Myths of the Greeks & Romans

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Greek myth, adopted by the Romans, dominated classical literature, art, and religion, providing the basis of a cultural unity which spread across continents and millennia and still continues to provide a shared intellectual background around the globe. This unit begins from early creation myths and examines the development of greek and Roman myth in this literature and art, exploring the development of many famous myths such as those of The Golden Fleece and The Trojan War. Various modern attempts to explain myth are examined including the complicated relationship between myth and history: how far can we use the former to construct the latter? Finally, the unit looks at some of the rich history of classical myth's reception by later ages and cultures, including our own, and its continuing influence on our cultural landscape.