Skidmore College Department of Classics

CC 220: Classical Mythology. 3 credits
A study of the important myths in Greek and Roman culture, with attention to their religious, psychological, and historical origins. Comparative mythology, structural analysis, modern psychological interpretations and the development of classical myths in Western literature and art receive attention. Prerequisite: None. Mechem.

HF 200: Classical Mythology: Honors. 1 credit
In the Honors add-on to Classical Mythology students will read primary sources and scholarship which approach Greek myths from various perspectives. Through this reading and subsequent in-class discussion, students will learn how to draw inferences from Greek myths and analyze them. This will allow students to begin to think mythically and to deepen their understanding of the use and purpose of myths for the Greeks. Open to all students enrolled in CC220. Mechem.

CC 222: Greek Tragedy: Myth in Action. 3 credits
In the theater of Dionysus at Athens, Greek myths and legends came to life. Heroes and heroines alike took the stage and through their stories, which were at once familiar and new, demonstrated the frailty of human existence. In this course students will explore the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the three great tragedians, in the context of Athenian society of the fifth century BCE. In addition, students will have the opportunity to write and produce an original Greek tragedy in English. Prerequisite: None. Counts toward the Theater major. Curley.

CC 223: Greek and Roman Comedy: Society on the Stage. 3 credits
The comedians of ancient Athens and Rome were poets of elegance, anger, obscenity, and morality. Despite these often contradictory messages, their plays have stood the test of time. In this course students will survey the works of Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence from different perspectives and contexts, in order to understand how they function as plays and as artifacts of individual artists and their societies. In addition, students will stage one of Aristophanes’ plays as a semester project. Prerequisite: None. Counts toward the Theater major. Curley.

CC 224: The Hero(ine)’s Tale: Traditions of Greek and Roman Epic. 3 credits “Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed…” Thus Homer inaugurated a poetic tradition celebrating gods and mortals, heroes and heroines, singers and listeners. We shall read Homer, Hesiod, Vergil, and Ovid, the foremost epic poets, yet we shall look beyond the canon to Apollonius and Callimachus, whose poems reaffirmed and reinvented epic as a vehicle for myth-making. We shall examine the journeys of patriarchal heroes and the heroines' matriarchal domains. This course is recommended for students interested in myth, narration, genres, and issues of gender. Prerequisite: None. Curley.

CC 365: True Confessions--The Autobiographical Tradition. 3 credits
In this course we shall examine the classical foundations of modern biography. Our study is grounded in Suetonius' landmark and scandalous works on the Caesars and the poets, as well as Plutarch's moralizing Parallel Lives. From there we shall survey key post-classical efforts, from the lives of martyrs and saints to Boswell's Life of Johnson, whose warts-and-all portrait is often considered the finest ever written. Due attention will also be paid both to representations of and by women and to autobiography. We shall consider the genre in the context of history, propaganda, moral exemplar, philosophy, literature, and fantasy. Prerequisite: None. Curley.

CC 365: Singer, Song, & Society. 3 credits
In this course we shall explore the genres of Greek and Latin poetry that are not epic or dramatic: lyric, choral, satire, epigram, elegy, and others. These genres are represented by a variety of authors, including Sappho, Pindar, Juvenal, and Martial, whose works directly address the concerns of the societies in which they live. In particular, we shall focus on the role of the poet within the community, whether to praise or to blame, to love (or lust) or to despise. All readings are in English. Prerequisite: None. Curley.