Classical Mythology Course


Odysseus among the Sirens


Completion status: About halfway there. You may help to clarify and expand it.
A mosaic from Tunesia showing the sea god Pontus.

Introduction

Welcome to the Classical Mythology course, a part of the School of Comparative Mythology at Wikiversity! This course provides a general introduction to the myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, including an overview of myth theories and brief looks at other mythologies, such as in Egypt and Mesopotamia.


Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • define myths and distinguish them from other narrative forms.
  • narrate basic events of Greek mythology, such as the creation of the world through the creation of people.
  • identify and describe the Olympians and other important deities.
  • compare Greek and Roman mythologies to each other
  • use modern theories of myth to explain ancient myths
  • connect Greek and Roman mythologies to other mythologies in the Mediterranean world and beyond
  • expand this course with their own independent modules about Classical Myth

Lessons

   Conceptual Overviews:
  1. What is a myth?
  2. Historical Background
  3. The Birth of the Gods
  4. Creation of Humans

    The Gods:
  5. Zeus
  6. Apollo
  7. Hermes and Hephaestus
  8. Love, Fertility and Power: Aphrodite
  9. Warlike Women: Athena and Artemis
  10. Demeter -- Vegetable Fertility
  11. Dionysus -- Identity

    />The Heroes:
  12. Orpheus
  13. Heracles
  14. Theseus and the Minotaur
  15. Oedipus and Thebes
  16. Jason and the Argonauts
  17. Perseus

    Epics of War:
  18. The Origin of the Trojan War
  19. Achilles and The Iliad
  20. The Fall of Troy
  21. The Return of Agamemnon
  22. The Adventures of Odysseus
  23. Odysseus in the Land of the Dead
  24. The Return of Odysseus

    Roman Mythology:
  25. Roman Myth and Legend
  26. Aeneas
  27. Romulus and Remus to Julius Caesar
  28. The Survival of Classical Mythology

Primordials

Exams

Ready to test your knowledge? Go to the Exams section.

Instructor

This course is a collaborative project by the students of HU-301 at Capitol College. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to contact Kenmayer.

Mythology Resources

Major Sites about Greek Mythology

Ancient Sources for Greek myths in English Translation

General Introductions to Greek Mythology in Print

  • Mark P. O. Morford, Classical Mythology, Oxford University Press, 1999.
  • Barry B. Powell. Classical Myth, Pearson College Division, 2011.
  • William Hansen, William F. Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • Walter Burkert, Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical Wiley-Blackwell, 1991. on Amazon

Theories of Myth Interpretation

References

    Classical Mythology Course


    Odysseus among the Sirens



    This article is issued from Wikiversity. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.