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This course examines epic poetry from ancient Greece and Rome with a comparative approach that draws on other cultures both more ancient and more modern. Readings include the Homeric Iliad and Odyssey, the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, and Virgil’s Aeneid, together with the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Persian Shaname, the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, and selections from Irish myth.
Professor: Casey Dué Hackney (e-mail: Casey.Due@mail.uh.edu). Office hours: Thursdays 2:30-4PM and by appointment, Agnes Arnold Hall room 454. MCL Dept. phone number: (713) 743-3007.
Texts: These are all available at the UH bookstore, but because of the high number of different works we read in this class, I recommend that you try to get some used, on-line, or from the library. Be sure, however, to get the right edition!!
Charles Rowan Beye, Ancient Epic Poetry: Homer, Apollonius, Virgil, With a Chapter on the Gilgamesh Poems. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2006. ISBN 0-86516-607-2.
The Iliad of Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo (1997, ISBN: 0872203522).
The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo (2000, ISBN: 0872204847).
The Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by Andrew George (2003, ISBN: 978-0140449198).
Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius of Rhodes, translated by Richard Hunter (1998, ISBN:978-0192835833).
The Aeneid, in any translation. (I have ordered the one by Stanley Lombardo [2005] to the UH bookstore.)
The Tain, translated by Thomas Kinsella (2002; ISBN: 978-0192803733).
Beowulf: A Verse Translation (Norton Critical Editions), edited by Daniel Donoghue, translated by Seamus Heaney (2001; ISBN: 978-0393975802).
Components of Course Grade: Two exams (25% each), One set of questions (25%), One take home essay (25%)
Schedule of Lectures and Assignments:
8/26 Introduction and overview
Recommended follow up reading (for those interested in learning more): “Proto-Indo-Europeans”; C. Watkins, “Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans.”
8/28 Gilgamesh
Assignment: The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, tablets I-VI (George 1999 pp. 1-53); Begin reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “Gilgamesh”
9/2 Gilgamesh
Assignment: The Standard Version of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic, tablets VII-XII (George 1999 pp. 54-100); Complete reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “Gilgamesh”
9/4 Gilgamesh
Assignment: The Sumerian Poems of Gilgamesh, Bilgames and the Bull of Heaven, Bilgames and the Netherworld, The Death of Bilgames (George 1999 pp. 166-208)
9/9 The Iliad and Oral Poetry
Assignment: Iliad 1; begin reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “Oral Poetry”
Recommended follow up reading (for those interested in learning more): A. B. Lord, The Singer of Tales (1960; 2nd edition, 2000) — this is a very readable and incredibly illuminating book! See also the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature.
9/11 The Iliad and Oral Poetry (cont.)
Assignment: Complete reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “Oral Poetry”
9/16 Exam 1 (covers Gilgamesh and Iliad 1)
9/18 NO CLASS - use the extra time to get a head start on the large amount of reading for next week! Also, begin reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Iliad.”
9/23 Iliad
Assignment: Iliad 3, 6, 9
9/25 Iliad
Assignment: Iliad 10, 16, 18
9/30 Iliad
Assignment: Iliad 19, 22, 24; complete reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Iliad”
10/2 Odyssey
Assignment: Odyssey 1-6; begin reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Odyssey”
10/7 Odyssey
Assignment: Odyssey 7-12
10/9 Odyssey
Assignment: Odyssey 13-18
10/14 Odyssey
Assignment: Odyssey 19-24
10/16 Review Day
Assignment: Complete reading Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Odyssey”
10/21 Exam 2
10/23 Introduction to the Aeneid
Assignment: Aeneid 1 and 2
10/28 Aeneid
Assignment: Aeneid 3-5
10/30 Aeneid
Assignment: Aeneid 6; Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Aeneid”
11/4 Aeneid
Assignment: selections (TBA) from Aeneid 7-12
11/6 Jason and the Golden Fleece (Argonautica)
Assignment: Jason and the Golden Fleece 1-2; Ancient Epic Poetry: “The Argonautica”
11/11 Jason and the Golden Fleece
Assignment: Jason and the Golden Fleece 3-4;
11/13 Review day and introduction to Beowulf; set of take home questions, due 11/25, will be distributed
11/18 Beowulf
Assignment: TBD
11/20 Beowulf
Assignment: TBD
11/25 Beowulf concluded; Introduction to Irish myth
Assignment: TBD; *Question set due*
11/27 THANKSGIVING
12/2 Cuchulainn: The Irish Achilles?
Assignment: The Tain
12/4 Finn Macool
Assignment: TBD
12/8 (MONDAY): Take home essay due by 10am
