Unit information: War and Gender: Defining the Hero in 2008/09

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Unit name War and Gender: Defining the Hero
Unit code CLAS30091
Credit points 20
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Hitch
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

School/department Department of Classics & Ancient History
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This course will explore the prioritization of individuals in war narratives of ancient Greece and Rome, both literary sources and in the visual arts, from heroized military males, to the different and contradictory roles played by women. We will explore how, and for what reason, individuals become symbolic encapsulations of military conflicts, either as the conquering hero, worthy opponent, malicious threat or victim.

Aims:

To increase students knowledge of literary and visual representations of war in antiquity, and develop students awareness of theoretical, literary and ethical issues associated with the representation of individual agency in war narratives.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, students will have:

  • developed a sophisticated understanding of the ethical and poetic issues related to characterization in ancient narratives and imagery of war;
  • acquired detailed and sound knowledge of various ancient discourses of heroics;
  • developed their skills in the close reading of texts from antiquity to the present day;
  • developed their skills in the construction of arguments, through oral and written presentation.

Teaching Information

Lectures and seminars.

Assessment Information

  • One essay of 3,000 words. (50%)
  • One exam of 90 minutes duration. (50%)

Reading and References

  • Heckel and Yardley Alexander the Great: Historical Sources in Translation
  • Aristophanes, Lysistrata
  • Gorgias, Encomium of Helen
  • Sophocles, Ajax