CLCV

In this course, students will learn about myth traditions around the world, from Europe’s ancient Greece to south America’s Mayans. Throughout, we will use critical lenses to make sense of these myths and to compare them. We will examine the creation and destruction myths of Greece, Rome, the Hebrew Bible, Mesopotamia, the Norse (Vikings), indigenous North America, Mesoamerica, China and Africa; and myths about hero/trickster figures from Greece, India, indigenous North America, Africa, and the Norse (Vikings). Along the way, we will also discuss re-figurations of myths by modern artists and their relevance to us now.

War was a constant for every member of ancient Greek society, whether they were fighting in it, reveling in conquest, or lamenting the aftermath. In this course we will investigate diverse ancient Greek viewpoints on war, which may include techniques of warfare, discussions of Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, and plays by Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. We will also consider how modern thinkers have used these visions to interpret our experiences of war, as in therapist Jonathan Shay's Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America and the Theater of War project.