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his course will examine the origins of the epic tradition. It will focus on the “Troy Legend”—both in its Homeric usage to construct Greek identity, as well as in its role as a foundational narrative for the Roman Empire. We will explore critical theories concerning authorship and composition of the “Homeric” poems, and we will investigate the ways in which Virgil’s Aeneid is both an adaptation of and strong reaction to the Greek epics. This course counts toward the genre course requirement.

If you are absent while representing Union in an official capacity, you may have this absence excused with a written statement from an appropriate authority. If you are absent due to illness, I will excuse the absence provided that a physician or nurse provides a statement saying that you were too ill to attend class. Even excessive excused absences may prevent you from fulfilling basic requirements of this course, so please stay healthy!

Critical Essay 1..................................................................................................15%

Critical Essay 2..................................................................................................25%

Exam 1................................................................................................................15%

Exam 2 ..............................................................................................................15%

Exam 3(Final)....................................................................................................20%

Attendance, participation, and study questions...............................................10%

The grading scale for this course is detailed in the Union University Undergraduate Catalogue (A 95-100; B 85-94; C 75-84; D 65-74; F 64 and below). All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments are penalized 1/3 letter for each school (not class) day late. You are responsible for getting me your papers regardless of unfavorable circumstances such as computer glitches. All work must be submitted in order to pass the course. Notify me if accommodations need to be made for disabilities of any kind.

Plagiarism can be broadly defined as using the ideas or words of others in your paper without proper acknowledgment. Using information from other term papers, websites, or even standard research tools without source citation is a serious breach of academic integrity, and ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is no excuse. When in doubt, please consult your instructor about the appropriate use of quotation marks, paraphrase, and parenthetical citation. Flagrant acts of plagiarism (e.g., downloading all or portions of a paper from the Internet without proper citation, handing in the work of another as your own, repeated instances of plagiarism, etc.) shall result in a failing grade for the course and possible further disciplinary action taken by the University. Punishment for other forms of plagiarism may range from failing the assignment to failing the course. Union University “upholds the highest standards of honesty” (2002-2003 Undergraduate Catalogue 22), and the English department’s policy regarding plagiarism is an attempt to preserve these standards.

You will write one 5-7 pp., typed and double-spaced critical essay, and one 7-10 pp. researched critical essay in this course. Details on these assignments are to follow.

There will two semester exams and a final in this course; the exams will likely consist of objective short-answer questions, passages to identify and comment upon, and a take-home essay. The final exam will be cumulative in order to reflect the way in which the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid build upon one another. There will be no alternates given for these exams. If you anticipate that an excused absence will conflict with an exam, please speak with me well ahead of time. You are responsible for furnishing your own bluebooks (exam booklets), which can be purchased at Lifeway. Considering school holidays, we have only about 14 class periods to explore three long epics. Thus, I do not wish to take up valuable class time for examinations. We will likely have our two semester exams during late afternoon or early evening periods to be arranged. I ask for your flexibility as we try to find times when all students can be on hand to take the exams.

In lieu of pop quizzes, I will assign a study question per class meeting to help guide your reading and make sure all students are keeping up. On occasion I will ask to see your responses, which will be graded on a √-,√, and √+ basis, roughly equivalent to an C, B, and A. However, the Study Question is not merely a policing measure; often the question will deal with a core concern, a critical term, or a key passage which will help you better engage the text and which you will see again on an exam or as part of a writing assignment option. Study questions also serve as springboards into class discussion. If you are absent on the day I take up these questions, you may hand in a late assignment only if your absence is excused.

I often use email to communicate information regarding this course to the class at large, and I email the class via the Irislink option that allows me to send a note to all student accounts at once. You should regularly check your student email account, or you should make sure that all Union email is forwarded to an account you do check (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). See computing services on how to forward email.

As per a departmental requirement, I keep all exams and papers for one year. You should also keep a copy of all out-of-class work in case I lose anything. This syllabus and first-day handout may be revised as necessary. I encourage you to call me in my office or at home (668-4888; 8:00 am-10:00 pm, please) if you need anything.

DAY	ASSIGNMENT	STUDY QUESTION
WEEK 1
Wednesday, Sept. 1	Introductory comments; discussion of texts, syllabus, policies, and goals. In class: PowerPoint lecture: Homer: An Introduction.
WEEK 2
Wednesday, Sept. 8	Homer, The Iliad, Books 1-6. Brief Iliad quiz on critical terms and characters. Note: This Saturday, September 11, there will be a coin show at the MADISON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE AUDITORIUM 309 North Parkway (I-40, exit 85 South) Jackson, Tennessee Some dealers in ancient coins will likely be in attendance. See http://www.coinshows.com/jackson_wtcc.html	One editor has written that the conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles concerns “[w]hich has the stronger claim: acknowledged position (Agamemnon) or merit (Achilles)?” How do the first 6 books of the Iliad comment on this conflict?
WEEK 3
Wednesday, Sept. 15	Homer, The Iliad, Books 7-12.	Jasper Griffin has written that the “motif of ‘food’ is constantly used by the poet to make effects of will and symbolism. These are sometimes missed by modern scholars.” Discuss Achilles’ reception of the embassy from Agamemnon in Book 9. What roles do food and feasting seem to play in this scene and in the classical world in general?
WEEK 4
Wednesday, Sept. 22	Homer, The Iliad, Books 13-18.	Perhaps nowhere in the Iliad is the theme of rage better exemplified in Book 18—both its invigorating as well as its destructive power. Discuss how Book 18 comments upon the theme of rage.
WEEK 5
Wednesday, Sept. 29 This Tuesday is the last day to drop a class.	Homer, The Iliad, Books 19-24.	Discuss Homer's attitude towards war. Is the Iliad a glorification or a condemnation of the Greek heroic age?
	*Exam 1 TBA. Bring a bluebook.*
WEEK 6
Wednesday, Oct. 6	Homer, The Odyssey, Books 1-6.	It may seem strange that the Odyssey opens not with tales of the eponymous hero, but with the beginning of the “Telemachiad,” or the opening books concerning Odysseus’s son Telemachus. Why might a story about Odysseus begin with Telemachus? What’s the method to Homer’s madness here?
WEEK 7
Wednesday, Oct. 13 On Monday, academic progress reports (mid-terms) are due.	Homer, The Odyssey, Books 7-12. *Critical Essay 1 Due.*	“The period in which the Iliad and the Odyssey probably took shape, 750-700 B.C. or a little after, saw enormous cultural, political, and social developments in Greece, especially the formation, in many areas, of the polis or ‘city-state.’ As often happens, these changes occurred amid sharp conflicts and debates, in which the Homeric epics, publicly performed as they were, must have taken part.” What does the description of the Cyclops’ way of life in Book 9 say about life within and life without a society of laws?
WEEK 8
Wednesday, Oct. 20	Homer, The Odyssey, Books 13-18.	In Book 17 Odysseus encounters his old dog Argos, who promptly dies. As Jasper Griffin has noted, this scene is about as close to sentimentality as Homer gets. What’s the thematic purpose of this pathetic scene? Or is pathos the purpose?
WEEK 9
Wednesday, Oct. 27	Homer, The Odyssey, Books 19-24.	Some readers (historically known as the chorizontes or “separators”) assert that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed by different poets or groups of poets. Now that you’ve read both works, offer your thoughts on whether the two works are more alike or different regarding their authorship.
	*Exam 2 TBA. Bring a bluebook.*
WEEK 10
Wednesday, Nov. 3	Virgil, The Aeneid, Books 1-3. Brief Aeneid quiz on critical terms and characters.	In Odyssey Book 11 Odysseus soothes the shade of Achilles with glorious tales of his son Neoptolemus. We meet Neoptolemus again in Aeneid 2, where he is also called Pyrrhus. Compare and contrast the two treatments of Achilles’ son. What do their differences say about Homer, Virgil, and their respective poetic programs?
WEEK 11
Wednesday, Nov. 10	DAY OF REMEMBRANCE; NO CLASS.
WEEK 12
Wednesday, Nov. 17	Virgil, The Aeneid, Books 4-6.	Compare and contrast Aeneid 6 with Homer’s account of the Underworld in Odyssey 11.
WEEK 13
Wednesday, Nov. 24	THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS; NO CLASS.
WEEK 14
Wednesday, Dec. 1	Virgil, The Aeneid, Books 7-9. *Critical Essay 2 Due.*	In the second half of the Aeneid, Aeneas becomes involved in a love triangle as he must take away Lavinia from her betrothed lover Turnus. Sound familiar? This triangle threatens to turn Aeneas into a second Paris (an accusation directly leveled at him in the text) while it makes Lavinia into another Helen and Turnus into a Menelaus. Why would Virgil risk the unflattering associations with Paris here?
WEEK 15
Wednesday, Dec. 8	Virgil, The Aeneid, Books 10-12.	In “The Aeneid as Foundation Story,” Gary B. Miles has written, “Foundation stories . . . typically focus on the primacy of human initiative and agency. Even when natural or divine powers play a central role in foundations, these narratives are nonetheless concerned with the creation of a particular community and call attention to some aspect of that community’s distinctiveness.” In light of the “deal” Juno cuts with Jupiter in Book 12, what does the Aeneid say about the particular community of Rome and what it means to be Roman? What is distinctive about Romanitas?
WEEK 16	FINAL EXAM WEEK
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2:00-4:00 pm.	*Final Exam. Bring two bluebooks.*

“When young, any composition pleases which unites a little sense, some imagination, and some rhythm, in doses however small. But as we advance in life these things fall off one by one, and I suspect that we are left at last with only Homer and Virgil, and perhaps with Homer alone.” (Thomas Jefferson, 1786)