CLST 104. Classical Studies Seminar: Ancient Storytelling and Fiction

This course will explore the origins, uses and genres of ancient Greek and Latin narratives in prose. We will be reading (in English translation) different types of fables, specimens of anecdotes, novelle, and myths embedded in the works of Herodotus, Xenophon, Plato, Plutarch and others, as well as the first representatives of the Westsern genre of the novel, such as the works of Petronius, Apuleius, Chariton, and Longus. With the help of narratological theory and parallels with modern narratives, we will especially pay attention to the voice of the narrator, the character of the narrate as inscribed in the text, and the different discourse techniques used for creating a narrative. We will also explore the ways in which a narrative advertises itself as a fiction, a piece of history, or a parable, and learn to recognize a narrative’s rhetorical purpose and the more or less covert message it intends to convey.
Humanities.
Writing course.
2 credits.
Catalog chapter: Classics
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/classics

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