradition of Homer through the literary composition of later Greek and Latin poets. Authors and texts studied in this unit may include Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius of Rhodes, Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Statius. Themes studied in this unit may include genre, gender, myth, the gods, destiny, mortality, narrative technique, oral and literary culture, or paradigms of heroism. We will also reflect on the cultural and political contexts of these works, including differences between Greek and Roman epics.
Unit aims:
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
· have gained knowledge about the cultural contexts of ancient epic and its postclassical reception;
Weekly: 2 hours of lecture with some seminar discussion
1 x essay of c. 2,000 words (50%) and 1 x 90 minute exam (50%). Both elements will assess ILOs 1-3; the coursework essay in particular will offer students the opportunity to demonstrate ILOs
Homer, Odyssey
Hesiod, Theogony
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica
Virgil, Aeneid
(Your unit tutor will indicate which translations are preferred.)