OLLI Greek Myth, Spring 2020 [Archived]

This is an archived and unmaintained version of the course page for the continuing education class on Greek myth. Formatting is no longer preserved and not all links work.

Then again, some links do.

ajr / 2020-11-02

Schedule Meetings Slides How-To Offline Activities Annotated Bibliography

OLLI Greek Myth ===============

Maymester 2020 Online: Greek myth in three weeks

Allen J. Romano

2020-05-17 — added Myths in Tallahassee offline activity. Feel free to explore and suggest additions.

THIS WEBSITE contains course materials for Greek myth taught online for OLLI in Maymester 2020. In addition to the syllabus, suggested readings and materials for further exploration (always optional of course), you will find as well a livefeed for our real-time meeting each week (in case you get booted out of the online chat, have any bandwith issues, or want to watch without using zoom), and a series of materials for your offline enjoyment and engagement (entirely optional) created uniquely for this course.

Schedule ========

EXAMS: never!

HOMEWORK: due... never!

SCHEDULE: ok, we need some structure... The main event meets every Monday, in real time, at 10 AM online. But I've also added some material to explore as much as you like at your leisure. And I'll make myself available online for a virtual coffee hour each week online as well.

Scheduled Sessions

Mondays, 10AM

Week 1 ======

The Geography of Myths and Legends

Monday May 11, 10AM-noon

We will start with the question of how ancient myths and legends were localized in time and space, the differences between local and “panhellenic” myths, and how the myths and legends of Ancient Greece come down to us today.

Week 2 ======

Heroes of Greek Legend

Monday, May 18, 10AM-noon

This week we look at heroes, their literary representations and their cults. Heracles is the star this week.

Week 3 ======

Gods of Myth

Monday May 25, 10AM-noon

In this last session we turn to the gods. While we will spend plenty of time on the Olympians, we will also explore the wide variety of Greek stories about the gods.

Outside of Class

Explore on your own time, as you like

This is the asynchronous part of the class. Here, each week, you'll find a map or timeline or something interactive embedded online. You can explore as you like and then do any of the following:

  1. Bring the material into discussion each week
  2. Record your own version of a story from something you've read in the bibliography below. Send it to me. I'll add it to the interactive visualization above at the appropriate place. For instructions on how to do this, see the How-to. It can be done on a phone or tablet.
  3. Do nothing and enjoy the rest of your day — It's OLLI. NO requirements or assignments, remember!

Q&A and informal coffee hour

Thursdays @3, online

While we will of course get a chance to speak during class, one of the ways that an online course in real time cannot compare to a class face to face is in the way that audiences and speakers handle questions. For our Monday sessions, most of this will have to take place in the text chat. But OLLI is about connection, and so I wanted to make sure there was a chance, if anyone wanted to ask questions or just follow-up on some thoughts from class, to do a bit of Q&A in a smaller and informal, “after-class” kind of environment. So, to that end, I'll be hanging out online and you can come join me both immediately after the class on Monday and then for online coffee hour on Thursdays at 3. So it will be the same online link, just with far fewer people. And I will be drinking coffee and or having a snack. If no one is there, not a big deal, but I wanted to make myself available.

i

Presentations =============

Slides and Audio

You can find all the slides for the class sessions at https://slides.com/didaskalos/decks/olli-greek-myth

Week 1

Slides and audio:

Week 2

Slides:

Video:

Week 3: The Gods

Video:

Slides:

How-To ======

Quick how-to for getting online and anything related to the course

How to fire up zoom from Allen Romano on Vimeo.

Further Readings and Resources ==============================

Retellings, Originals, Studies, Performances, &c

If there is one book you read with this course, then I highly recommend Richard Martin's Myths of the Ancient Greeks. It is a compendium, similar and inspired by Edith Hamilton's work, but incorporating current research and thinking about ancient myth into a readable and enjoyable form. Lots of myths in a small space. (Available as an ebook.) Book

If you are interested in reading the original sources and looking at original artwork, then you can get quite a lot from the Perseus project. You will find translations of the canon of Greek (and Latin) literature plus a wide variety of images. SITE

Each week with the materials for the week below I will post more specific items, links of interest, things that you all send me for general consumption by the class. For a more general set of things, check out the Semi-Annotated Bibliography (pdf)

Week 1 further exploration and links (pdf)

Week 2 further exploration and links: heroes, Heracles et al. (pdf)

Week 3 further exploration: podcasts, documentaries, movies (pdf)

Extras ======

For your exploration each week, some fun things to explore before, between, and in the midst of class

Myth in Tallahassee

As one way to play with the Greek myths, the storymap below has brief clips connecting locales around Tallahassee to the ancient myths. You'll find some things we discuss this weeks, many things we won't have time for, and a story of sorts about what it means to say that myths and legends take place in particular places. As you'll see, anywhere can be a site for retelling a myth and anything can be cause to recall an ancient story. I've added some to get going. If there are stories you want to hear more about, then drop me a line and I'll add them. If there's a story you'd like to tell and a connection you'd like to make, then grab your phone or device, just record the audio and I'll set it up as part of our tour.

Live Feed =========

If we're online right now and broadcasting, then it will show up here.

multiple ways to stream

For those who have trouble with zoom, here's an alternate feed for the livestream. It is just youtube, so it should be widely accessible.

© 2020 Allen J. Romano, All Rights Reserved

This site built with Tachyons css, plain old html, and vim