Unhappy families appear throughout Greco-Roman literature and culture. Spectacular Tragic Houses were filled with several generations of disasters. These inspired a variety of poets to retell select moments in their histories. But even the comic household can mobilize hatred, suspicion, and other ugly feelings to humorous effect. Conflict between domineering fathers and the rest of the household was a staple of rhetorical training. And in many homes we can see the misery of slaves, members who are also not members of the family. This course will survey a variety of intimate disasters. We will explore norms and ideals as well as the sense that the same are fragile, contradictory, or even impossible. What was the secret of Roman civilization, and what did this level of technology mean for the empire’s inhabitants? This course presents for discussion the many achievements of centuries of Roman presence on three continents around the Mediterranean Sea, while bringing into the equation also the issue of standard of living and the ecological costs. First we will read through the Odyssey, contextualizing the Homeric epic within the larger story of the Trojan War and the subsequent heroic return in the "Epic Cycle." Then we will study various "receptions" of the Odyssey, ancient and modern. Ancient works will include the satyr play Cyclops by Euripides and portrayals of a love-sick Cyclops in Theocritus and Ovid. In True Story Lucian calls Odysseus a liar but rivals his travel tale with episodes placed on the moon and inside a whale. Modern works include Atwood's Penelopiad, Walcott's stage version of the Odyssey, and the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Themes will include travel literature, truth and lying, localization of the wanderings of Odysseus, culture clash, and the definition of home. All this material, various in date, media, and fidelity to their Homeric source, will provide us with a well-rounded sense of how the Odyssey has been re-imagined over the ages.
Unhappy families appear throughout Greco-Roman literature and culture. Spectacular Tragic Houses were filled with several generations of disasters. These inspired a variety of poets to retell select moments in their histories. But even the comic household can mobilize hatred, suspicion, and other ugly feelings to humorous effect. Conflict between domineering fathers and the rest of the household was a staple of rhetorical training. And in many homes we can see the misery of slaves, members who are also not members of the family. This course will survey a variety of intimate disasters. We will explore norms and ideals as well as the sense that the same are fragile, contradictory, or even impossible. What was the secret of Roman civilization, and what did this level of technology mean for the empire’s inhabitants? This course presents for discussion the many achievements of centuries of Roman presence on three continents around the Mediterranean Sea, while bringing into the equation also the issue of standard of living and the ecological costs. First we will read through the Odyssey, contextualizing the Homeric epic within the larger story of the Trojan War and the subsequent heroic return in the "Epic Cycle." Then we will study various "receptions" of the Odyssey, ancient and modern. Ancient works will include the satyr play Cyclops by Euripides and portrayals of a love-sick Cyclops in Theocritus and Ovid. In True Story Lucian calls Odysseus a liar but rivals his travel tale with episodes placed on the moon and inside a whale. Modern works include Atwood's Penelopiad, Walcott's stage version of the Odyssey, and the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Themes will include travel literature, truth and lying, localization of the wanderings of Odysseus, culture clash, and the definition of home. All this material, various in date, media, and fidelity to their Homeric source, will provide us with a well-rounded sense of how the Odyssey has been re-imagined over the ages.
