第一章Lecture 1 Introduction

The first lecture is a brief introduction to this culture course. It tries to show the student why Greek and Roman mythology and Western Culture is such an important, indispensable and inspiring culture course both for English majors and non-English majors.

●1.1Course Description

The introduction part consists of two sessions. In the first session, we’ll “demonstrate” the course content and structure, and in the second session, we’ll explain its objectives and evaluations.

第二章Lecture 2 Myths of Creation

This lecture is mainly about the origins of Greek and Roman Mythology. It falls into four sessions. The source texts of mythologies for our entire course will be introduced in the first session, and the other three will cover stories of origin in terms of cosmogony, theogony and anthropogony. These origin stories explain the birth of universe, deity, and man.

●2.1Source Texts

This part introduces the major sources texts for this course. It includes both Greek and Roman texts. The historical reason for remaking the Greek mythology into the Roman one will also be dealt with in detail.

●2.2Universe, Deity, and Man

This part focuses on stories of origin in Greek and Roman Mythology. It involves the origin of the universe, the deities and the humans. And it will also highlight the comparisons with other cultures in these origin stories.

第三章Lecture 3 The Olympians

This lecture is about the establishment of Zeus’ power and the power division among the Olympians. It consists of five sessions. The first session introduces how Zeus establishes and consolidates his power through the divine wars of Titanomachy and Gigantomachy. The other four sessions introduce Zeus’ family in terms of his siblings, sons and daughters. The stories and the duties of these gods and goddesses will be discussed in detail.

●3.1Wars of the Divine Familly

This part focuses on how Zeus establishes and consolidates his power through the two divine wars: Titanomachy and Gigantomachy.

●3.2Zeus' Siblings and Children

This part focuses on the major Olympian gods in Zeus’ family. They are divided into four groups: Zeus’ siblings, Zeus’ sons and Zeus’ daughters. It involves the stories and the roles of the major Olympian gods and goddesses.

第四章Lecture 4 Zeus' Love Affairs

This lecture discusses Zeus’ love affairs. It is divided into two parts: the growth of Zeus and his mistresses. The first part focuses on Zeus’ birth and his acquisition of power. The second part concentrates on Zeus’ mistresses and their cultural connotations, with Europa and Io as two typical examples.

●4.1The Growth of Zeus

This part talks about Zeus’ birth and growth, including his unusual childhood, his status, his attributes and cultural impacts.

●4.2Zeus' Mistresses

This part first introduces Zeus’ immortal and mortal mistresses, then it focuses on his two mortal mistresses: Europa and Io. It explores the origination of Europe in Europa’s story and discusses the significance of global cultural exchanges in Io’s story.

第五章Lecture 5 The Trojan War

This lecture uses Zeus’ love affair with Leda as a stepping stone to talk about the Trojan War. It includes five sessions. The causes for the fall of Troy will be introduced in the first session, and the next three will cover stories of the heroes on both sides before and during the war, including Achilles, Hector, Agamemnon, Odysseus and others. These stories present the conflicts between family and kingdom. The last session focuses on the end of the Trojan War and its aftermath.

●5.1Preparations for the War

This part consists of two preparatory sessions for the Trojan War. The first session discusses the story of Zeus and Leda and also the story of Golden Apple to analyze the root causes for the Trojan War. The second session deals with the two sides of the war, namely, the Trojans and the Greeks, with a focus on the Greek heroes and their choices between family and kingdom.

●5.2Heroes of the War

In this part, the Trojan War will be introduced from the perspectives of both Achilles and Hector in two separate sessions. The major heroes of the two opposing sides will lay clear the moral conflicts and contradictions of the war.

●5.3The End of the War

This part deals with the end of the Trojan War. It will introduce the ruin of Troy against two ignored prophets, Laocoön and Cassandra. And it will provide further information about the key figures such as Helen, Agamemnon and Odysseus after the war.

第六章Lecture 6 Hades and the Underworld I

This lecture centers around the constitution of the underworld and the family story of Hades. It falls into three sessions. The first two sessions mainly discuss the spatial constitution of Hades and Tartarus, with an emphasis on its comparison with the Chinese underworld imagination. The last session covers the abduction of Persephone and the family drama among Hades, Persephone and Demeter, which gives rise to the cycle of four seasons and the secret ritual of Eleusinian Mysteries.

●6.1Constitution of the Underworld

This part consists of Hades and Tartarus. Hades touches upon the map of Hades, the ferry man Charon, Cerberus, some visitors to Hades, and the five rivers in Hades. Tartarus has at least three layers of meaning: a god, a place of punishment, and the root of the cosmos.

●6.2Hades, Persephone and Demeter

This part describes the abduction of Persephone and the Greek interpretation of the cycle of the four seasons and the origination of the secret ritual called the Eleusinian Mysteries. Participants of the Eleusinian Mysteries imitate or act out the whole process of Demeter’s search for her lost daughter Persephone.

第七章Lecture 7 Hades and the Underworld II

This lecture focuses on a classical love story of Orpheus and his wife Eurydice. It falls into three sessions: the first session deals with the tragic death of Eurydice; the second talks about Orpheus’ journey to the underworld, and the third explains Orphism, focusing on the cultural impacts of Orpheus’ story.

●7.1Orpheus’ Tragic Love

This part focuses on the tragedy of Orpheus’ love story and the power of music and that of love.

●7.2Orphic Religion

This part addresses the tremendous cultural impacts of Orpheus’ story, with a focus on the key concepts of Orphism, including the immortality of the soul, vegetarianism, non-violence, and utopia.

第八章Lecture 8 Heroic Adventures I

This lecture is mainly about the adventurous stories of Odysseus. It consists of five sessions. The first session gives a brief introduction to Odysseus and his main experiences on his ten-year journey to go back home. The next three sessions center around Odysseus’ encounters with males, females and nature during his voyage. The last session mainly deals with his arrival in Ithaca, his homeland, and how he eventually reunites with his family.

●8.1Introduction to Odysseus

This part highlights the importance of heroes in the mythology and in the human history as well. It introduces the family background and character of Odysseus, the wisest hero, and gives a brief overview of his ten-year journey.

●8.2Odysseus' Encounters

This part regroups Odysseus’ homeward adventures into three sessions: male encounters, female encounters, and nature encounters. The first session centers around the stories between Odysseus and four male characters: Polyphemus, Poseidon, Aeolus, and King of Phaeacia. The second session focuses on Odysseus’ stories with females and the last one focuses on how Odysseus confronts natural challenges and overcomes them.

●8.3The End of the Odyssey

This part mainly deals with how Odysseus eliminates his enemies, regains his throne and reunites with his family.

第九章Lecture 9 Heroic Adventures II

This lecture talks about the heroic adventures of Perseus. It is divided into four sessions. The first session starts with Perseus’s birth and growth. The following two sessions mainly talk about his adventures of beheading snake-haired Medusa and rescuing the great beauty Andromeda during his return journey. The great impacts of Perseus myth on both western and eastern culture are discussed in the last session.

●9.1Perseus as the Perfect Hero

This part introduces the mythological stories of Perseus. It starts with the birth and growth of Perseus, illustrates the transformation of Medusa from a great beauty to a monster, explains why Perseus wants to get Medusa’s head, and tells Perseus’ heroic adventures of decapitating Medusa and rescuing Andromeda on his home coming journey.

●9.2Perseus' Cultural Impacts

This part focuses on the great impacts the myth of Perseus and Medusa has in all walks of life in western culture. It will also illustrate with examples how these mythological stories impact Chinese culture as well.

第十章Lecture 10 Heroes and Nature

This lecture relates heroes to nature in terms of plants and animals. It falls into four sessions. The first two sessions are devoted to plants in the stories of heroes. They will extend to overview the sacredness of plants in Greek and Roman Mythology. The last two sessions start with animal monsters in the heroic stories of Theseus and Bellerophone, and continue to investigate the animals, both wild and domesticated, in Greek and Roman Mythology. Through the four sessions, an embedded ecological awareness will be unearthed and discussed.

●10.1Heroes and Plants

This part falls into two sessions. The first session is a case study of how plants contribute to the great achievement of heroes, taking Odysseus’ adventurous journey home as an example. The second session is a multifaceted discussion about the sacredness of plants, which in turn leads to a revelation of the eco-conception embedded in mythology.

●10.2Heroes and Animals

This part deals with the relationship between heroes and animals. Animals, in terms of mythical animals and mythical hybrids, are often manifested in brutal fights against the heroes for different reasons. This part will also further the investigation of animal killing in light of hunting ethics and sacrificial rituals.

第十一章Lecture 11 Story of Mortals I

This lecture covers four stories of Arachne, Niobe, Icarus and Phaethon in Greek and Roman mythology. The theme of these four stories is about the four mortals’ challenge of divinity and the severe consequences owing to their pride and ambition.

●11.1Retribution of Pride

This part tells about the tragic stories of Arachne and Niobe, who incur revenge from gods and goddesses out of their pride and jealousy.

●11.2Retribution of Ambition

This part deals with the tragic stories of Icarus and Phaethon, whose destinies are doomed due to their ambition.

第十二章Lecture 12 Story of Mortals II

This lecture continues to discuss the stories of the mortals. It is divided into two parts: violation of divinity and that of humanity. Each session showcases the tragic story of Cadmus, Actaeon, Pentheus, Oedipus and Antigone respectively. This lecture walks through the tragedies in the cursed Cadmean clan and sheds light on the contradiction between divinity and humanity in Greek and Roman Mythology.

●12.1Violation of Divinity

This part deals with three tragic figures: Cadmus, Actaeon and Pentheus, whose curse, crime and punishment are analyzed respectively.

●12.2Violation of Humanity

This part concerns two tragic figures: Oedipus and his daughter Antigone, together with their cultural impacts.