Meets with CLAS C146 and FINA A410

This course will focus on Ovid's poetry and its importance for
the transmission of classical mythology within the literary and
artistic traditions of western Europe. Beginning with Ovid's own
appropriation and reconfiguration of myths as examples or narrative
vehicles, particular emphasis will be given to cultural context and to
its influence in the transformations of myth. Reading for the first
few weeks will comprise portions of Ovid's erotic poems (Amores and
Art of Love) and epic Metamorphoses in translation with particular
attention to myths that figure repeatedly in later art such as Pyramus
and Thisbe, Narcissus, Pygmalion, Venus and Adonis, Apollo and Daphne,
Polyphemus and Galatea, the "Loves of Jove". Subsequent readings will
include selections from Apuleius' Metamorphoses, medieval romance, the
Romance of the Rose, Petrarch's Rime Sparse, Boccaccio, Chaucer,
Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton. Paintings discussed will include
Roman wall paintings and works by Botticelli, Correggio, Titian,
Giulio Romano, Carracci, Velasquez and Poussin.
The course format will be lecture/discussion. Written work will
comprise 2 short interpretive papers and a longer research paper
studying the literary and artistic development of a single myth.
Material not covered in the class program, such as American
mythological painting, may be included in these papers. Depending on
class enrollment, these might be presented as reports. N.B. The course
can also carry Intensive Writing Credit for those who wish it; these
students will fulfill a series of short paper assignments.  There will
also be a final examination consisting of one hour of slide questions
and one hour's interpretive essay.