SYLLABUS FOR E240 WORLD LITERATURE TO 400 CE
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, FALL 2003
*2023 Note. Most hyperlinks and information have been removed from this archival version of the course, leaving mainly the reading schedule.
COURSE INFORMATION. English 240. Tu./Th 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Beckman 203. Instructor: Alfred J. Drake, Ph.D. Office hours: Tu. 10:00 – 11:15 a.m. in Cyber Café. Email: e240_at_ajdrake.com. Course satisfies General Education Requirements, first in a series (240, 242, 244). Catalog: “World masterpieces from the beginning to the fall of Rome, 476 A.D.” Units (3).
REQUIRED TEXTS
Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY: Penguin, 1984. ISBN: 0140443339.
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Seth Bernardete. St. Augustine Press, 2002. ISBN: 1587310260.
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY: Penguin, 1999. ISBN: 0140268863.
Ovid. Metamorphoses. Trans. A.D. Melville. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. ISBN: 019283472X.
Plato. Four Texts on Socrates. Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Aristophanes’ Clouds. Translators West, Thomas G. and Grace West. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. ISBN: 0801485746.
Sophocles. Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. NY: Penguin, 2000. ISBN: 0140444254.
Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Bantam, 1981. ISBN: 0553210416.
OPTIONAL RESOURCES
Guides: Odyssey Time Frame | Agamemnon Structure | Tennyson’s “The Lotos-Eaters” | Tennyson’s “Ulysses” | Nietzsche’s Greeks
Classics Sites: Didaskalia | Perseus | Diotima | Forum | Homeric Singing
QUESTIONS FOR JOURNALS AND PRESENTATIONS
*2023 Note. Visitors may download the following questions in PDF format: WORLD ANCIENT LITERATURE.
Homer | Aeschylus | Aristotle | Sophocles | Plato | Virgil | Ovid
SCHEDULE: WORKS DISCUSSED ON DATES INDICATED
WEEK 1
Tu. 08/26. Intro to class and to Homer.
Th. 08/28. Homer. The Odyssey, Book 1.
WEEK 2
Tu. 09/02. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 2-5.
Th. 09/04. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 6-8.
WEEK 3
Tu. 09/09. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 9-10.
Th. 09/11. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 11-13.
WEEK 4
Tu. 09/16. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 18-21. (skim 14-17 for plot)
Th. 09/18. Homer. The Odyssey, Books 22-24. [First journal set due.]
WEEK 5
Tu. 09/23. Intro to Greek Tragedy. Arisotle. Poetics.
Th. 09/25. Aristotle. Poetics.
WEEK 6
Tu. 09/30. Aeschylus. The Oresteia. (Film in class — Agamemnon.)
Th. 10/02. Aeschylus. The Oresteia. (Film in class — Agamemnon.)
WEEK 7
Tu. 10/07. Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Discussion of Agamemnon.
Th. 10/09. Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Discussion of The Libation Bearers. (+ Film selections.)
WEEK 8
Tu. 10/14. Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Discussion of The Eumenides. (+ Film selections.)
Th. 10/16. Sophocles. Antigone. (Film, 70 minutes.)
WEEK 9
Tu. 10/21. Sophocles. Antigone. (Film, remaining 20 minutes, discussion.)
Th. 10/23. Sophocles. Antigone. Discussion. [Second journal set due.]
WEEK 10
Tu. 10/28. Plato. Apology. (First half.)
Th. 10/30. Plato. Apology. (Second half.)
WEEK 11
Tu. 11/04. Virgil. The Aeneid, Books 1-2.
Th. 11/06. Virgil. The Aeneid, Books 3-4. [Paper rough draft due.]
WEEK 12
Tu. 11/11. Virgil. The Aeneid, Books 5-6. Comment on 7-12, which aren’t assigned.
Th. 11/13. Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book 1. [Third journal set due.]
WEEK 13
Tu. 11/18. Ovid. Metamorphoses, Books 2-4.
Th. 11/20. Ovid. Metamorphoses, from Book 5, “The Rape of Proserpine” and “Arethusa”; from Book 6, “Arachne” and “Tereus, Procne, and Philomela.”
WEEK 14
Tu. 11/25. Ovid. Metamorphoses, from Book 7, “Medea and Jason,” “Medea and Aeson,” “Medea and Peleas,” “Theseus”; from Book 8, “Daedalus and Icarus”; from Book 10, “Orpheus and Eurydice,” “Cyparissus,” “Ganymede,” “Hyacinth,” “Pygmalion”; from Book 11, “Death of Orpheus,” “Midas,” “First Foundation and Destruction of Troy.”
Th. 11/27. Thanksgiving Holiday.
WEEK 15
Tu. 12/02. Ovid. Metamorphoses, from Book 12, “Expedition Against Troy,” “Death of Achilles”; from Book 13, “Ajax and Achilles…,” “Fall of Troy,” “ Pilgrimage of Aeneas”; from Book 14, “Pilgrimage of Aeneas, cont.,” “Island of Circe,” “Triumph and Apotheosis of Aeneas”; from Book 15, “Aesculapius,” “Apotheosis of Julius Caesar,” “Epilogue.”
Th. 12/04. Course Review.
FINALS WEEK
12/09. Tuesday, 10:45 – 1:15 p.m., regular location. Final draft of paper and last journal set due along with final exam.