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Ancient Greek Mythology and Archaeology: The Trojan War & the Trojan Epic Cycle
Spyridon (Spiros) Loumakis
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(743)
In this 12-week course we will substantially use ancient Greek art to learn the entire story of the Trojan War, from its beginnings to the very end, bringing to life all events around the epic Cycle of Troy (found in epic poems)
Class experience
US Grade 6 - 8
(A) Required Experience: This is an *educational* course, suitable for learners who are genuinely interested in ancient mythology, motivated to learn more, and willing to follow this cuorse in order to acquire a deeper knowledge about the most important war the ancient Greek heroes had to fight, as told in the stories of the ancient poets and as depicted in the art of ancient painters and sculptors. This is a course for those learners who believe that learning mythology is fun. (B)...
This class is taught in English.
In this class students will understand that the magic of myths lies not only in the stories themselves, fascinating as they are, but in the logic behind them and in their deeper meaning. Myths will be appreciated as a system of beliefs and a way of thinking about the world, as it was created by the ancient Greeks. The goal for the students is to learn at an introductory level how ancient Greeks were structuring their stories about their mythical past and some of the narrative patterns that they were employing to tell meaningful stories about what "war" meant in ancient times. We will discuss together how were the stories about the Trojan War played out in ancient art, and especially in relation to a world that was inhabited by the heroes of this epic war and shared with divine beings (spirits and gods). We will finally delve into the ancient Greek religion with respect, so as to learn from theses examples two very important lessons: that there is no absolute truth, and that nothing unchangeable in time, when it comes to religious traditions, old and new.
I have a B.A. and M.A. in ancient Greek and Roman history and archaeology, as well as an M.A. in history and phiosophy of religions (especially ancient religions). I have excavated in ancient Greek sites, I speak ancient and modern Greek, as well as archaic and classical Latin and I have some knowledge of ancient Egyptian (Coptic script) and I am currently finishing my PhD.
Homework Offered
At the end of the course students will be assigned an (optional) multiple-choice quiz, in order to test their memory, attention and observation. This test may also include one or two questions requiring a very short answer, in order to assess the learners' comprehension.0 - 1 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
I do not believe that a letter grade is meaningful for a course on mythology. However, as I often do with my one-time classes, which are always small classes, I communication with the parents and the children directly, providing my personal comments, private feedback and an informal assessment, especially if they complete the (optional) quiz assigned at the end of the course.Grades Offered
(a) I use only and exclusively ancient art, original artworks created by the ancient people whose stories I teach in my classes, and this is the reason why I spend hours finding images that are from museums and collections of art from all over the world; (b) this course is based on what some of the ancient civilizations believed, which means that their ideas may have been based on their observations, their imagination or their fears and hopes, but not on facts; (c) the class is about the ancient world and not modern religions, which means that I approach the ancient world, based on the work of scholars (like me) who study it historically from a secular perspective. I have a special note for the Greek art I will be using in the class related to ancient Greek cosmology: in the ancient Greek arts gods are depicted often (but not always) naked. The Greek word for a naked man is "gymnos" and that is why in English today we say "gymnastics" or "gym" although our children and athletes wear uniforms. This being said, any artistic reproduction in ancient art should be expected to show nude gods. I try to use as less as possible, but it is not always within my hands since this is the nature of the ancient Greek art itself. Since, it is an art that comes from an era where there were no photographs, or videos, the art is found only on painted vases, wall paintings and sculpture. Nudity was never meant to provoke, but to tell to the ancient viewer that gods are not mortal humans and, thus, they do not need clothes. As you may very well understand, I cannot change the history of art, nor my preference as teacher of mythology to show students the original art from ancient times.
I have been teaching the original text of the Iliad in translation, using mainly the Oxford World's Classics translation, for almost two years at OutSchool, but I mostly bring to the class my experience of being professionally familiar with the story for almost twenty years! For all other ancient Greek poems related to the Trojan War (surviving in fragments) I use the edition of the leading expert in the field, Martin L. West (Loeb Classical Library edition, published by Harvard University Press in 2003) As for ancient Greek art related to the Trojan war, the following two are the most easily accessible and easy to read: Susan Woodford, Trojan War in Ancient Art (Cornell University Press, 1993) Anthony Snodgrass , Homer and the Artists: Text and Picture in Early Greek Art (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Average rating:4.9Number of reviews:(743)
As a father of two young kids, I put a lot of effort so as to entertain them in a productive, and educational way, making sure I feed their natural curiosity and encourage them to keep asking questions. Undoubtedly, television and video games are...
Group Class
$22
weekly or $264 for 12 classes1x per week, 12 weeks
60 min
Completed by 16 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-14
3-8 learners per class
