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 the ancient Greeks were structuring their myths about after-life, about coming back to life and about the nature of the soul, and some of the narrative patterns that they were employing to tell meaningful stories about how the world of the dead and after-life were according to their imagination. 

We will discuss together how were these stories played out in ancient art, and especially in relation to their idea that there was a world that is inhabited by the dead (rested souls) and the ghosts (restless souls), together with underworld gods and demons. 

We will finally delve into an ancient 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 am currently finishing my PhD. 

0 - 1 horas semanales fuera de clase
Tarea
Frecuencia: incluido
Comentario: incluido
Detalles: Homework, designed to take no more than 30 minutes per day, will be assigned before each of the fifteen meetings students will be asked to study a short hand-out which will be distributed in advance as part of their class preparation (each hand out will be uploaded 24 hours in advance).
Evaluación
Frecuencia: incluido
Detalles: 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. 
Calificación
Frecuencia: incluido
Detalles: I do not believe that a letter grade is meaningful for a mythology class. 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 camp.

Some of the source I use for this class, which come from some of the best scholars in the field, are: 

Instructions for the Netherworld: The Orphic Gold Tablets (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World), by Alberto Bernabé and Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal (Leiden: Brill, 2008).
Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece by Sarah Iles Johnston (University of California Press, 2013)
Myths of the Underworld Journey: Plato, Aristophanes, and the 'Orphic' Gold Tablets by Radcliffe G. Edmonds III (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
"Reading" Greek Death: To the End of the Classical Period Paperback by Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood (Clarendon Press, 1996)
Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden (Princeton University Press, 2004)
Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook by Daniel Ogden (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Round Trip to Hades in the Eastern Mediterranean Tradition (Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean) by Gunnel Ekroth and Ingela Nilsson (Leiden: Brill 2018)
The Early Greek Concept of the Soul (Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology, 139) by Jan Bremmer (Princeton University Press, 1987)

In addition, archaeology, art, architecture, epigraphy and numismatics will be used, whenever relevant, to enlighten aspects of ancient Greek mythology that are not so apparent in the mythical accounts. 
My background in all these fields will guide the student through these peculiar sub-fields of history, in order to be abe to "read" them and complete their knowledge.