Epic Poetry: Greek/Roman Trad

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

The purpose of this course is threefold. Our first goal is to enjoy three of the more sublime works in the Western literary canon: the two surviving Greek epic poems that illuminate aspects of the Trojan War—the Iliad and the Odyssey—and the primary Roman epic poem, the Aeneid, that is modeled in large part on a combination of these Greek models. Our second goal will be to use these three poems as a stepping-off point for a consideration of some of the differences between Greek and Roman culture and thought: what sorts of issues, ideas, and qualities distinguished these two worlds from each other, and which features were endemic to them both? Our third goal will be to place the three poems in the larger context of epic (and lyric) poetry in the Western tradition with a brief exploration and discussion of other works that precede the Iliad and Odyssey, follow these poems but precede the Aeneid and follow the Aeneid—down to our own time.