HONORS SECTION: CLASSICAL
STUDIES 1003
ILLUSTRATION: The lusty goddess of the Dawn, Eos, is in
love with the handsome Trojan prince Tithonus. She wants him a lot. Do you
think she’ll catch him? (Red-Figure Attic oenochoe, attributed to the Achilles
Painter, c. 460-450 BCE. Louvre, Paris.)
The Honors Section of CLST 1003 will
be an enriching and fun
complement to the regular class. It will allow students to interact with
their professor more closely than a three-hour course normally allows.
In this section, we will work on projects that will take us into close
touch with the ancient literature, language, history, and most of all, on
Greek Art. Our first approach will be
to look at early Greek representations of epic poetry.
From the seventh-century BCE onwards, ancient Greek vase painters produced
works relating to Homeric poetry. Scenes from the Trojan War and the adventures
of Odysseus made up a large portion of these artistic works. Sculptures
later added to the collection of epic representation.
We will meet with the regular class,
and on certain days will meet at the regular class time — without the other
students. Honors students will read from the Iliad and learn about
how artistic depictions of scenes from these stories compare to the texts
themselves.
In order to do this, we will read all of the Iliad, as
assigned for class. We will then look for artifacts that depict scenes or
characters from the epic. We will look at these chronologically. In other
words, first we will look at the earliest artistic representations, and
then at later ones, and see how these change over time. We also might expand
our view to include the Odyssey, which had a rich artistic tradition,
too.
Resources.
Among other sources, you will use the Perseus Digital Library
(www.perseus.tufts.edu) and
the LEXICON ICONOGRAPHICUM MYTHOLOGIAE CLASSICAE (LIMC,
easily accessible in the Reference section of Mullins Library, in many volumes:
N7760 .L49 1981 v.1 pt.1 ). Both sources have thousands of images, easily
accessible. The images in the LIMC are all black and white; most
of Perseus’ images are color.
Other useful books include:
- The Trojan War in Ancient Art, Susan Woodford. NK4645
.W66 1993 - Images of Myths in Classical Antiquity, Susan Woodford.
N7760 .W66 2003. - Art and Myth in Ancient Greece, by T. H. Carpenter. (Fine
Arts Library) N7760 .C27 1991. - Archaic and Classical Greek Art, by Robin Osborne (Fine
Arts Library) N5630 .O83 1998.
These texts are in the University of Arkansas Libraries, and Professor
Levine has his own copies of them, and is willing to share.
First Assignment.
To get us started, we will all read the first two chapters of
Susan Woodford’s IMAGES OF MYTHS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY (Cambridge,
2003), “Myths and Images,” pages 3-27 (chapter one available as
PDF: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam033/2002073727.html).
Students will write and hand in a summary of the chapters, to be handed
in by Monday, 10 September. This summary should also include: “What
I want to keep in mind when I look at Greek myth in art,” and/or “What
I hope to learn about Greek art.” (Maximum length 4 pages; minimum
2 pages). The Professor has copies of this text and will give them to the
students on August 31.
Then, we will choose characters from the list below, collect images,
report on them to the class, and write a short paper, due during finals
week.
Procedures.
When you find artistic works, you will describe them in terms of medium,
decoration, date, place of origin (if known), size, and function. Be sure
to look up any words you do not know, and define them. The more Greek terms
you learn, the better!
You will describe the scene/character you have chosen as it appears in
the epic(s), with careful reference to the texts of Iliad (and/or
Odyssey). Include summaries and appropriate (short) quotations. If
you can, make reference to at least two important scenes in the epic.
You will tell how the artistic depictions are similar to the epic text
to which they refer. How do they differ from the text? What has the artist
added or left out? What does the artist choose to stress? What is the effect
on the observer? What similarities do you find among the representations?
What differences do you find among the representations?
Be sure to keep track of your sources as you search. Keep a bibliography
of all sources you consult, including: author, title, place and date of
publication, web site addresses and date of visit.
Schedule.
Meet as a group outside class in the first or second week of classes.
Day and time to be determined.
CLST 1003 HONORS SECTION WILL MEET THURSDAY,
AUGUST 30, AT 8:30 AM AT THE WEST ENTRANCE TO MULLINS LIBRARY.
WE WILL SPEND FIFTY MINUTES LOOKING AT THE LEXICON
ICONOGRAPHICUM MYTHOLOGIAE CLASSICAE. FUN!
Monday, 10 September, 2007: Hand in Summary of Woodford’s Chapters
1 and 2.
Wednesday, 26 September, 2007: Meet during regular class time. 5 students
report on their first character. MULLINS LIBRARY 372-B.
Monday, 01 October, 2007: Meet during regular class time. 6 students
report on their first character. MULLINS LIBRARY 372-B.
Monday, 22 October, 2007: Meet during regular class time. 6 students
report on their second character. MULLINS LIBRARY 372-B.
Friday, 16 November, 2007: Meet during regular class time. 5 students
report on their second character. MULLINS LIBRARY 372-B.
Monday, 10 December, 2007. Hand in paper on “____ in the Iliad
and Greek Art.”
Choose two from the following list.
If you want to trade presentation dates, be sure to tell the Professor that
you are doing so.
PRESENTATIONS:
Seven minutes maximum for speaking.
Be efficient. Tell us what kinds of artistic representations there
are of your figure. Concentrate on the Iliadic ones.
Bring several representative pictures. I will arrange to have
the projector working, so you can project you images. Or, you may bring
paper copies of your pictures.
The important thing is to get across your main points efficiently. You
might want to bring 12 copies of an outline with your main points on it,
so we can all see what you have found.
Ask the Professor questions if you want more guidance.
Character STUDENT PRESENTATION DATES
Achilles AIMEE KING SEPTEMBER 26 (Report #2
on 16 November)
Ajax KEENAN COLE SEPTEMBER 26 (Report #2 on
16 November)
Andromache MEG MOTLEY SEPTEMBER 26 (Report #2
on 16 November)
Apollo THOMAS BENNETT SEPTEMBER 26 (Report #2
on 16 November)
Astyanax JAMES COVINGTON SEPTEMBER 26 (Report
#2 on 16 November)
Athena ALYSON KALTENBACH OCTOBER 01 (Report
#2 on 22 October)
Diomedes NICOLAS AUGUSTUS MOORE OCTOBER 01 (Report
#2 on 22 October)
Hector CASEY CLARE OCTOBER 01 (Report #2 on
22 October)
Hephaestus MARSHALL RUCKER OCTOBER 01 (Report
#2 on 22 October)
Hera JACKIE BOOKER OCTOBER 01 (Report #2 on
22 October)
Paris CASEY CLARE 22 October
Helen JACKIE BOOKER 22 October.
Ares MARSHALL RUCKER 22 October
Patroclus AUGUSTUS MOORE 22 October
Odysseus THOMAS BENNETT 22 October
Aphrodite MEG MOTLEY 16 November
Priam ALYSON KALTENBACH 16 November
Menelaus KEENAN COLE 16 November
Polyphemus JAMES COVINGTON 16 November
Zeus AIMEE KING 16 November
THE ILIAD AND ART. PAPER GUIDELINES.
The following is a suggested format for student papers, and need not
be followed.
Title: Make it Suggestive of your Findings. Be Creative.
Paragraph 1 Introduction. General state of the subject.
Some ideas: What do you find interesting about art and literature’s
interaction? What can we learn from it? What art the limitations of looking
at the one in terms of the other? What scholarly work has been done on
the subject? What kinds of modern parallels might you adduce? What are
modern parallels to what you are doing?
Paragraph 2 Introduction. Your subject.
Some ideas: What have you decided to write about? Why have you chosen
this subject? What insights might we get from looking at this topic? Why
is it relevant? What sources does it involve? What have you found, in
general, about this?
Paragraphs 3, 4 Literary representations of your character.
Some ideas: How does the Iliad portray this character? What are some
of the most significant scenes in which this character appears? What quotations
might be most relevant? What other literary depictions of this character
might be important? Are there variants in the myth(s) in which this character
appears? [Note that you do not need to be exhaustive; you do not need
to find ALL literary references to this character. Concentrate on a few
significant episodes (if there are more than one).]
Paragraphs 5, 6 Artistic representations of your character.
Ideas: What media portray this character? What kinds of scenes does
this character appear in? What are their dates, place of origin, size,
and function? [Be sure to look up any words you do not know, and define
them. The more Greek terms you learn, the better!]
Paragraphs 6, 7 Comparison and Contrast between Image and Text.
Ideas: How are the artistic depictions similar to the epic text to which
they refer? How do they differ from the text? What has the artist added
or left out? What does the artist choose to stress? What is the effect on
the observer? What similarities do you find among the representations? What
differences do you find among the representations?
Paragraphs 8, 9 Conclusion.
What have you learned? What are the main points you want your reader
to remember?
Bibliography:
Include all the information about your sources: author, title, place
and date of publication, web site addresses and date of visit.
Length: No fewer than four, and no more than ten typed pages,
double-spaced in 12-point type.
Dr. Levine’s paper-writing guidelines:
http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/PaperTips.html
Dr. Levine’s overall expectations for your papers:
http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/Paper.Expect.html
Please write to the professor if you have questions!
Daniel Levine
dlevine@uark.edu
I look forward to exploring the intersection of art and literature with
you!
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