Trojan War
Review of the literature, timeline, introduction to the plot, themes, and characters of the Trojan War. Screening of passages from The Iliad or The Odyssey expressed in various mediums from visual arts to science from the Bronze Age to our present days: pottery, frescoes, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography, music pieces, songs; clips of dance or Opera choreographies, theater productions, movies, TV shows; comic books series, graffiti, tattoos, and science projects dedicated to Greek Epic characters.
Week Two through seven
THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY
Week 2, Sep 13
Have read Il., Books 1-8
Choose a passage from the readings of The Iliad containing one of the following themes: Hubris, Shame, Pride, Rage, Love, Heroism, Honor, Abuse of Power, Fatherhood and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Be ready to read it in class and comment/analyze it.
In class lecture: Agency and intention versus akrasia (“weakness of will”), pride, shame, guilt, personal responsibility, bitter regret and forgiveness.
Week 3, Sep 20
Have read Il., Books 9-16
Choose a passage from the readings of The Iliad containing one of the following themes: Friendship, Loyalty to higher morals, empathy, sense of duty, moral obligation versus personal pride and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Be ready to read it in class and comment/ analyze it.
In class lecture:
The paramount consequences of actions that cannot be averted in the making of the tragic hero. Why can’t the tragic hero change?.
Week 4, Sep 2
Have read Il. Book 17-24
Choose a passage from the readings of The Iliad containing one of the following themes: Love, Sorrow, Mourning, Ruthlessness, Loss of Humanity, Revenge, Compassion, Fatherhood, and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Consider their relevance today. Be ready to read it in class and comment/analyze it.
In class lecture:
“Berserkers” of all times, apology of violence in the name of revenge over the loss of one’s own. De-humanization of the enemy, the syndrome of the wrath of Achilles. The “tremblers” of the ancient times versus those affected with “PTSD” today. The Iliad as a guide to understand when and how to prepare for homecoming. Choosing life over death. Achilles versus Hector, what does each represent at large.
Week 5, Oct 4
Have read Od., Books 1-8
Choose a passage from the readings of The Odyssey containing one of the following themes: search for autonomy, shame, inadequacy, frustration, severance from the feminine, journey outward and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Consider their relevance today. Is Telemachus still among us? Is he/she a good example of a person willing yet struggling to grow into an adult?
Be ready to read it in class and comment/analyze it.
In class lecture: Telemachia, an analysis of the search for identity through one’s own ancestry, the journey outward searching for one’s adulthood. The Journey as the metaphor for forging of the soul, the profound importance of mentoring in the process of tempering one’s own matter.
Week 6, Oct 11
Have read Od., Books 9-16
Choose a passage from the readings of The Odyssey containing one of the following themes: Nostos, Hubris, Responsibility, Shame, Pining, Storytelling, Lying, revisiting one’s own mistakes, the magical feminine, descent into the unknown and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Be ready to read it in class and comment/ analyze it.
In class lecture: The metaphor of the journey, Nostos, the impossible return home, dependency versus autonomy, fate versus choice, storytelling as survival, reinvention of the self as both an escamotage to advance and a measure for wisdom, ultimately a metaphor of meeting with one’s monsters; taking responsibility for oneself.
Week 7, Oct 18
Have read: Od, Books 17-24
Choose a passage from the readings of The Odyssey containing one of the following themes: Agnition, Epiphany, Regret, Loyalty, Resolution, Fatherhood, Manhood, Adulthood, Revenge, Forcefulness, Feminine, Motherhood, Authority, and write one to two pages elaborating on their meaning within the context of the story. Be ready to read it in class and comment/ analyze it.
In class lecture: The Return Home. What is the metaphorical meaning of an impossibility? Symbolic significance and weight, cost. What does it mean to become an adult? How expensive is the bounty that the King brings home? What role has the feminine in the holding and the preservation of the kingdom? Can a King detain his role without a Queen? How does a Queen keep her status without a King? The philosophical impossibility of stepping down from the throne begins here, here begins the “the once and forever king/queen” metaphor.