Wednesdays 9:30 – 11:30 AM
January 12 through February 23, 2005
D.O.C. House
(no class on February 2nd)
Homer produced the first work of Western literature - a basic myth for the Greeks, a model for later epics, and the basic war story for later generations. Yet Homer himself remains a mystery. His stories and characters are all familiar, but his style is not. Through a reading of the full text we will reconstruct the conditions which led Homer to his individual style and come to understand how the epic is a foundation myth for Greek culture.
In this course we will read the complete Iliad in the new Fagels' translation. Inexpensive copies of the paperback translation are available in all bookstores and often you can find used copies. The reading in this course is relatively easy. We will try to read about five books of the Iliad each week. It is important that you plan the time to keep up so that class discussions can develop in a productive way.
Class format: some lectures and lots of discussion.
Class is limited to 20 members.
WILLIAM SCOTT earned his MA and Ph.D at Princeton University. He has just retired from the Classics Department of Dartmouth College. He has been teaching and writing on Homer for many years.
