Includes 24 x 30 min. lectures.
Also includes a Course Guidebook.

Includes glossary, biographical notes and bibliography.

"Classical Mythology is an introduction to the primary characters and most important stories of classical Greek and Roman mythology. Among those you will study are the accounts of the creation of the world in Hesiod's Theogony and Ovid's Metamorphoses; the gods Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Dionysos, and Aphrodite; the Greek Heroes, Theseus and Heracles (Hercules in the Roman version); and the most famous of all classical myths, the Trojan War.

Professor Elizabeth Vandiver anchors her presentation in some basics. What is a myth? Which societies use myths? What are some of the problems inherent in studying classical mythology? She also discusses the most influential 19th- and 20th-century thinking about myth's nature and function, including the psychological theories of Freud and Jung and the metaphysical approach of Joseph Campbell.

What are the origins of classical mythology? Professor Vandiver examines similarities between the Theogony and Mesopotamian creation myths and considers the possible influences that the prehistoric Greek cultures, the Minoans and Mycenaeans, may have had on classical mythology.

In addition, she explores the challenges we face in studying mythology—which is rooted in oral tradition and pre-literate society—through the literary works that recount them. How do we disentangle the original myth from its portrayal in Aeschylus's The Oresteia, or Sophocles's Oedipus the King? The more renowned the author, the more difficult this task becomes." (Publisher's Website)

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Disc 1
Lecture 1. Introduction
Lecture 2. What is Myth?
Lecture 3. Why is Myth?
Lecture 4. "First Was Chaos"
Lecture 5. The Reign of the Olympians
Lecture 6. Immortals and Mortals

Disc 2
Lecture 7. Demeter, Persephone, and the Conquest of Death
Lecture 8. The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Afterlife
Lecture 9. Apollo and Artemis
Lecture 10. Hermes and Dionysos
Lecture 11. Laughter-Loving Aphrodite
Lecture 12. Culture, Prehistory, and the "Great Goddess"

Disc 3
Lecture 13. Humans, Heroes, and Half-Gods
Lecture 14. Theseus and the "Test-and-Quest" Myth
Lecture 15. From Myth to History and Back Again
Lecture 16. The Greatest Hero of All
Lecture 17. The Trojan War
Lecture 18. The Terrible House of Atreus

Disc 4
Lecture 19. Blood Vengeance, Justice, and the Furies
Lecture 20. The Tragedies of King Oedipus
Lecture 21. Monstrous Females and Female Monsters
Lecture 22. Roman Founders, Roman Fables
Lecture 23. "Gods are Useful"
Lecture 24. From Ovid to the Stars

"Classical Mythology is an introduction to the primary characters and most important stories of classical Greek and Roman mythology. Among those you will study are the accounts of the creation of the world in Hesiod's Theogony and Ovid's Metamorphoses; the gods Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Dionysos, and Aphrodite; the Greek Heroes, Theseus and Heracles (Hercules in the Roman version); and the most famous of all classical myths, the Trojan War.

Professor Elizabeth Vandiver anchors her presentation in some basics. What is a myth? Which societies use myths? What are some of the problems inherent in studying classical mythology? She also discusses the most influential 19th- and 20th-century thinking about myth's nature and function, including the psychological theories of Freud and Jung and the metaphysical approach of Joseph Campbell.

What are the origins of classical mythology? Professor Vandiver examines similarities between the Theogony and Mesopotamian creation myths and considers the possible influences that the prehistoric Greek cultures, the Minoans and Mycenaeans, may have had on classical mythology.

In addition, she explores the challenges we face in studying mythology—which is rooted in oral tradition and pre-literate society—through the literary works that recount them. How do we disentangle the original myth from its portrayal in Aeschylus's The Oresteia, or Sophocles's Oedipus the King? The more renowned the author, the more difficult this task becomes." (Publisher's Website)

DVD CONTENTS:

Disc 1
Lecture 1. Introduction
Lecture 2. What is Myth?
Lecture 3. Why is Myth?
Lecture 4. "First Was Chaos"
Lecture 5. The Reign of the Olympians
Lecture 6. Immortals and Mortals

Disc 2
Lecture 7. Demeter, Persephone, and the Conquest of Death
Lecture 8. The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Afterlife
Lecture 9. Apollo and Artemis
Lecture 10. Hermes and Dionysos
Lecture 11. Laughter-Loving Aphrodite
Lecture 12. Culture, Prehistory, and the "Great Goddess"

Disc 3
Lecture 13. Humans, Heroes, and Half-Gods
Lecture 14. Theseus and the "Test-and-Quest" Myth
Lecture 15. From Myth to History and Back Again
Lecture 16. The Greatest Hero of All
Lecture 17. The Trojan War
Lecture 18. The Terrible House of Atreus

Disc 4
Lecture 19. Blood Vengeance, Justice, and the Furies
Lecture 20. The Tragedies of King Oedipus
Lecture 21. Monstrous Females and Female Monsters
Lecture 22. Roman Founders, Roman Fables
Lecture 23. "Gods are Useful"
Lecture 24. From Ovid to the Stars

BOOK CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION
Professor Biography
Course Scope

LECTURE GUIDES
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2: What is Myth?
Lecture 3: Why is Myth?
Lecture 4: "First Was Chaos"
Lecture 5: The Reign of the Olympians
Lecture 7: Demeter, Persephone, and the Conquest of Death
Lecture 8: The Eleusinian Mysteries and the Afterlife
Lecture 9: Apollo and Artemis
Lecture 10: Hermes and Dionysos
Lecture 11: Laughter-Loving Aphrodite
Lecture 12: Culture, Prehistory, and the "Great Goddess"
Lecture 13: Humans, Heroes, and Half-Gods
Lecture 14: Theseus and the "Test-and-Quest" Myth
Lecture 15: From Myth to History and Back Again
Lecture 16: The Greatest Hero of All
Lecture 17: The Trojan War
Lecture 18: The Terrible House of Atreus
Lecture 19: Blood Vengeance, Justice, and the Furies
Lecture 20: The Tragedies of King Oedipus
Lecture 21: Monstrous Females and Female Monsters
Lecture 22: Roman Founders, Roman Fables
Lecture 23: "Gods are Useful"
Lecture 24: From Ovid to the Stars

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Timeline
Glossary
Biographical Notes
Bibliography