Literature and Place: Touring Literature
English 496/502: Special Topics in Literature Lecture 3, Credit 3

The Acropolis

Course Description A study of selected literature and the culture and art of its place of origin or setting. Students are required to analyze, explore, question, reconsider and synthesize old and new knowledge and skills. Directed reading and/or research project required.

Prerequisites: ENGL 101-102 or their equivalents/

This class is taught on site. Class is held in classrooms and also on various field trips to places associated with literary works.

Our group at the Pynx for a sound and light show about the Acropolis

Discussion Topics Ancient drama/ development of comedy and tragedy; epic and lyric poetry of ancient Greece
The rediscovery of Greece: 18th/19th centuries — the classical ideal
The image of Greece in 19th and 20th century British and American literature
The influence of ancient Greece on Western culture/civilization
Food and feasts in Greek literature
Some 20th century Greek literature, mainly poetry
Ancient and Modern Greece
Literature in translation — issues in translation

Requirements for Grade

* Participation: be there, discuss; response journal — daily while we’re there. This can be about the sites you’re seeing, the literature, the lectures/discussions. (300 points, 300/week)
* Oral report/research project-- (200 points: 100 points/report; 100 points written report about sources— due after return)
* Essays — 1 each week while we’re there; 1 when we’re home (in travel journal). (400 points)
* Final Project: Your own travel journal — prose, poetry, etc. of your Greek experience. (100 points) — you may be as creative as you wish here. Include drawings, photographs, excerpts from readings, personal poetry/fiction, etc.

Research Project/Oral Report:

Before Greece: Research your topic before you arrive in Greece; we’ll have some access to Internet sources on the web; I’ve been finding some possibilities, but don’t count on that for your total resource material. Bring with you the notes for at least ten sources about your topic.
In Greece: You’ll have time to contribute both formally (maybe 25-30 minutes) and more informally (in general discussions).
After Greece: You can turn in a written copy of the research information — in summaries — along with your discussion of how that research affected your understanding of the reading for the course -- when I return from Greece. (I return June 29, and you can drop it off at my house or at the Dept. of Languages office at the end of the first week in July, about the time the second summer session begins.)
Other possible topics:
Aristotle and rhetoric; Aristotle and drama; etc.
20th century adaptations of Greek drama or poetry

Course Readings

    Background Reading Knox, Bernard. "Introduction." The Iliad. Transl. Robert Fagles.
Sherrard, Philip. "Introduction." The Pursuit of Greece: An Anthology. Athens: Denise Harvey & Company, 1987, 1964   .
Stoneman, Richard. "Introduction." A Literary Companion to Travel in Greece. Ed. Richard Stoneman. California: The J. Paul Getty
            Museum,    1994.
Wiseman, James. "Poetic Visions of the Past: Encounters with the archaeological Muse." Archaeology. March/April 2000. 12-16.

Ancient Greek Literature

Sophocles. Oedipus the King
Homer. Book I, The Iliad; Book I, The Odyssey (Transl. Robert Fitzgerald)

Nineteenth Century (British and American)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord . "Aristomenes," "Last Words on Greece," "Maid of Athens," and others
Keats, John "On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer"; "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to Psyche," and others
Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain). Chapters 32 and 33 from Innocents Abroad

2001 Group at Delphi

Twentieth Century (Greek)

Calas, Nicolas.. "Columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus"
Cavafy, Constantine.. "An Artisan of Wine-Mixing Bowls," "Melancholy of Jason,
            Son Of Cleander; Poet in Commagene; A.D. 595," "Candles," "Thermopylae," "Expecting the Barbarians," "Ithaca"
Christianopoulos, Dinos.   "Antigone’s Defense of Oedipus"
Economou, Zisis. "The Death of Hypatia," "Nausicaa," "In the Palace of Knossos"
Gryparis, John.    "Childe Harold"
Polemis, John.    "Epigramme (to Byron"
Kazantzakis, Nikos.   Excerpts from "The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel"

Twentieth Century (British, Irish and American)

Heaney, Seamus. "Mycenae Lookout"
Clampitt, Amy. Selections from "Hellas" section of Archaic Figure: "Archaic Figure,""The Olive Groves of Thasos," "Ano Prinios," "Tempe
             in the Rain," "Olympia," ""Thermopylae,""Dodona: Asked of the Oracle," "Hippocrene," "Athena";
             Selections from "The Mirror of the Gorgon" section of Archaic Figure: "Medusa," "Perseus," "The Nereids of Seriphos"
Merrill, James.   From Selected Poems, 1946-1985: "Santorini: Stopping the Leak," ""The Octopus," "Olive Grove," "The
             Charioteer of Delphi," "Days of 1964," "After Greece "
Note: The list of readings is subject to change.

Arrangements and Accommodations

During our time in Greece, we were based in Athens. Many classes were held on various sites around the city, such as the Acropolis, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Theatre of Dionysos, and the National Archaeological Museum, among others. We also made day-trips to Ancient Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidaurus; to Delphi; and to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion. Additionally, we met at the Athens Centre on other days. An established cultural and language center, the Athens Centre also co-ordinated our accommodations and arrangements in Greece, as they do for many other American universities with programs in Greece.

Plans for 2003 Program

We are currently planning the summer 2003 program. For further information, please contact me (clware@mail.mcneese.edu) for specific information..

Opening dinner for our group held at a restaurant in Plaka-- sponsored by the Athens Centre

The view from the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion

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