Troy: City, Legend, Literature

This course will examine the legend of Troy: the struggle for and loss of the great city, and the inevitability of the lives destroyed of both besieged and besiegers, Trojans and Greeks. The city and its destruction are the earliest surviving Western literature, and are a continuous presence through the centuries. Some themes to be examined will include self and other in the narrative, the human and the divine, and fate and free will. We will also analyze how different cultures and times both adopt and adapt the characters for nation-building.