Course LIT 3300.

501 The Western Literary Tradition: Epic

Professor Frederick Turner
Term Fall 2010
Meetings Mon 7-9:45 pm, FO 2.404

Professor’s Contact Information

Office Phone 972-437-2155
Office Location JO 5.522
Email Address frederick.turner@gmail.com
Office Hours Thurs 3:15-6:15 pm
I don’t read CT email. For University policy on student citizenship, see
Other Information
(http://provost.utdallas.edu/home/syllabus-policies-and-procedures-text)

General Course Information

All major works of literature in the “western” tradition refer directly or indirectly to the great
epic texts that are its foundation. The epic is the characteristic way in which a civilization
tells its largest and most fundamental stories, encoding its own evolution and that of our
species, and its central moral values, aesthetics, cosmology, political principles, and religious
ideas. Epics appear all over the world and are represented in several major periods of
Western history, often with strong references back to earlier epics. Over the centuries the
epic has evolved, revealing layers of introspection and self-reference that are at first only
implicit. Plato was not the only political philosopher to use the epic narratives as a mine of
examples and a source of authority.
Course Description
This course will follow the foundational “western” epic texts in the context of world epic in
general, showing how epic is not just a “western” genre but a culturally universal human
achievement, belonging to all peoples.

This is an intensive reading course, with no term paper but weekly in-class short essay
quizzes, which will test reading comprehension, offer an opportunity for imaginative
readings, and provide a basis for class discussion.

1. To demonstrate in essay examinations a knowledge of the basic themes and plots of some
major “western” epic texts in a culturally diverse epic context.
Learning Outcomes 2. To demonstrate in discussion an ability to give an exegesis of such texts.
3. To express that knowledge and exegesis in clear English prose under time constraints.

John Milton: Paradise Lost, Norton

The Epic of Gilgamesh, Penguin Classics
The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford U.P.
Homer: The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fitzgerald, Farrar Straus
Virgil: The Aeneid, trans. Robert Fitzgerald, Vintage Books
Required Texts & Dante Alighieri: The Inferno, Signet Classics
Materials Shakespeare: Richard II
Henry IV part 1
Henry IV part 2
Henry V --The New Folger Library Shakespeare
William Wordsworth: The Major Works: including The Prelude, Oxford World's Classics
Herman Melville: Moby-Dick: or, The Whale, Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition

1
 William Buck, trans.: Mahabharata, California U. P.
Dennis Tedlock, trans: Popol Vuh, Touchstone Books
Robert Cook, trans.: Njal’s Saga

Assignments & Academic Calendar

[Topics, Reading Assignments, Due Dates, Exam Dates]
Week Number Reading and writing assignments
1 Introduction
2 READ Epic of Gilgamesh ESSAY QUIZ
3 READ Bible: Genesis ESSAY QUIZ
4 READ Bible: Exodus ESSAY QUIZ
5 READ Popol Vuh ESSAY QUIZ
6 READ Odyssey ESSAY QUIZ
7 READ Aeneid ESSAY QUIZ
8 READ Inferno ESSAY QUIZ
9 READ Njal’s Saga ESSAY QUIZ
10 READ the “Henriad” (Shakespeare’s R I, Hen IV 1&2, Hen V) ESSAY QUIZ
11 READ Mahabharata ESSAY QUIZ
12 READ Paradise Lost ESSAY QUIZ
13 READ The Prelude ESSAY QUIZ
14 READ Moby Dick ESSAY QUIZ
15 Concluding class project TBA

Course Policies
Grading (credit) A=excellent, B=good, C=satisfactory, D=Pass. Final grade will be calculated as
Criteria follows: 1/2 average of quiz grades, 1/2 class discussion participation.
Make-up Exams None
An optional term paper of 3-5 thousand words can raise but not lower the semester
Extra Credit
grade
Late Work Not accepted without major excuse
Missing more than 2 quizzes will result in an F for the entire quiz portion of the
Class Attendance
grade
The Socratic seminar format of the class requires punctuality, no early departures, a
Classroom
queue (kept by the professor) for contributions, no side conversations, and a few
Citizenship
other rules to be explained.

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the
Professor.