Epic, Community, and Identity

Meeting on Feb. 4

Just a reminder what we will be doing at our next meeting:

• Iliad Books 23-24
• The Aeneid Books 1-6
• Discussion of Research Questions (look for a post on this later in the week).

We may or may not have a chance to fully discuss Quint, Epic and Empire - if not we will take it up online and on W3.

"I must be needed now" - The Iliad Book 9

The embassy to Achilles is in many ways the most interesting book of the Iliad in its examination of human motivation within the community of the Achaeans. Agamemnon takes a public step toward reconciliation in his admission of his own "madness" - and (as in Book 2) says it's time to pack up and go home. He resolves to return Briseis and many other gifts to Achilles, on one condition "Let him submit to me!" (256). But others undertake an embassy to Achilles. The ambassadors use a well-rehearsed sequence of rhetorical methods to persuade him to rejoin the battle, and end his self imposed exile. Certainly, his anger is still there, and until it is redirected against Hector, the Greeks have nowhere to go.
How do you read Achilles reactions to their entreaties? Is he undergoing a process of maturation, evolution, or does he know exactly what he is doing? Is either Agamemnon or Achilles more culpable than the other for the Greek's current predicament?

Documents from W1

Apparently, the gods live on . . .

Attached here are the notes and slides from W1. Also attached is a revised version of the Research and Writing document.

Download w1docs.zip
Download researchwritinghum212e.pdf

Homer and Greek Epic

These are suggestions of things you might find interesting as you consider research topics. If you have others to add, please do so. . .

Martin Bernal. Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization

This book has been controversial since day 1, and it has sparked lively debate not only about the classical world, but about the very ideological foundations of historical study.

Barry Powell. Homer: Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World.

Albert Lord. The Singer of Tales.

The seminal work on oral-formulaic theory.

Aeschylus, The Oresteia.

What happened to Agamemnon after Troy?

Euripedes wrote a series of tragic plays about Trojan themes, especially about the women.
Andromache
Helen
The Trojan Women
Hecuba
Iphigeneia in Tauris
Orestes
Iphigeneia at Aulis
The Bacchae (not a Trojan theme, but about what happens when a ruler goes too far in opposing the gods, and in opposing his people).

A quiz to start your day

This is a link to a short quiz on the Iliad. It is not for credit, it merely to establish a baseline of group knowledge. I will not be able to tell who answered what, only how many got the right answers. These questions will be easy for anyone who did even some of the reading. . .

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=626173167623

Revised Syllabus and Reading Schedule

Attached to this post are the slightly revised syllabus, and the full schedule of readings and assignment due dates.

Download hum212Es07.pdf
Download reading_scheduleHUM212E.pdf

Homer on 21 January

For the sake of preparing for Sunday's discussion, we will emphasize Books 1, 6, 9, 16-18, 21-24.
(I'm aware that I did not originally assign 21, so I can't fault you if you didn't read it. But do give it a look if you have time).

About this site

About the class website . . .

Greetings - I'm looking forward to working with all of you on our shared readings and interpretations of these texts. I firmly believe that all meaning is something created, negotiated socially, not something objective that just sits in a text waiting to be "discovered." Of course, I'm open to being proved wrong here. . . .

This class website exists solely as a locus of communication and information sharing. It's not meant to be a soapbox or lectern for me to pontificate - it's something for all of us to work on together. We use this format just because it's simple, and relatively clean, without the unnecessary baggage that comes with a commercial course management system like Blackboard.

It's necessary to keep conversations on the material going  when you only meet every 2-3 weeks.

That said, this format has a few caveats:

This site is public. Anything you post or comment on could theoretically be found in a Google search by anyone (including potential or current employers, significant others, etc). So it's best to keep the exchanges public, but pseudonymous. Use a screen name, or your first name only, rather than first name and surname.

This particular web technology requires the owner of the site (me) to act as main author, editor, manager, etc. So usually, what happens is that I will post a short prompt, mini-essay, or set of discussion questions, and you guys will use the "comment" feature to post your thoughts, reactions, and reflections. I'm not particularly happy about this hierarchical structure, but there it is. If you want to be an author of a post on the main part of the site, please tell me - that is easy to set up. 

You will also want to get set up with some kind of RSS reader if you don't use one already. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of having updates to sites you read sent to you passively -- all news sites and most weblogs use them. That way, you will know automatically when there is new business happening on the class website. More on this when we meet.

As always, I'm happy to answer your questions on this site, over email, or by phone.

Class Business

First day of class is Sunday 21 January 2007.
We meet for the first time at 8 AM in Building 4, Room 209.
I don't know what this room is like, whether it has computers, etc.
More to come as I find out more.