CORE097 Homer's epics as bestsellers of global literature

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Petr Dytrt, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Petra Mutlová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Radka Nokkala Miltová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Katarina Petrovićová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Irena Radová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Nicole Votavová Sumelidisová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Zdeněk Záhora (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Ing. Daniela Kuchtová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Irena Radová, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 14:00–15:40 B2.13, except Tue 16. 4.
Prerequisites
No special requirements.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 100 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 50/100, only registered: 0/100, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/100
Course objectives
The epics IliadI and Odyssey, credited to the blind Greek poet Homer, lie at the foundation of European society. It can be said that no work of poetry has influenced the culture of the whole world as much as they have. Both have been (and still are) founts of motifs, character types, and techniques in all varieties and genres of literature since antiquity to this day; by the same measure, they have influenced many other forms of art.
This course consists of lectures introducing the students to the receptions of the Homeric works from various places and periods spanning from antiquity to the medieval era, combined with an outlook into modern literature, visual arts and popular culture.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students:
- will be able to present the contents of the Iliad and the Odyssey in detail;
- will be able to present the currently prevalent opinion on the origin of these works;
- will be able to describe the evolution of the reception of the Homeric epics from antiquity to the medieval era and place it in a literary context;
- will know about the receptions of the Homeric epics in modern literatures;
- will know about the receptions of the Homeric epics in art, film and popular culture (digital games);;
- will know about the relevant secondary literature.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction (I. Radová, 20. 2.);
  • 2. The Iliad (I. Radová, 27. 2.);
  • 3. The Odyssey (I. Radová, 5. 3.);
  • 4. Homer and the ancient Greeks (I. Radová, 12. 3.);
  • 5. Homer and the Romans (K. Petrovićová, 19. 3.);
  • 6. Homeric voyage through the Latin Middle Ages (P. Mutlová, 26. 3.);
  • 7. Homer and English renaissance literature (F. Krajník, 2. 4.);
  • 8. Homer in early modern visual art (R. Nokkala Miltová, 9. 4.);
  • 9. Homer and French literature in the 20th century: There will be no Trojan war (P. Dytrt, 23. 4.);
  • 10. Homer and modern literature in English (T. Kačer, 30. 4.);
  • 11. Homer and Modern Greek literature: from Odysseus to Elpenor (N. Votavová Sumelidu, 7. 5.);
  • 12. Homer in popular culture: digital games (Z. Záhora, 14. 5.);
  • 13. Homer in the cinema (I. Radová, 21. 5.);
Literature
    required literature
  • HOMÉROS. Ílias. Translated by Otmar Vaňorný. 12. vyd. Praha: Petr Rezek, 2007, 598 s. ISBN 8086027252. info
  • HOMÉROS. Odysseia. Translated by Otmar Vaňorný. 16. vyd. Praha: Petr Rezek, 2007, 451 s. ISBN 8086027260. info
  • EURIPIDÉS. Trójanky a jiné tragédie. Translated by Ferdinand Stiebitz - Olga Valešová. Vydání I. Praha: Svoboda, 1978, 455 stran. URL info
    recommended literature
  • The Cambridge companion to Homer. Edited by R. L. Fowler. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, xvii, 419. ISBN 0521012465. info
  • GRAZIOSI, Barbara. Inventing Homer : the early reception of epic. 1st publ. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, xiii, 285. ISBN 0521809665. info
  • Homer, tragedy and beyond : essays in honour of P.E. Easterling. Edited by Felix Budelmann - Pantelis Michelakis - P. E. Easterling. London: Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2001, xiii, 262. ISBN 0902984195. info
  • Homeric effects in Vergil's narrative. Edited by Philip R. Hardie - Alessandro Barchiesi, Translated by Ilaria Marchesi. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015, xvi, 193. ISBN 9780691161815. info
  • KIM, Lawrence Young. Homer between history and fiction in imperial Greek literature. First paperback edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, xi, 246. ISBN 9781107485297. info
  • POKORNÝ, Martin. Odezvy a znaky: Homér, Dante a Joyceův Odysseus. Vyd. 1. Praha: Jitro, 2008, 220 s. ISBN 9788086985077. info
  • Homer in the twentieth century : berween world literature and the western canon. Edited by Barbara Graziosi - Emily Greenwood. 1st pub. in pbk. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, xiii, 322. ISBN 9780199591312. info
  • SOLOMON, Jon. The ancient world in the cinema. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001, 384 pp. info
Teaching methods
Lectures; e-learning; intensive home reading.
Assessment methods
Requirements for credit: passing a written test consisting of multiple-choice questions as well as open answers, minimum pass level 60%. Points will be deducted for wrong answers.
Only students who successfully completed at least 8 interim tests in the ELF-course (min. 80%) will be able to sign up for the final assessment test.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2024/CORE097