Module manager: Elizabeth Pender
Email: e.e.pender@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
CLAS3133 CLAS3143
This module is approved as a discovery module
This module is suitable for Level 2 students with some basic knowledge of Classical literature. It provides a thorough introduction to the themes and structure of Homer's <I>Iliad</I>, issues surrounding its composition and transmission, and its enormous cultural significance. The poem is studied in English translation (tr. M. Hammond, <I> Homer: Iliad</I>, Penguin 1987). The module is worth 20 credits and runs over both semesters, with one lecture per week and a total of five seminars.
Objectives: to introduce students to Homer's Iliad and its cultural significance. On completion of the module students will have a thorough knowledge of the poem, its theme and structure, and of issues surrounding its composition and transmission. They will understand the key cultural position of this work and will appreciate its unique literary qualities.
Topics to be covered include: the Trojan/epic cycle; composition and its historical context; Homer and the artists (showing transmission of stories in early period); the structure of the poem; development of particular themes; presentation of the gods; the moral code of the poem and the general view of life and death; religious ritual; rhetoric and diplomacy; family and social underpinnings; female characters; influence on later Greek morality; influence on literary tradition.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| Seminar | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Private study hours | 177 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 23 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Seminar participation and essays
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 2000 words maximum | 50 |
| Written Work | Commentary - maximum 2000 words | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 9/10/2024
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