ARCH0270 Fall17 S01 Troy Rocks! Archaeology of an Epic
ARCH0270 Fall17 S01 Troy Rocks! Archaeology of an Epic
ARCH 0270: Troy Rocks! The Archaeology of an Epic
Fall 2017
Tues/Thurs, 9:00-10:20 am
Rhode Island Hall 008
Instructor: Eva Mol
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
eva_mol@brown.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 10- 11.30, Wednesday, 10-11.30 or by appointment
Overview and Description
What do Brad Pitt, Julius Caesar, Dante, Alexander the Great, and countless sports teams have in common? The Trojan War! This course will explore the Trojan War not only through the archaeology, art, and mythology of the Greeks and Romans but also through the popular imaginings of cultures ever since, to figure out what "really" happened when Helen ran off and Achilles got angry and the Greeks came bearing gifts.
The first half of this course will focus on the actual events of the "Trojan War" at the end of the second millennium B.C.E. We will study the site of Troy and the cities of the opposing Greeks, as well as the evidence for contact, cooperation, and conflict between the Greeks and Trojans. Students will get an introduction to the history of archaeology and the development of archaeological fieldwork. In the second half of the course, we will see how the narrative and mythology of Homer’s Iliad and the "Trojan War" were adapted and used by later civilizations—from Classical Greece to 21st-century America—in justifying their rise to political and cultural hegemony in the Mediterranean and the West.
Goals
By the end of the semester, students will have a good understanding of both the “Trojan War” as depicted by Homer and the “real” nature of Greeks, Trojans, and their relationship as reconstructed from archaeological and historical evidence. Students will thus gain experience in analyzing archaeological sites and evidence and in handling actual ancient objects and artifacts. Students will also learn to evaluate the expression and reception of ancient narratives through different media and within different cultures, and to appreciate how ideas and memories are altered and reshaped within varying political and cultural contexts. Through readings, students will learn to analyze primary sources for ancient history, as well as how secondary sources construct historical arguments using ancient evidence. Students will also get a basic understanding of how archaeologists work to interpret ancient sites and material.
Format
The class will meet for two 80-min. sessions each week. These meetings will be a combination of instructor lecture and group discussion drawn from the readings assigned for each class. The course will make significant use of visual material and spatial analysis, relying heavily on maps, plans, and images of ancient sites and the Mediterranean. There will several assignments and an in-class midterm exam that will draw from the archaeological material and address more thematic, historical issues discussed in the first half of the course. Finally, each student will carry out a research paper (ca. 12 pages) that analyzes an example of the reception of the Trojan War narrative and give a short (10-15 minutes) in-class presentation on the topic and result of their project at the end of the semester.
Evaluation
Attendance and Participation in class: 10%
Class Assignments: 40%
Midterm Exam: 20%
Final individual Presentation: 10%
Paper: 20%
Over 14 weeks, students will spend 2.6 hours per week in class (36.4 hours total). Required reading is expected to take up approximately 5 hours per week (70 hours). In addition, preparing for discussions and assignments should take a further 5 hours on the student's assigned week. Studying for the midterm exam should take approximately 7 hours. Research, writing and/or putting together the final paper and its presentation is estimated to take approximately 30 hours over the course of the second half of the semester.
Required Texts
1) Homer, The Iliad (translated by Robert Fagles), Penguin Classics, 1998 (ISBN 978-0140275360)
2) Michael Wood, In Search of the Trojan War, 2nd edition, University of California Press, 1998 (ISBN 978-0520215993)
3) E. Cline, The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2013 (ISBN 978-0199760275)
**All books should be available at the Brown Bookstore**
SCHEDULE
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Course Outline - Troy Rocks! The Archaeology of an Epic
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Date |
Subject |
Literature |
Assignments& deadlines |
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Week 1 |
Course introduction |
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Thursday 9/7 |
Course introduction |
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TROY ROCKS PART I: EVIDENCE AND CONTEXT
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Week 2 |
The Iliad in context: Homer and Troy |
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Tuesday 9/12 |
The context of the myth I: the Iliad and Homer |
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Thursday 9/14 |
The context of the myth II: the archaeology |
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Week 3 |
Digging the Epic |
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Tuesday 9/19 |
Maps, myths, and reality in the Troad |
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Assignment 1: Mapping the Iliad
Deadline: 9/19- 9AM post on Canvas before class starts and/or bring to class |
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Thursday 9/21 |
The archaeology and archaeologists of Hisarlık |
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Week 4 |
Troy and the ‘Wars of Wisschenschaft’ |
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Tuesday 9/26 |
The ‘Wars of Wisschenschaft’ |
Camp Korfmann:
Camp Kolb:
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Class assignment 2: The New Trojan war
Deadline: 9/26 9AM Bring to class |
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Thursday 9/28 |
No class |
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Week 5 |
The Bronze Age Mediterranean I: Mycenae and the Mycenaean world |
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Tuesday 10/3 |
Mycenae I: the city and its people |
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Thursday 10/5 |
Mycenaean pottery- RISD Museum visit |
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Week 6 |
The Bronze Age Mediterranean II: wider relations |
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Tuesday 10/10 |
Mycenae II: the spread of Mycenaean culture |
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Thursday 10/12 |
Trojan War or Trojan Wars? Mycenaeans, Trojans, and Hittites |
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Week 7 |
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Tuesday 10/17 |
Recap: Troy between Myth and Reality |
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Class assignment 3: 500 word- take home question: discussion on the Trojan war
Deadline: hand in via Canvas before 10/17 9AM and bring to class |
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Thursday 10/19 |
MID-TERM-EXAM |
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PART II: THE LEGACY AND RECEPTION OF THE TROJAN WAR
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Week 8 |
The Trojan War after the Bronze Age |
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Tuesday 10/24 |
Visualizing myth: the Trojan war in Early Greek art |
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Thursday 10/26 |
Troy in Classical Greece |
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Week 9 |
From Greece to Rome |
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Tuesday 10/31 |
Troy in the Hellenistic world |
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Thursday 11/2 |
The beginnings of Rome: foundations in stone |
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Class assignment 4: Iliad versus Aeneid
Deadline: 11/2-9AM Bring to class |
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Week 10 |
The Myth of Troy in the Roman Period
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Tuesday 11/7 |
Romans at Troy |
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Thursday 11/9 |
Troy in Roman art |
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Hand in Preliminary Topic Paper
Deadline: before 11/9 6PM- in person or by email |
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Week 11 |
Troy receptions in Rome and beyond |
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Tuesday 11/14 |
The Republic and the Augustan Age: reception and use of Troy |
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Class assignment 5: discussion on the making of myth in Rome
Deadline: 11/13-10PM Post on Canvas and bring to class |
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Thursday 11/16 |
Class in the RISD: Troy re-imagined |
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Week 12 |
Modern perceptions of Troy |
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Tuesday 11/21 |
Troy and Homer in the 20th and 21st century |
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project update |
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Thursday 11/23 |
No class (Thanksgiving) |
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Week 13 |
Troy’s significance in contemporary fiction, film and art |
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Tuesday 11/28 |
Troy and Homer in contemporary fiction and art |
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Class assignment 6: modern relevance of Troy in art and thought
Deadline: 11/28-9AM bring to class |
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Thursday 11/30 |
Troy in cinema and the movie ‘Troy’ |
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Class assignment 7: review of the movie Troy
Deadline: 11/30-9AM bring to class and post on Canvas |
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Week 14 |
Student presentations |
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Tuesday 12/5 |
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Thursday 12/7 |
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Week 15 |
Paper |
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Tuesday 12/12 |
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Thursday 12/14 |
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Paper deadline, 12/14-10PM via Turnitin/Canvas |
Course Summary:
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