Austin College Classics 21/60   The Ancient World in Film   Robert W. Cape, Jr. Spring 2003

Instructor: Robert Cape, Associate Professor of Classics	Office: AD 310 Phone: x2241 Suite #61653
Office Hours: MWF 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, and by appt. or just dropping by.	Email: rcape@austincollege.edu

Required Texts:

• The Odyssey, by Homer, Robert Fagles (Translator), Bernard Knox (Introduction) (Penguin, 1997)
• Jason and the Golden Fleece: (The Argonautica) (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollonius of Rhodes, Richard Hunter (Translator) (Oxford Univ Press 1993)
• Plautus, The Pot of Gold and Other Plays, Translated by E. F. Watling (Penguin)
• Josephus, The Jewish War, Translated by G. A. Williamson Revised and Introduced by E. Mary Smallwood (Penguin)
• Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History, by Maria Wyke (Routledge 1997)

Goals and Purpose:

In the past few years, films and the film industry have been increasingly accused of changing--indeed constructing, warping, and ruining--the values of the American people. The most severe indictments are based on films that display recent events or present fiction, but some of the same claims might be made about films that depict the past: the differences and different reasons for the claims are instructive. Portraying historical events from the Graeco-Roman past and recasting classical literature as films, script writers and directors must by necessity change the stories. The changes and the possible reasons behind them offer an exciting commentary on our relationship with our classical heritage and what we think about ourselves as modern, Judaeo-Christian, and American. As with literature, we find our own lives reflected in films, and we gain--or create--some understanding of who we are by watching "their" stories unfold.

 

This course will introduce you to some of the great literature from and films about the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, and challenge you to address questions of how they have and continue to shape our views about the past and ourselves. Our focus will be on developing the critical skills necessary for analyzing and discussing literature, film, and culture.

 

 

Assignments:

Class sessions will be devoted to analyzing reading assignments and films we have viewed. Students will be expected to read the appropriate materials before class and be prepared to discuss them intelligently in class. Students taking the course as CLAS 21 will write five 1-page summaries/analyses based on the readings and five on the films. CLAS 60 students will write eight of the same. I will give you an example of such a summary/analysis and provide comments on all of your compositions. One of the summaries/analyses is to be done with another member of the class and presented in class. CLAS 21 students will also write a longer (5+ page) analysis of one film with reference to secondary sources, while CLAS 60 students will write a research paper, demonstrating familiarity with scholarly bibliography. There will be a midterm writing assignment and a final exam (partly take-home). The Austin College Standards of Academic Integrity will apply to all of your work for this course.

 

Grading:

Week 1 2/3-2/7	T Introduction to course; background to the Odyssey T* no film Th Read and discuss the Odyssey, Books 1-7
Week 2 2/10-2/14	T Read and discuss the Odyssey, Books 8-24 T* "Ulysses" (1954) w/Kirk Douglas, et al. Cast and credits from Internet Movie Database. Th Discuss "Ulysses" (1955)
Week 3 2/17-2/21	T Watch and discuss "The Odyssey" (1997) w/Armand Assante, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. (written summary) T* "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963) w/ Todd Armstrong, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Read and discuss Apollonius' Argonautica, books 1-4. Discuss "Jason and the Argonauts".
Week 4 2/24-2/28	T Discuss background materials to Hercules in Apollodorus' Library 2.4.6-2.8.2 (on reserve in Abell Library, on online through Perseus. T* "Hercules" and/or "Hercules Unchained" (1957-9) w/Steve Reeves, et al. Click links for cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "Hercules" and "Hercules Unchained"
Week 5 3/3-3/7	T "Hercules - The Legendary Journeys: The Xena Trilogy" (1995) w/Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. T* "Hercules" (1997) (Disney) w/Tate Donovan, James Woods, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss new "Hercules" and Disney "Hercules" Spring Break
Week 6 3/17-3/21	T Read and discuss Plautus, Pseudolus and Miles Gloriosus W "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1966) w/Zero Mostel, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "A Funny Thing Happened..." (1966)
Week 7 3/24-3/28	T Background materials to Spartacus: Plutarch, Appian, Orosius (on reserve in Abell Library, or on the web as the third item "C. The War with Spartacus" in Sources for Three Slave Revolts, from Internet History Sourcebooks, Paul Halsall, editor, Fordham University.) T* "Spartacus" (1960) w/Kirk Douglas, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "Spartacus"
Week 8 3/31-4/4	T Background materials to Cleopatra: Plutarch, Horace (Plutarch from Women's Life in Greece and Rome on the web at Diotima; Horace, Ode 1.37, also at Diotima; and hear the RealAudio clip from National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" about the Cleopatra Discoveries in 1998; and read a recent book review Cleopatra: from history to myth; cf. the more popular account of The Allure of Cleopatra.) Midterm. T* "Cleopatra" (1934) w/Claudette Colbert, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "Cleopatra" (1934)
Week 9 4/7-4/11	T Read Wyke, Projecting the Past, chapters 3-4, "Spartacus," and "Cleopatra" to discuss in class. Read Solomon, The Ancient World in the Cinema, pp. 62-78 (on reserve). T* Watch and discuss "Cleopatra" (1963) w/Elizabeth Taylor, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. (details to be announced) Th Discuss "Cleopatra" (1963)
Week 10 4/14-4/17	T Read materials about the Roman Empire (to be distributed) T* "Gladiator" (2000) by Ridley Scott, w/Russell Crowe, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "Gladiator" (2000)
Week 11 4/21-4/25	T Read Pagan and Christian background materials, plus Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 18-19. Also read Josephus, The Jewish War, Books 1-10, 23. T* "Ben-Hur" (1959) w/Charlton Heston, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. (EXTRA: Compare it to the earlier "Ben-Hur - A Tale of Christ" (1926) w/Ramon Novarro, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb.) Th Discuss "Ben Hur" (1959)
Week 12 4/28-5/2	T Read the rest of Josephus, The Jewish War. T* "Masada" (1981) w/Peter O'Toole, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Th Discuss "Masada" (1981)
Week 13 5/5-5/9	T Reports T* "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979) w/ Graham Chapman, John Cleese, et al. Cast and credits from IMDb. Some cut scenes from "Life of Brian". Th Discuss "Life of Brian" (1979)
Week 14	Final Exam: Wednesday, 5/14, 9:00 - 11:00

Robert W. Cape, Jr., Associate Professor of Classics
Classical & Modern Languages
900 N. Grand Avenue, Suite 61653
Sherman, TX 75090-4440
phone: (903) 813-2241  fax: (903) 813-2011