Greece has long been a destination of real and imagined voyaging. This travel writing course will focus on narratives, images, and films involving journeys to or within Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. How do influential works from Homer’s Odyssey to recent Hollywood movies shape travelers’ expectations, and how do the realities students encounter in Greece compare to those expectations?
We will focus on stories and images that have inspired travel to Greece: ancient myths and artifacts, Renaissance and Neoclassical paintings, Romantic poetry, and works by contemporary writers, photographers, and cinematographers. Reflecting on these materials and their personal experiences abroad, students will keep travel journals in which they reassess such popular representations and document their own evolving visions of Greece.
THEATER AND THE ARTS OF HEALING IN ANCIENT GREECE
In ancient Greece, the uplifting energies of poetry, song, and drama were believed to have medicinal effects. This course will examine the cult of Asclepius—son of Apollo, the god of poetry—and the myths surrounding this hero/god who could raise people from the dead. His healing cult was centered at Epidaurus, the site of antiquity’s best-preserved theater. We will also consider the cults of Artemis, the virgin goddess of fertility and childbirth, and her brother Apollo, whose invisible arrows could deliver plague or cure. The core of the course will be the shared reading of five great dramas that directly engage the themes of disease and wellness, and group excursions to ancient theaters and healing centers. Students will have the opportunity to participate in an on-site production of a play.
