CLASSICAL CULTURE

AND MYTHOLOGIES 2A
(CLC 2AA2)

LEARNING GUIDE 2024

Department of Languages, Cultural Studies

and Applied Linguistics (LanCSAL)

Prof. Llewellyn Howes

llewellynh@uj.ac.za
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Course Instructor
The lecturer for this course is Prof. Llewellyn Howes.

Venue and Time

Classes will take place on Wednesdays, 12:10-13:45, in D-Les 203.

There are no tutorials for this course, but you are welcome to contact the tutor if you
struggle: Luyanda Dhlamlenze: luyandadhlamlenze2@gmail.com and/or Tshepiso
Mpai: 220146413@student.uj.ac.za.

How do you get hold of the lecturer?

Email: llewellynh@uj.ac.za
Office number: B Ring 510
Consultation hours are by specific appointment.

• For admin issues, contact Fifi Mofokeng: rmofokeng@uj.ac.za / 011 559 2699.
• For module registration, contact Ayanda Jareear: amilanzi@uj.ac.za / 081 007 1019.
• For Moodle registration and issues, contact CAT: uhelp@uj.ac.za / 011 559 3580.

Distribution of Marks
This is a continuous assessment module, which means that you do not write an exam this
semester. Instead, your final mark is determined by (1) weekly online tests; and (2) an
assignment. The distribution of marks is as follows:

• Weekly online tests: 60% of your final mark

• Assignment: 40% of your final mark

Course Requirements
You must get a final mark of 50% or more to pass the course. There are no opportunities for
supplementary or special exams after your final mark has been determined.
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Prescribed Material
Textbook: Classical Mythology: Images & Insights (Sixth Edition) by S. L. Harris and G.
Platzner (2012), pp. 1-223. Publisher: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 978-0-07-340752-4.

Ancient texts: (1) Hesiod’s Theogony; (2) Homeric Hymn toDemeter; (3) Homeric Hymn
to Hermes.

Each week, the prescribed reading material for that week will become available on Moodle
directly after the lesson (i.e. Wednesdays at 2pm), and will remain available for the rest of
the semester. Although the prescribed material will be made available on Moodle, you are
encouraged to buy the textbook, since we will be using the same textbook for third year as
well. The UJ bookshop no longer stocks this book, but it is very easy to buy the book online.
Second-hand copies are much cheaper and easily available. The best website is
www.amazon.co.uk.

The ancient texts will also be made available on Moodle.

What will this course cover; what are its goal and objectives?
The overall goal of the course is to introduce the interpretation of myths as well as ancient
Greek mythology.

Objectives: The overall goal will be realised by means of the following objectives:
1) Understanding the theory of myth interpretation.
2) Knowing what the ancient Greeks believed about the creation of the cosmos.
3) Learning about Prometheus and Pandora, the Divine Woman, and the Olympian
family.
4) Reading English translations of ancient Greek myths.
5) Being familiar with the content of Hesiod’s Theogony.
6) Being familiar with the content of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and the Homeric
Hymn to Hermes.
7) Interpreting an ancient Greek myth.
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Lessons
This semester (12 Feb to 24 May), two lessons will not be in person, namely the lessons for
Week 11 (1 May) and Week 14 (22 May). All other lessons will be in person. See “Course
Outline & Dates” below for more information. Each week, the PowerPoint slides and reading
material for that week will become available on Moodle directly after class, that is, on
Wednesdays at 2pm. After they have become available, the PowerPoint slides and reading
material will remain available for the rest of the semester. On Moodle, there is a separate
folder for each week. Each week, all the items for that week (including the PowerPoint slides,
reading material, and online test) will appear in the relevant folder. You have to read the
reading material on your own before doing that week’s online test. See the section “Weekly
Online Tests” below for more information. If you have any questions, you may send an email
to the lecturer or ask during class.

Weekly Online Tests

Each week, you will have one online test about the work covered during that week. See the
section “Course Outline and Dates” below for the specific dates of these online tests.

The online tests will work like this:

• Each week, the reading material and PowerPoint slides for that week will become
available on Moodle directly after the previous class, that is, on Wednesdays at 2pm.
• Each week, the online test for that week will become available at 5am on Thursday
morning and will remain available until the next day (Friday) at midnight. In other
words, you have two days (Thursday and Friday) each week to complete the online
test.
• Although the weekly tests will be available for two days each week, the tests
themselves will only last between ten and twenty minutes, with one minute allocated
per mark.
• Since each online test will have a time limit of one minute per mark, you must
prepare properly before attempting to complete the test, since you will not have time
to look up the answers, watch the PowerPoint presentation or read the reading
material while answering the questions;
• You have to complete each online test in one sitting (i.e. you cannot start the test, save
it, and come back to it at a later stage).
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Assignment
Submit an assignment of 1,000-2,000 words before midnight on Sunday, 9 June, in
which you interpret one of the ancient texts listed below by applying one of the modern
interpretive approaches listed below. In the case of the Theogony, you may choose to analyse
only one or two subsections of the text if you want (e.g. “Invocation to the Muses”, “The
First Gods”, The Castration of Ouranos”, etc.).

Ancient texts Interpretive approaches

• Hesiod’s Theogony • Nature myths
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter • Myth and Ritual
• Homeric Hymn to Hermes • The Charter Theory
• An Etiological approach
• A Freudian approach
• A Jungian approach
• A structural approach
• A narratological approach
• A feminist approach
• A neurological approach

The purpose of the assignment is to test your ability to interpret an ancient text using a
modern method of interpretation. Apart from your textbook, you are not required to use
secondary sources like books, articles, or dictionary entries, although you will not be
penalised if you choose to do so. If you use secondary sources, be sure to reference them
correctly and feature them in a bibliography at the end. Use the English translations of the
ancient texts provided on Moodle. A plagiarism declaration has to be included on the first
page of your assignment. Any form of plagiarism will be severely penalised. If you used
generative AI, like Grammarly, Atlas.TI, or Chat GPT, you also need to complete the
generative AI declaration and include it on the second page of your assignment. You may
find templates of both a plagiarism declaration and a generative AI declaration on Moodle
in the “Assignment” folder. There are no stylistic requirements (like font, font size, line
spacing, etc.) – as long as your assignment is1,000-2,000 words long. Please submit the
assignment on a Word document and make sure to feature your name, surname, and student
number on the first page. I will subtract marks for each day that the assignment is late.
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Course Outline & Dates

Week 1 (14 Feb): In-person class
• Theme: Orientation
• No online test

Week 2 (21 Feb): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 1 (Introduction to Greek Myth)
• Online Test 1: Pp. 3-36 during 22-23 February

Week 3 (28 Feb): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 2, Part 1 (Myth Interpretation, Part 1)
• Online Test 2: Pp. 37-44 during 29 Feb – 1 Mar

Week 4 (6 Mar): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 2, Part 2 (Myth Interpretation, Part 2)
• Online Test 3: Pp. 44-57 during 7-8 March

Week 5 (13 Mar): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 3, Part 1 (Hesiod’s Creation Story, Part 1)
• Online Test 4: Pp. 61-71 during 14-15 March

Week 6 (20 Mar): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 3, Part 2 (Hesiod’s Creation Story, Part 2)
• Online Test 5: Pp. 71-87 during 21-22 March
• 21 March is a public holiday, but you are welcome to write the test on 22 March, since
it will be available on both days

SELF-STUDY DURING RECESS (23-31 March)

• Read Hesiod’s Theogony: Pp. 88-105.

• You will write an online test on Hesiod’s Theogony during the first two days of Term 2.

• Online Test 6: Pp. 88-105 during 1-2 April

• 1 April is a public holiday, but you are welcome to write this test on 2 April, since it
will be available on both days.
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Week 7 (3 Apr): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 4, Part 1 (Alienation of Men and Gods, Part 1)
• Online Test 7: Pp. 106-116 during 4-5 April

Week 8 (10 Apr): In-person class (guest lecturer)

• Theme: Chapter 4, Part 2 (Alienation of Men and Gods, Part 2)
• Online Test 8: Pp. 116-127 during 11-12 April

Week 9 (17 Apr): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 5, Part 1 (The Divine Woman)
• Online Test 9: Pp. 135-144 during 18-19 April

Week 10 (24 Apr): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 5, Part 2 (The Divine Women of Greek Myth)
• Online Test 10: Pp. 144-155 during 25-26 April

Week 11 (1 May): No class (public holiday), self-study & online test

• Theme: Homeric Hymn to Demeter
• 1 May is a public holiday, so there will be no class.
• Self-study: Read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
• Online Test 11: Pp. 156-167 during 2-3 May

Week 12 (8 May): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 6, Part 1 (The Older Olympians)
• Online Test 12: Pp. 168-185 during 9-10 May

Week 13 (15 May): In-person class

• Theme: Chapter 6, Part 2 (The Younger Olympians)
• Online Test 13: Pp. 185-204 during 16-17 May

Week 14 (22 May): No class, self-study & online test

• Theme: Homeric Hymn to Hermes
• Self-study: Read the Homeric Hymn to Hermes
• Online Test 14: Pp. 209-223 during 23-24 May
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STUDY PERIOD: 25-29 MAY

ASSIGNMENT DEADLINE: SUNDAY, 9 JUNE, AT MIDNIGHT

FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS: 30 MAY - 21 JUNE (NO EXAM FOR CLC2AA2; THE
ASSIGNMENT IS THE EXAM)

May you learn a lot and enjoy every step along the way!

Prof. Llewellyn Howes