Writing Intensive in Ancient Studies

Helen of Troy is the most famous female mythological figure, renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world and the one who caused the Trojan War. Many Greek and Roman authors were captivated by her, and had different opinions about her level of culpability for causing the war. Is she a victim, a femme fatale, a desperate housewife? As her story is told and re-told, she is turned into each of these and many other character-types as well. In this class, we will read a wide range of ancient authors who wrote about her and discuss how one figure could be depicted in so many different ways. The ways that authors found to excuse her, or to blame her, are creative and diverse. Our focus will be on epic and tragedy, although other authors, such as Herodotus and Sappho, will be included. We will also consider depictions of other female mythological figures for comparison, and visual representations on vase paintings and in sculpture. We will end the course by considering a few modern depictions of her in film. PREREQUISITE: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; AS LCD; AS WI I; FA HUM; AR HUM; AH AM; AH A

Writing Intensive in Ancient Studies

CLASSICS 3003

Section 01