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Registration: Interim

Interim 2013


CLAS W40 Homer Goes to Hollywood: Classical World in Film. Even now in the 21st century the nearly 3,000 year-old epics of Homer and the 2,000 year-old empire of Rome continue to influence the way we tell stories, our conception of heroism and the nation-state, and our understanding of what it means to be human. From its inception (with films such as Quo Vadis and The Robe) to the present day (with films such as Gladiator and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) Hollywood has, time and again, tapped the ancient world for inspiration and narrative. In many ways, film is the best analogue we have to the ancient experience in the tragic theater or recital hall where the Greeks and Romans, as we do today, looked back upon their past and then wrestled, twisted, and shaped it into something new and relevant. This course will examine how the medium of cinema has told, retold, and repackaged the ancient Greco-Roman myths with a particular eye to the following questions: How does the “Homeric Hero” compare to the “Hollywood Hero” and what does this comparison tell us about the cultures that produced them. At what points in the history of Hollywood does the fascination with the Classical world go in and out of favor. Why. What elements of ancient understandings of “divine agency” or “fate” do Hollywood retellings keep or discard. Why do films change fundamental details of the ancient texts. Has Hollywood transformed ancient myth into new, distinct, modern mythologies. What does “Rome” symbolize or stand in for in film. How has Christianity developed its own myths in relation to its experience with the Roman Empire?   Class time will be spent viewing and discussing several films as well as discussing readings of several seminal works from the Classical world. Students will be responsible for lively participation in class discussion, keeping a journal of reviews of both texts and films, reading quizzes, and a presentation of a film not viewed in class. This course may fulfill an elective in the Classics majors. J. Winkle. 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

IDIS W43 Interim in Greece. Course dates: January 3-23. Fee: $4384. K. Bratt, D. Noe. Off-campus.

GREE 101 R Greek Review (0 semester hours). M. Williams. 11:00 a.m. to noon or 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.