Goals: The course has three objectives that the quizzes and exams address. A fourth (addressed in the term paper) more directly indicates the application after graduation. As outcomes, students write essays (quizzes, blue books, and a term paper) which show:

• Knowledge of the major Greek myths (surprise!) as narratives of plot and character
• Knowledge of ways of discussing how literary artists use myths as a major element of literary form
• Knowledge of the most influential theories of explaining the origin and effect of myths
• Knowledgeable analysis of how a modern myth might affect its audience

Instructor: Thomas Banks (link to campus schedule and home page)

e-mail: CLBANKS@augustana.edu

Telephone: Office 309-794-7240, Home 309-764-5099

Office: Old Main 126 (2:30 - 3:20 MWF, 9:30 - 10:20 TTh, or just drop in, or make an appointment for a better time)

General Synopsis

Texts ("We know how to tell many falsehoods that seem real. But we also know how to tell the truth, when we want to." --The Muses, in Hesiod's Birth of the Gods)
 

Ovid. The Metamorphoses. The Gregory translation. Mentor.

The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Sandars translation. Penguin.

Euripides, Volume III. The Grene and Lattimore edition. Chicago.

Catullus. Poem 64: The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Handed out in class.

Apuleius. The Golden Ass. The Lindsay translation. Indiana.
 

Grading

 
Two mid-terms, 25% each. Paper, 25%. Final exam, 25%.

Connecting:

To the Augustana Home Page

To T. Banks's Home Page and Campus Schedule

By e-mail: clbanks@augustana.edu

By post:

By fax: 309-794-7702

By voice to office: 309-794-7240

By voice to home: 309-764-5099