GRE 311 - Adv Greek Epic: Apollonius

Apollonius’ Argonautica, the sole extant example of epic from the vibrant Greek Hellenistic Period, charts the tumultuous journey of Jason and the Argonauts to claim the legendary Golden Fleece from the far-off realm of Colchis, on the coast of the Black Sea. We will read Book 3 of the poem in Greek. Students will focus on developing reading skills and reviewing grammar, syntax, and meter. We will also investigate the poem’s socio-cultural contexts and the eclecticism of the Hellenistic Period. Finally, students will read the rest of the epic in English and explore Apollonius’ pivotal place in the larger Greco-Roman epic tradition. As the only complete epic poem written between Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Roman epic the Aeneid, the Argonautica is deeply indebted to its epic predecessors and an enormous influence on its successors. Consequently, a major goal of the course is to gain an understanding of the poem’s themes, style, and intertextuality to appreciate its place in the genre and how it was received in antiquity.

This course is repeatable for credit.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Counts towards the Classical Languages and Literature major and as an elective for the Classical Studies major.
Counts towards the interdisciplinary minor in Global Literary Theory.
Satisfies Language requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
GRE 201 or placement test. Students who have not yet taken a GRE course beyond 201 may enroll in this course as GRE 211.  

Not offered in 2023-2024