GLAM 372 - Greece and Rome to the World: Variable Topics

An exploration of some particular aspect of Greek and Latin literature—a work, an author, a genre, a theme—and its influence and repercussions in modern literature: how it is imitated, engaged, confronted, transformed. Lecture-discussion format, with an emphasis on writing, culminating in a final essay or a creative project. Topic for 2023: What is novel about the Greek Novel? Ancient Greek and Latin prose fictions are put in counterpoint with modern drama, novel, and film. Beginning with the ancestor of the ancient novel, Homer’s Odyssey, as retold in Gardley’s Black Odyssey, the course studies the pastoral romance (Daphnis and Chloe), historical fantasy (The Romance of Alexander the Great), Menippean satire (Satyricon), folk tales (The Ass; Cupid and Psyche), and the ideal romance (The Ethiopian Tale). Side by side are a popular Irish novel, a modern Greek novel for children, a 16th century Spanish picaresque novel, a Soviet bureaucratic fantasy, and a Jamaican story of migration and the search for identity. Films include Pan’s Labyrinth, The Man Who Would Be King, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? Students at the 300-level will do extra reading, writing and research in projects directed by the instructor.

Prerequisites
One 200 level GLAM course or permission of the instructor

Credits 4

Notes
This course is for majors and minors within the Greek, Latin, and Mediterranean Studies Department

Compass Attributes
Writing, Global Honors