REL 341.001

Theories of Myth

M | 3:30-5:50

PRH 210

View Online Syllabus

From Hercules to Achilles, to Odysseus, and from Oedipus Rex to Medea, myths of the ancient Greek world are as popular today as they were thousands of years ago. Why do we re-tell those ancient myths today? What makes something a myth? What’s the difference between a myth and a story? Is it the great deeds of the supernatural characters? How did scholars try to explain the origin and function of myths? Do we produce myths today? The course will address those questions by looking at several myths of the ancient Greco-Roman world but also will look at the theories scholars developed in order to understand those stories.

W

Vaia Touna

This course has no required books but PDF readings that will be available through the course’s Blackboard site.

Online Readings

Blackboard Other texts will be available through the Blackboard course site.