Modules
Images of Trojan War: from Pot to Film (Material Evidence) (CLA2512)
| Staff | Professor Barbara Borg - Convenor |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 15 |
| ECTS Value | 7.5 |
| NQF Level | 5 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | Term 2: 11 weeks; |
Module aims
- To explore visual representations of the Trojan War in genres such as painting, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, modern popular culture and film, ranging chronologically from the beginnings of narrative images in the 7th century BCE down to the present.
- To acquaint you with the entire story of the war and to explore which events interested artists (and their patrons) at any given time and in any specific context from private dinner parties to public monuments to modern cinema; how this changed over time; and what it tells us about the ancient and modern societies who used images of the Trojan War to express general concerns, ideologies, and ideas.
- To engage in the interpretation of images as a ‘language’ different from texts, learning how images interpret events, and manipulate and convey meaning, and how viewers decode these meanings and visual strategies using specific methodologies.
- To appreciate how, in our modern world, which is flooded by visual material, knowing how images work, and how we can both use and ‘read’ them is a fundamentally important skill.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the details of the story of the Trojan War and its events
- 2. Identify, describe, and critically analyse a wide range of images of the Trojan War in different media and ranging from the 7th century BCE to the modern day
- 3. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of how people use(d) images to interpret the events of the Trojan War in different ways, depending on historical and social context
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 4. Describe and analyze how images and texts use inherently different means in order to narrate stories
- 5. Demonstrate a critical understanding of how the story of the Trojan War was used to discuss and negotiate bigger and more general questions concerning key conditions of human experience
- 6. Research a question using library and other academic resources specific to Classics and Ancient History
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 7. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of how different visual media operate, and how they each differ from texts
- 8. Evaluate and successfully apply a range of key methodologies to decode the meanings and messages of images
- 9. Demonstrate advanced independent and group study skills in research
- 10. Demonstrate sophisticated critical engagement with modern sources
- 11. Construct and present a coherent and cogent argument
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, the following topics will be covered:
- The beginnings of narrative images in ancient Greece
- Troy, Schliemann, and the historicity of the Trojan War Warfare and the Beautiful Death
- Myth and Politics: The contest of the arms
- Negotiating Gender: Penthesilea and the Amazons
- The Trojan War in Roman art: Greek myth and the foundation of Rome; Passion and drama at Roman dinner parties
- Heroes of the Trojan War as model rulers and city founders
- The relationship between art and text
- The Trojan War in modern art and film
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | 123 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 22 | 11 x 2 hour lectures |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 5 | 5 x 1 hour seminars |
| Guided independent study | 123 | Independent studies including meetings with seminar study group |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in seminar discussions | Ongoing | 1-11 | Oral feedback |
| Online Forum comments | Weekly contributions | 1-11 | Oral feedback |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 40 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 60 | 2500 words | 1-11 | Mark and written comments |
| Gobbet test | 40 | 1000 words | 1-8, 10-11 | Mark and written comments |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-11 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Examination | Examination | 1-8, 10-11 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
Ancient texts:
- Homer, The Iliad. Transl. R. Lattimore. Chicago, 1951.
- Homer, The Odyssey. Transl. R. Lattimore. New York, 1965.
- Virgil, The Aeneid. Transl. D. West. Revised edition. London, 2003 (Penguin Classics).
Secondary literature (a more detailed bibliography will be circulated):
- Cline, E.H., The Trojan War: a very short introduction (Oxford 2013).
- Fowler, R. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge 2004).
- Onians, J. Classical Art and the Cultures of Greece and Rome (New Haven 1999).
- Samons L.J. (ed.), The Cambridge companion to the age of Pericles (Cambridge 2007), esp. Ch. 5.
- Shapiro, H.A. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece (New York 2007).
- Sherratt, S. and J. Bennet (eds), Archaeology and Homeric Epic (Oxford 2017).
- Sweeney, N. Troy: Myth, City, Icon (London 2018).
- Winkler, M.W., Troy: from Homer’s Iliad to Hollywood Epic (Malden, MA 2007).
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4331
- The Beazley Archive. Pottery Data Base – http://www.beazley.ac.uk/pottery/default.htm
- ARTStor digital image library – http://0-www.artstor.org.lib.exeter.ac.uk/index.shtml
Available as distance learning?
No
Origin date
01/09/2013
Last revision date
17/02/2021
Key words search
Trojan War, Homer, Iliad, Odyssey, art, Greek vases, sculpture