Classical Mythology /
Elizabeth Vandiver ; The Teaching Company.
- 1st ed.
- Chantilly, VA : The Teaching Company, 2000.
- 4 DVDs (720 min.) : sd. col. ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 Course Guidebook (160 p. : ill. ; 19 cm)
- The Great Courses .
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) download 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
156585568X (dvd)
Literature & Language Western Literature Classical Mythology Greek Mythology Roman Mythology