Unit information: Epic in 2014/15

Unit name	Epic
Unit code	CLAS22361
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Tom Geue
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Classics & Ancient History
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will examine a selection of epic works from Greece and Rome - all studied in translation - to trace the development of Greek and Latin epic from the oral tradition of Homer through the literary composition exemplified by Virgil's Aeneid to the generically challenging form of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Themes studied in this unit will include epic and genre, epic and gender, epic and myth, epic and history, gods and heroes. Students will be encouraged to consider textual and contextual differences between Greek, Roman, and postclassical epic, and to analyse the changing dynamics of the epic tradition.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should:

• have gained knowledge about the cultural contexts of ancient epic and its postclassical reception;
• developed an understanding of the principal critical approaches to studying epic as a genre;
• be able to analyse a range of key texts in translation;
• developed their skills in written communication (through essay work and examinations)
• In addition, second year students will be expected to have developed analytical skills appropriate for level I/5, as demonstrated in their formal assessments.

Teaching Information

2 hours of lecture with some seminar discussion weekly

Assessment Information

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 3 and 4

Reading and References

Charles Rowan Beye, Ancient Epic Poetry: Homer, Apollonius, Virgil, With a Chapter on the Gilgamesh Poems. (Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2006).

R. Fowler (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)

C. Bates (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Epic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

J.M. Foley (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

Books required:

Apollonius Rhodius, Jason and the Golden Fleece: The Argonautica (trans. Richard Hunter, Oxford World’s Classics)

Homer, Iliad (trans. Robert Fitzgerald, Oxford World’s Classics)

Homer, Odyssey (trans. Martin Hammond, Duckworth)

Ovid, Metamorphoses (trans. A.D. Melville, Oxford World’s Classics)

Virgil, Aeneid (trans. Allen Mandelbaum, Bantam)