Greeks 1
Greeks 1
Greek Literature 1: The Wine Dark Sea Cary Honig email: caryh@school-one.org
Welcome to the Greeks 1 wiki. Hopefully, having an overview of what we will do and roughly when will make the class easier. This also allows me to make the suggested but not required readings available in a context that might make them more attractive. There is more reading than usual this trimester but one fewer essay.
Students can take this class for English or history credit. Because the class is so writing intense, there are different workloads for English and history students with history students writing fewer essays (usually those that have more history or sociological content). The reading requirements are the same. The syllabi linked immediately below provide the details.
Syllabus for English students 20
Syllabus for history students 20
Texts: I have books for many of our texts this year, and I will be scanning and posting things I would normally handout and adding links to this site once we're back in our building. For Homer, I have copies of the Fagles translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey, but different people prefer different translations. I chose Fagles because I felt it combines being relatively easy to read with being well written, but while it's a good one, it's not my personal favorite, and you can use a different translation if you prefer to get one or feel safer with your own copy. Some of the best are Lattimore, Fitzgerald (very poetic and I think especially good for The Odyssey) and a new Iliad by Caroline Alexander and a new Odyssey by Emily Wilson, both of which got excellent reviews. The latter two are the ones I'll be reading for the first time this time around. If you look at this by August 26, Better World Books is having a 25% off sale on used books until then if you buy four or more at a time.
Every student even considering this class must read and sign the source policy and abide by it. Failure to do so will lead to no credit in the class. I am not interested in what anyone at wikipedia, Sparknotes, Shmoop or Harvard thinks about this literature. I am interested in what YOU think. You must think for yourself in this class. If you don't want to do that and perhaps occasionally struggle, don't take the class. You are always welcome to come discuss your ideas with me before writing if you are worried you are off track. I won't tell you what to write or think, but I am happy to ask you questions that might help you to focus or reorient. This is NOT a research class; it is a thinking class. Please respect that and trust that I respect ideas that may be flawed but original far more than ideas that are on more solid ground but that aren't yours. If you want to improve your reading skills significantly (or want to earn credit), do not cheat, which is what looking for help online or elsewhere is amounts to in this class.
For a guide to proper citation within text and bibliography (works cited), go to
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
Links under the weekly schedule are to note sheets we will use in class as well as to articles that are usually recommended but not required to add to your knowledge about what we are discussing in class. I am also providing a select bibliography for those of you who want to know more either now or in the future.
Essays are due almost every week and always on Thursdays at 9 a.m. . Revisions should be done soon after being returned but MUST be completed by the Monday after they are returned by 9 a.m. unless an earlier date is specified at the end of the trimester. On two occasions this trimester, students will do their essays in class on Thursdays to practice for college testing. They should be sure to have read the materials very carefully and to have given them some thought before taking these exams, but the questions are broad and don't require focus on one particular detail in the text(s). Students who are absent on these days will do the essays at home with the amount of evidence expected in an essay done at home. In-class essays are generally not revised unless the student didn't do the reading. At-home essays need revision until I approve them as complete, which means you must address both mechanical and content issues I indicate on your drafts.
Essays and revisions are due by 9 a.m. on the due date. This prevents last minute rushed work during lunch and sometimes gives me a chance to get it back to you that day. Late work is not tolerated in this class. If a student is late on one essay, s/he will have to do an additional essay as well as the one that is late. If a second assignment is late, the student cannot earn credit. If a student is home sick, the essay must be emailed on time. Very rare exceptions will only be made in a situation that is completely unavoidable by the student and for which there is clear evidence and in which the extension was specifically pre-arranged. Multiple exceptions in a trimester will not be acceptable. If you can't keep up with the pace, there are more appropriate classes for you.
Students should begin reading The Iliad as soon as they sign up for the class (if not sooner). The first essay is due for English students by Thursday, September 3 by 9 a.m. You should definitely look at the document called "trowar sides" as this gives you some idea of which sides the characters are on and what you should think about as you read. The Iliad starts "in medias res" (in the middle of things) like any good epic, and thus it isn't the story of The Trojan War but of a few significant days during the ninth year of the ten year Trojan War. It would be a good idea to look at the essay assignments related to texts before reading them so that you can look for evidence and ideas as your read. I have plenty of copies, but if you want to write in your book, you should get your own. I will be giving out the Fagels translation, but you can read one you prefer as long as you indicate it on your essays. My favorite is Lattimore, but Fagels is good too and probably slightly easier to read. Caroline Alexander has a new translation that is highly acclaimed and that I'm going to read this time.
Trojan War sides - Iliad pre-reading
Useful maps for ancient civilizations and The Iliad
If you didn't get in to pick up your Iliad or can't find it, here's a link to the Fagels translation (the one most of you are using) online: https://griersmusings.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/homer_the_iliad_penguin_classics_deluxe_edition-robert-fagles.pdf
Interview with Cambridge Classicist and Feminist Mary Beard '21
Week 1: While you are reading The Iliad, we will discuss the earlier influences on the Greeks: the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and the Minoan culture of Crete. If there's time, we will discuss the Mycenaens, who are early Greeks who actually fought in The Trojan War, which, as we will discuss, likely occurred if not exactly as described in The Iliad. Grammar: Usage
Is there continuity between Minoans, Mycenaeans and Modern Greeks 17
Who Were the Hittites (in whose empire Troy was)?
Ingrid Rowland on the charms of ancient Egypt
Severed Hands in Hyksos Egypt 23
Link to Harvard's Giza Project: http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/
Link to maps from Brown class about locations of the pyramids: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/58afadb7955447509d3212f8990f040b
Link to timeline from same Brown class of Old Kingdom Pharoahs: https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1nqA3v3JlpSMGpuZh-q2TQC3Z4E9VszH8Q1ttXysq97c&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650
Thera - a volcano with major consequences
the fall of elites in Mycenae and Ugarit at the time of the Trojan War 20
Go to http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/5/betty-woodman/ for a short but excellent video about the painting on a ceramic larnax: a beautiful piece of Minoan funerary art.
This week's essay (for English students only) requires you to read the first nine books (scrolls, originally) of The Iliad. If you can get further, you are saving yourself work down the road, but Book 9 is a very important one, so don't try to get away without it. You can skim the part of Book 2 known as the catalog of ships for what will be obvious reasons when you get to it. It's basically a list of everyone involved in the war and whence they came. It was vitally important for the Greeks for political reasons, but you might be less enthused about it. See how reasonable I can be? This is an example of sophrosyne (roughly, balance or moderation) on my part, which (not mine!) will be a major theme of the class. Your essay asks you to think about heroism, about which we will talk a great deal in class. What do the Greeks mean by the word hero? This essay is due by class time on Thursday, September 3.
Exercise 1 Heroism in The Iliad
Week 2: I'm sure I'm dreaming, but if we left off with the Mycenaeans, we will pick up there. We will also discuss the discovery of Troy in the 19th century and recent linguistic and other discoveries, particularly in the area of Hittite studies, that have shed light on the possible historicity of the Trojan War. Grammar: Apostrophes
Mary Beard on Anger and The Iliad 17
Ancient Bio Warfare and myth- Adrienne Mayor
Book Review - THE WAR THAT KILLED ACHILLES
Warrior grave found at (Sandy) Pylos 16
Mycenaean Warrior's Grave shows ties to Crete 16
Homer Inc: Homer and translations
James Davidson on Troy's myth and reality 20
Greek Tombs in the age of Troy
This week's assignment is one of the most thought-provoking of the year. It requires close reading and definitely getting through Book 16. Leave yourself time for the reading and thought. It is due by class time on Thursday, September 10. Your first revision (ex 1) is due by September 14, but why wait?
Exercise 2 Causation in The Iliad
Week 3.: Turning from history to mythology, we will discuss how analysts from various fields (psychology, anthropology, literary analysis) define and analyze mythology in human culture. This is a good time to be sure we're familiar with the main Greek deities. As a goddess devotee, I'll be sure to have us read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. With exercise one revised, we can discuss the first nine books of The iliad this week. Grammar: Agreement
Simon Critchley on what really happened in the Eleusinian Mysteries 19
First Archeological Evidence of human sacrifice in ancient Greece 16
The First Fossil Hungers chapter 5 about the connection between fossils and mythology
Shorter article about The First fossil Hunters 2000
This week's assignment requires that you finish The Iliad. It's an eventful last eight books, so you should enjoy it. It's for everyone, and it is due on Thursday, September 21 with the revision due on Monday, September 28. As always, be sure I can see that you read the full assignment through the coverage in your essay, and don't forget your second revision by Monday.
Exercise 3 Change in The Iliad
Week 4: In addition to discussing the key question of causation, which should be familiar to those of you who are holdovers from Brit. Lit., and honing in on Homer's opinion, we will look at what is known as the Greek Dark Age: the period between the Trojan War around 1180 B.C.E. and the jumpstart in Greek culture that occurred soon after 800 B.C.E. Grammar: Commas and Adverbial Clauses
Greek Dark Age to the rise of the Polis notes
In another display of sophrosyne, there's no essay this week, but you have reading from Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days and should be using this week to get a great start on The Odyssey. Hesiod is roughly contemporary to "Homer" but is more likely a real person and sees the world somewhat differently. He's also in mainland Greece while "Homer" develops in Ionia (what's now Turkey). The Hesiod questions are due from everyone on Thursday, September 28, by class time, and you will use these notes on your final essay. I will be giving out Fagel's translation of The Odyssey. You will need to read through Book 8 for next week's essay, but you'd be really wise to read further, especially as the best part of The Odyssey is just beginning in Book 8. Your third revision is due Monday.
Odyssey Names pre-reading notes
The First Woman To Translate The Odyssey into English 17
A translator's reckoning with the women of the Odyssey 17
Times's review of Emily Wilson's Odyssey translation 17
Adverbial clause grammar sheet
Week 5: Of course, we will be all caught up, so we can discuss the outcome of The Iliad, its themes and why it is such a foundational text. We will also look at some different approaches to the same material that Shakespeare takes in his Troilus and Cressida. We will hopefully begin reading one of the earliest plays, Prometheus Bound, usually attributed to Aeschylus (I think inaccurately), and we will discuss the beginnings of theater in Greece.
Grammar: Commas with subordinate conjunctions
Troilus and Cressida excerpts part 1
Troilus and Cressida excerpts part 2
This week features our first in-class essay on October 1, for which you will have an hour time limit. Only English students have to do this one, although history students may do it for extra credit or use the time to read. They will join in for the second in-class essay. While you may use a laptop to type, you can't use the internet or any notes. This is to prepare you for college exams. If you have read books 1-8 of The Odyssey with reasonable care, it should be no problem. It's not a gotcha question. This essay will be provided in class. If you are absent, I will email you the at-home version of the essay to be completed by Friday afternoon.
Week 6: On the off chance that we have covered everything I proposed above in the first five weeks (it would be a first), we will move on to discuss Hesiod and compare his views about various issues with those of Homer. We can also discuss what occurred between The Iliad and The Odyssey in a general way (you'll be reading some of the specifics this week in a flashback in The Odyssey) as the epic poems that covered this material are missing. Grammar: Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions
Çomma/conjunction grammar sheet
This week's essay is due on October 8, and everyone is doing it. To prepare, you need to think about what makes Odysseus different from his contemporary Greek warriors in the two epic poems: why is he considered worth an epic all his own?
Exercise 5 What makes Odysseus special?
Week 7: We're all set to discuss The Telemachia, which is the fancy term for the first four books of The Odyssey. We can assess Telemachos and compare him to his famous dad while considering his predicament and its possible historical context. We can catch up with Helen and Menelaos and compare them to themselves in The Iliad. We can also look at the way this section of the poem sets the stage for the many coming of age tales that follow it. We will explore Odysseus's predicament when we first meet him and the qualities that help him in this section of the poem.
Non-essential clause grammar sheet
Homecoming of Odysseus May Have Been in Eclipse
In another amazing display of sophrosyne that you'll never see from me again, there's no essay this week and an in-class one next week. You thus can finish up The Odyssey in a leisurely way. However, there is reading to do: an article about the Archaic period in Greece by George Forrest with questions linked here for everyone that are due on Thursday, October 15:
Your revision of ex 5 must be in by Monday, October 19.
Notes on evolution of Greek politics
Week 8: Thanks to last week's reading homework, we will be prepared for a detailed discussion of Greece in the archaic period as it lays the ground work for its pinnacle in the Classical period, which we will explore the next two trimesters. We will move on through the period of Greek colonization in the eighth century B.C.E. (the supposed time of "Homer") into the seventh century B.C., a time when political transformations begin to set the stage for the development of democracy. We will look at the period of tyrannies and other unique forms of government (like the Spartan model) that began among the Greeks most likely during the 7th Century B.C. We will note how military innovations led to these governmental changes and toward democracy while at the same time making the Greeks the most effective warriors in the world at this time. We will then read Aeschylus's masterpiece Agamemnon, revisiting an old friend from The Iliad in a way that may well please many of you. Reading this play will help us see how the Greeks continually refashioned the same stories in fresh ways in their poetry and theater to express current social, political and religious concerns and opinions. Grammar: Commas and initial words and phrases and comma review.
Agamemnon notes and family tree
Mary Beard on updates of the Oresteia
The only thing scarier than Halloween is the second in-class essay. While this is a broad enough essay that anyone who has done the reading carefully will have something to say, it's pretty thought-provoking, so come in prepared (whether you're taking the class for English or history) to stretch your brain. You have had plenty of time for the reading, so make sure you have finished The Odyssey. This will occur on Thursday, October 22.
Those of you with an EXTRA ESSAY (foolish you) must do it by next Thursday, October 29 and revise it by November 9. You have no leeway if you desire credit. Here's that assignment:
Week 9: We continue with Agamemnon, both reading and analyzing its contemporary significance for Athenians in the 470s B.C.
Grammar: Quotations and Punctuation: quotation punctuation grammar sheet
The final essay of the trimester is due on Thursday, November 5 by 9 a.m.. It is one of the more challenging and longer ones, as it requires you to tie together many of the trimester's themes and texts. The only additional reading is from the fragments we have of the poetry of Archilochus, who was most likely writing during the 7th Century B.C., although a few scholars place him later. I will hand out these poems.
Oresteia notes (last two plays)
Final essay Time, culture and Ideas
*Note that the revision is due by 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 12 by 9 a.m. There will be no exceptions.*
Any earlier re-revisions must be in by this time as well if you plan to earn credit.
Week 10: Hopefully, we have finished Agamemnon and, due to time constraints, will read selections from the other two plays, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides, in this trilogy, known as The Oresteia after Orestes, who is the main character in the last two plays. We will focus on the end of The Eumenides, which is highly nationalistic (about Athens, not Greece as a whole), a tad misogynist and a great demonstration of how theater about ancient myths was used in Athens to discuss political philosophy and justice and establish Athenian norms and pride as well as to discus contemporary issues.
Grammar: Colons/Semi-colons: colon and semi-colon grammar sheet
Week 11: We're always a bit behind at this point, so we'll catch up and take time to review what we have learned and set the stage for next trimester's focus on the amazing 5th Century B.C. If we haven't already, we will review the steps that lead to the officially accepted creation of democracy in Athens in 509 B.C. and note how really this was a much more gradual process (both before and after) than that date indicates. I will preview next trimester's topics and readings. Jeopardy will take place on November 17 . Grammar:
Punctuation with although and however: however punctuation grammar sheet
Link to evaluate the class: https://forms.gle/91yyhUcdrqwGbJPM6
No work is due this week. If you have earned credit, please avoid hubris.