Greek Mythologies

Description

The great myths that came out of ancient Greece over 3,000 years ago have never stopped being told and have immeasurably influenced European and Western culture from Homer to Hollywood.  Even now we speak of Pandora’s box, Achilles’ heel, the face that launched a thousand ships, the Oedipus complex, Titanic struggles and Herculean labours - concepts all traceable to Greek myths, which remain amongst the most enduring, powerful and moving stories in human history.  This course will focus on the stories told by the ancient Greeks on everything from the origins of the cosmos and rise of the gods and goddesses to the end of the heroic age.  We will encounter myths concerning Olympians - Zeus, Athena, Demeter, and Dionysos, and more; we will also discuss and analyse myths about heroes such as Perseus, Heracles (aka Hercules!), Oedipus and Medea, as well as the great figures of the Trojan saga: Achilles, Odysseus and Helen, among them.  

We consider the various functions of important myths in the Greek world and what they mean to us now in their various retellings; we will see how myths explain the natural world; how myths inform ancient political ideas, religion and cultural identity; how myths explore what it means to be a hero, as well as relations between the sexes in the Greek world.  We will analyse the great epic poems Iliad and Odyssey as well as the brilliant dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and will also explore the role of myth in Greek sculpture, vase painting and various later art forms.  For their profundity, wit and earthy humour these stories have enriched the way people have looked at the world from antiquity to the present day, inspiring philosophers, writers, and artists of all kinds - from Shakespeare to Freud, from Michelangelo to Picasso, from JK Rowling to Brad Pitt, as well as artists and poets in 21st century New Zealand.  After three millennia Greek myth continues to have an important presence in our cultural landscape.