War features in ancient Greek and Roman literature across genres, from historiography and political speeches to epic poetry and tragedy -- and beyond. Herodotus, history's first historian, begins his work The Persian Wars by claiming that he is writing "in order that the memory of the past may not be blotted out from among men by time, and that great and marvelous deeds done by Greeks and foreigners and especially the reason why they warred against each other may not lack renown" (I.i). But the mission, meaning, and impact of literary accounts of war is much more complex and multifaceted than simply preserving historical accounts. What does ancient literature about war, holistically and through different generic and narratological approaches, tell us about war's place in these cultures?
This course will look at how and why certain themes are expressed across different genres, including cultural identity, propaganda, figured speech, PTSD, and colonization. Employing the critical lens of narratology, post-structuralism, and postcolonialism, this course will aim to look at the subtle complexities of the representation of warfare in different ancient Greek and Roman works, working through the multifaceted cultural messaging expressed in different authors and genres. Using a diverse selection of texts, material culture, and students' independent juxtaposition of these works with modern war narratives, this course will examine the complex relationship in ancient Greek and Roman society between literature, warfare, colonization, cultural memory, and cultural identity. |