This course centers on Homer’s Iliad, a touchstone from antiquity to this day for understanding the experience of war and its call to remembrance. We will begin with a close reading of the poem, exploring the dynamic relationship between content and composition, in particular the tension between the narrowly circumscribed subject, as stated in Homer’s opening words (“the anger of Achilles”), and the expansive narrative that transforms this subject into an evocative tale of human experience as conditioned by war. From there we will explore the dramatization of the Trojan War’s final stages in Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes, taking into consideration how these plays engage with Homeric ideas; in tandem, we will view a staging of these plays by the Theater of War (www.outsidethewirellc.com) as part of the symposium “Our Ancient Wars” to be held at UM on March 23-24, 2012. At the end of the course, we will explore how Euripides’ Trojan Women reframes the Iliad and the Trojan War’s aftermath from the female point of view. Alongside the ancient texts, we will read a selection of contemporary writing that reveals the various ways in which the Iliad can serve as a vehicle for thinking about war and remembrance in the modern era.
Course Requirements:
No data submitted
Intended Audience:
No data submitted
Class Format:
No data submitted