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Your search for courses · tagged with CLAS Civ Literary Anlys · returned 10 results
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CLAS 111 Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture Program: Myth and Reception 6 credits
This course aims to familiarize students with important Greek mythological stories and figures as represented in Greek literature and art. During the course students will be introduced to select methods of studying and interpreting myths and will explore how myths helped the Greeks organize their understanding of the world and approach issues and problems that affected the lives of individuals and communities. Students will study the way in which myths have been received, interpreted, re-imagined, and rendered into artwork, theatrical performances, opera, and dance pieces in modern times and will discuss their relevance today.
Requires participation in OCS Program: Greece at a Crossroads: History, Landscape, and Material Culture
Not offered in 2024-25
- IS, International Studies LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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Acceptance in the Carleton OCS Greece at a Crossroads program.
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CLAS 112 The Epic in Classical Antiquity: Texts, Contexts, and Intertexts 6 credits
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the early Greek epics for the classical world and the western literary tradition that emerged from that world. This course will study closely both the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as Hesiod’s Theogony, and then consider a range of works that draw upon these epics for their creator’s own purposes, including Virgil’s own epic, the Aeneid. By exploring the reception and influence of ancient epic, we will develop an appreciation for intertextuality and the dynamics of reading in general as it applies to generations of readers, including our own.
Not offered in 2024-25
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CLAS 116 Greek Drama in Performance 6 credits
What is drama? When and where were the first systematic theatrical performances put on? What can Athenian tragedies and comedies teach us about the classical world and today’s societies? This course will explore the always-relevant world of Ancient Greek theater, its history and development, through the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. We will decode the structure and content of Greek tragedies and comedies, ponder their place in the Athenian society and the modern world, and investigate the role of both ancient and contemporary productions in addressing critical questions on the construction and performance of individual and communal identities.
- Fall 2024
- LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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CLAS 117 From Stage to Screen: Adapting Greek Tragedy 6 credits
The terms “reboot,” “retelling,” and “adaptation” are all over TV and film. While some adaptations are praised for their creativity with the source material, others are panned. So what makes an adaptation good or bad? In this class, we will approach this question through Greek tragedy. We will read plays such as Oedipus Tyrannus, Antigone, Medea, and the Or esteia in translation alongside films from around the world in order to understand how directors and writers relate these ancient works to their own settings and struggles, decade after decade.
Not offered in 2024-25
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CLAS 132 Fantasy and Science Fiction Then and Now 6 credits
When did science-fiction first appear in literature? The beginnings of modern fantasy and science-fiction are set around the nineteenth and seventeenth century respectively. However, fantasy and science-fiction stories and themes are already present in the Greco-Roman world. In this course, we will focus on one of the first fantasy and science-fiction works, Lucian’s True History, to trace the development of these genres in literature and cinema. Examining True History in parallel with works from Homer, Plato, Aristophanes, and Virgil as well as contemporary films, we will explore the influence of classical literature on the genres of fantasy and science-fiction.
Not offered in 2024-25
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CLAS 134 “Nothing stays the same”: Embracing Change in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 6 credits
We are immersed in such a fast-paced, constantly changing world, that we have no choice but to keep up with it and be as adaptable as possible. This makes us the perfect audience for Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The Latin poet guides his readers through endless stories of gods, heroes and heroines, whose transformations have inspired artists for centuries. This course will investigate how characters cope with the changeable nature of human and divine relationships. By looking closely at their mythical sagas and fleeting romances, we will explore how each character is, like us, suspended between old and new.
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CLAS 135 Ancient World in Popular Culture 6 credits
From fantasy novels, like Percy Jackson, to superhero films (Wonder Woman) to viral hashtags on social-media, the ancient world has a constant presence in our modern world. Greco-Roman history, myths, stories, and literature are still actively used, but also misused, within the framework of “western” and global culture. In this course, we will discuss how Classical antiquity has been received, interpreted, or appropriated in the twenty-first century through different popular media, such as movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, and social-media, in order to gain a better understanding of what the ancient world can tell us about the modern.
- Winter 2025
- LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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CLAS 142 “No, Luke, I am your father!”: Being an Heir in the Ancient Family 6 credits
The bond between fathers and sons is prominent in cinematic sagas, from Star Wars to The Lion King. But is it only a modern concern? What can Greek literature teach us about this relationship in today’s societies? This course explores the literary representations of ancient heroic families and traces their portrayals through the works of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. We will discuss the context and aims of Greek epic, tragedies and comedies, and investigate the representation of familial legacy, examining how sons can shape their own identity and emerge from their parents’ shadows, both then and now.
- Spring 2025
- LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis
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CLAS 175 Writing the City of Rome: Image, Text, and Site 6 credits
Ancient Rome has occupied a unique place in the Western consciousness for over 2000 years. It is a city that has inspired many texts, and both its physical fabric and symbolic nature have been reworked and rethought by archaeologists, historians, and literary critics alike. For the ancients, ‘Rome’ took on meaning not just from its concrete monuments, but also from the literary motifs and symbols it evoked. In this class, we will consider how Rome is used as both a setting and inspiration for Latin poetry, and consider how poets both represented and created an image of ‘Rome’.
Not offered in 2024-25
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CLAS 214 Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity 6 credits
In both ancient Greece and Rome, gender (along with class and citizenship status) largely determined what people did, where they spent their time, and how they related to others. This course will examine the ways in which Greek and Roman societies defined gender categories, and how they used them to think about larger social, political, and religious issues. Primary readings from Greek and Roman epic, lyric, and drama, as well as ancient historical, philosophical, and medical writers; in addition we will explore a range of secondary work on the topic from the perspectives of Classics and Gender Studies.