Text and Context: Women in Homer
Module title | Text and Context: Women in Homer |
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Module code | CLA1031 |
Academic year | 2024/5 |
Credits | 15 |
Module staff | Dr Emily Hauser (Convenor) |
Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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Duration: Weeks | 11 |
Number students taking module (anticipated) | 60 |
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Module description
This module explores the roles of women in the Homeric epics, alongside an investigation of the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries unearthing the real experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age. We will ask questions like: why has the Iliad often been thought as “all about men”? Why does the Odyssey start with a woman being told to shut up? Is there a way that we can read women back into Homer? How do we interpret powerful women from the Late Bronze Age like Puduhepa, Queen of the Hittites – and what might she have to do with Homeric epic? And how might discoveries in archaeology and science shed new light on the experiences of women in the ancient world – and make us read these texts in a different way?
Module aims - intentions of the module
The aims of the module are:
- To explore the many different roles played by women in the Homeric poems, and to unpack how setting these alongside the historical experiences of women in the Late Bronze Age can change and shape the way we think about Homer – as well as the importance of women, both narratively and historically.
- To analyse the Homeric epics within their ancient literary, historical and cultural context, and – at the same time – to critically examine how contemporary concerns and theoretical approaches can change the way we understand the past.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate a broad knowledge of a selection of primary texts relating to women from Late Bronze Age sources, and a selection of passages from the Homeric epics (in English translation)
- 2. Demonstrate a general knowledge of the realities of womens lives in Late Bronze Age and ancient Greek society
- 3. Reflect critically on the ways in which women are represented (and marginalized) in ancient epic/historical records
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Use, analyse and critically evaluate ancient texts
- 5. Demonstrate advanced academic and library skills specific to Classics and Ancient History
- 6. Demonstrate a broad understanding of different approaches to reading women in Homer, including (but not limited to) neoanalysis, narratology and feminist literary criticism
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 7. Demonstrate independent study skills in research and the presentation of findings
- 8. Demonstrate an ability to select and organise relevant material
- 9. Demonstrate an ability to produce a strong and coherent argument
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
- How do we recover the women of the past? An introduction
- Women in Homer: The state of play
- Helen of Troy (Iliad and Odyssey)
- Briseis (Iliad)
- Hecuba (Iliad)
- Aphrodite (Iliad and Odyssey)
- Thetis (Iliad)
- Circe (Odyssey)
- Penelope (Odyssey)
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
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27 | 123 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
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Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 22 | 11 x 2-hour lectures |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 5 | 5 x 1-hour seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 123 | Preparation for lectures, seminars, and coursework |
Formative assessment
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Group presentation | 10-15 minutes | 1-9 | Oral feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
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100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
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Essay | 100 | 2000 words | 1-9 | Written feedback |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
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Essay (2000 words) | Essay (2000 words) | 1-9 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
- Homer, The Iliad, trans. Emily Wilson (W. W. Norton, 2018).
- Homer, The Odyssey, trans. Emily Wilson (W. W. Norton, 2023).
- A detailed list of additional primary texts, giving editions, will be provided by the lecturer.
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
- Blondell, Ruby. ‘“Bitch That I Am”: Self-Blame and Self-Assertion in the Iliad’. Transactions of the American Philological Association, vol. 140, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–32.
- Cohen, Beth, ed. The Distaff Side?: Representing the Female in Homer’s Odyssey. Oxford University Press, 1995.
- Dué, Casey. Homeric Variations on a Lament by Briseis. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
- Ebbott, Mary. ‘Seeking Odysseus’s Sister’. Michigan Quarterly Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2017.
- Felson, Nancy. Regarding Penelope: From Character to Poetics. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
- Felson, Nancy, and Laura M. Slatkin. ‘Gender and Homeric Epic’. The Cambridge Companion to Homer, edited by Robert Fowler, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 91–114.
- Hauser, Emily. ‘Women in Homer’. The Cambridge Companion to Greek Epic, edited by Emma Greensmith, Cambridge University Press, 2024.
- Hitchcock, Louise, and Marianna Nikolaidou. ‘Gender in Greek and Aegean Prehistory’. A Companion to Gender Prehistory, edited by Diane Bolger, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, pp. 502–25.
- Katz, Marilyn. Penelope’s Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey. Princeton University Press, 1991.
- ——— ‘Ideology and “The Status of Women” in Ancient Greece’. History and Theory, vol. 31, no. 4, 1992, pp. 70–97.
- Kopaka, Katérina, ed. Fylo: Engendering Prehistoric ‘Stratigraphies’ in the Aegean and the Mediterranean. Proceedings of an International Conference, University of Crete, Rethymno 2-5 June 2005, Université de Liège, University of Texas at Austin, 2009.
- Morris, Sarah, and Robert Laffineur, eds. EPOS: Reconsidering Greek Epic and Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology. Proceedings of the 11th International Aegean Conference, Los Angeles, UCLA-The J. Paul Getty Villa, 20-23 April 2006. Université de Liège, University of Texas at Austin, 2007.
- Sherratt, Susan, and John Bennet, eds. Archaeology and Homeric Epic. Oxbow Books, 2017.
- Slatkin, Laura M. The Power of Thetis and Selected Essays. Center for Hellenic Studies, 2011.
Credit value | 15 |
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Module ECTS | 7.5 |
Module pre-requisites | None |
Module co-requisites | None |
NQF level (module) | 4 |
Available as distance learning? | No |
Origin date | 21/02/2024 |
Last revision date | 21/02/2024 |