HONORS SECTION: CLASSICAL
STUDIES 1003
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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, and to pursue something meaningful.We will work on projects that will take us into closer touch with ancient Greek literature, language and history.
In the summer of 2012, I was a program scholar for “Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives,” a national program in 100 libraries and cultural centers in the United States. Our theme was “The Returning Warrior,” something that is very meaningful to our country as we cope with a growing number of veterans of our wars abroad. I gave an introductory lecture on this subject in May, 2012 (https://sites.google.com/site/combatveteransgreekliterature/), and then led discussions of the Odyssey and several Greek tragedies, focusing on the relevance of ancient experiences to modern vets, with the object of seeing what we can learn from the Classics and how we can use ancient Greek texts as a basis for discussion of our own returning warriors.
Ancient Greek literature is a useful tool to help understand the struggles of modern war veterans because ancient war veterans, who knew from firsthand personal experiences what it was like to fight and be away from home for long periods of time, composed most of it. Their anxieties and struggles, expressed in ancient epics and tragedies, resonated with their audiences, which were mostly made up of combat veterans. The actors on the Greek tragic stage were mostly combat veterans, too. When we read these classics, many of us relate to these universal experiences, and none more so than our own veterans.
Readings
We will meet with the regular class, and on certain days will meet as an Honors Section — without the other students. Honors students will read a fascinating essay my sister in law showed me two years ago: “Things to Pack When You’re Bound for Bagdhad” by Jason Armagost [Journal of War, Literature & the Arts vol. 18 (2006) pp. 121-141]. It is a memorable, gripping short essay on war and literature. You can access it on line here: http://www.wlajournal.com/18_1-2/armagost.pdf
We’ll meet as an Honors Section to discuss this essay — on Thursday, January 22, during the last 30 minutes of class.
Our next readings will be from two books:
1) Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, by the psychiatrist Jonathan Shay (1994) on Vietnam vets with PTSD, and how they parallel war experiences as depicted in the Iliad.
2) Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming, also by Jonathan Shay (2002), on the problems that Vietnam vets have had in re-integrating into society, with parallels with the Odyssey.
The professor will give honors students copies of these books for class use.
Schedule.
We will meet as a group four times this semester, as follows:
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 for the last 20 minutes of class [week 1]: Introduction to the Honors Section. Distribution of books.
Thursday, January 22, 2015 for the last 30 minutes of class [end of week 2]: Discussion of Jason Armagost: “Things to Pack When You’re Bound for Bagdhad.”
Tuesday, February 24, 2015 during regular class time [week 7]: Jonathan Shay: Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America, part I.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 during regular class time [week 10]: Jonathan Shay: Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America, continued.
HONORS PAPERS
Each student will write a short paper based on their readings for the semester. The professor will help students with these projects. Length: 2-3 double-spaced pages. These papers will summarize some of the themes you encountered in your readings on combat veterans.
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