Professor Patricia Miller
plmiller@syr.edu
501B Hall of Languages
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3:00-5:00, and by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Dori Miller Parmenter
In a recent article, feminist theologian Carol Christ remarks: "The suggestion that the Goddess be reintroduced into Western religion sounds strange to many. Even the word Goddess seems to have only a vague and shadowy meaning, connoting perhaps a fertility fetish, a Greek myth, or the beliefs of primitive peoples. What do feminists mean when they say Goddess?"
The study of Greek goddesses as a topic in its own right, separable from the larger unit of ancient Greek religion in which the goddesses took their place, is a very recent phenomenon. Only in the past twenty years or so have scholars turned their attention to the goddesses as a special focus of study and, as the quotation from Christ suggests, this scholarly enterprise has been fueled by feminist interests. This course, then, exists within a specific cultural and historical context, that is, the movement for women's rights in the late twentieth century, particularly in the United States. Specifically, this course owes its being (and most of its reading material) to efforts by feminist scholars to recover from the past those cultural and religious images that allow for the expression and affirmation of female being-in-the-world. The imagery of the goddesses from Greek antiquity has emerged as a powerful resource for the expression of values and for the construction of a pluralized universe.
Scholars disagree, however, on what kind of values emerge from the study of goddesses and women in antiquity. Some have found in this material a resource for contemporary women's spirituality; others have found there the birthplace of repressive patriarchal structures and perspectives. This debate is still going on, and in this course you as a student of this material will be part of that debate since we will be reading diverse interpretations of the goddess materials.
Since no object exists in a "pure" form in the past--that is, since data from the past are shaped by the ways in which we as interpreters look at them and interact with them--this course is situated both in ancient Greek history and in contemporary America. Those who write about goddesses--and those of us who read about them--are participating in a renaissance of connectedness with past traditions that, as one part of our heritage, may contribute to new or renewed understandings of the feminine, indeed of the human, for the present time.
Boer, Charles, trans., The Homeric Hymns
Downing, Christine, The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine
DuBois, Page, Sowing the Body
Foley, Helene, ed., The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Harrison, Jane Ellen, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion
Pomeroy, Sarah, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves
These books are also on reserve in the Reserve Room in Bird Library, together with the following:
Neils, Jennifer, Goddess and Polis
Olson, Carl, The Book of the Goddess
Introduction: August 31-Sept. 2
I. The "Great Goddess": Sept. 4- Sept. 11 [Note: No class, Sept. 7: Labor Day]
Olson, Book of the Goddess, Ch.1 (Barstow, "Prehistoric Goddess")
Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, Slaves, Ch. 1
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 1
Homeric Hymn to Earth and Homeric Hymn to the Mother of the Gods
Olson, Book of the Goddess, Ch. 4 (Downing, "Mother Goddess")
Downing, The Goddess, Ch.6
Harrison, Prolegomena, pp. 257-300
Sept. 21 - Oct. 2: Homeric Hymn to Demeter in Foley, pp. 2-64
[Note: No class, Sept. 30: Yom Kippur]
Oct. 5 - Oct. 9: Demeter as Grain Goddess
Harrison, Prolegomena, Ch. 4
DuBois, Sowing the Body, Chs. 2-3
Oct. 12 - Oct. 19: Mysteries and Mother-Daughter Romance
Foley, pp. 65-169
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 2
[Note: No class, Oct. 16: Autumn Break]
Note: First essay due, Monday, Oct. 19.
IV. Wives: Oct. 21 - Oct. 26
Homeric Hymn to Hera
Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, Slaves, Chs. 2-3
DuBois, Sowing the Body, Ch. 4
Harrison, Prolegomena, pp. 315-21
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 4
V. Goddesses of Death: Hecate, Medusa, Ariadne: Oct. 28 - Nov. 4
Harrison, Prolegomena, Ch. 5
DuBois, Sowing the Body, Ch. 5
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 3
VI. Virgins: Athena and Artemis
Nov. 6 - Nov. 11: Athena
Homeric Hymn to Athena
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 5
Harrison, Prolegomena, pp. 300-307
Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, Slaves, Chs. 4-5
Neils, Goddess and Polis, pp. 13-27, 103-117 [on reserve, Bird Lib.]
Nov. 13 - Nov. 18: Artemis
Homeric Hymn to Artemis
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 7
Note: 2nd Essay due, Friday, November 20 [Essays will be collected by the T.A.]
[Note: Prof. Miller will be away on Nov. 20-23&emdash;no class; Thanksgiving Break
is Nov. 25-29]
VII. Lovers: Aphrodite: Nov. 30 - Dec. 4
Homeric Hymns to Aphrodite
Downing, The Goddess, Ch. 8
Harrison, Prolegomena, pp. 307-315
VIII. What Was This Course About?
Dec. 7: DuBois, Sowing the Body, Chs. 1-2
Dec. 9: Olson, Book of the Goddess, Ch. 17 (C. Christ, "Symbols of
Goddess") [on reserve]
Dec. 11: Helene Foley, "A Question of Origins: Goddess Cults Greek and
Modern" [on reserve]
Note: FINAL PAPER WILL BE DUE ON THURSDAY, DEC. 17, AT NOON, in 501 Hall of Languages.
Dates to remember: No class, Sept. 7, Sept. 30, Oct. 16, Nov. 20-29.
Papers due: Oct. 19, Nov. 20, Dec. 17.
Among other things, this course is a study in the conflict of interpretations. In order for interpretive positions to be explored, tested, and contested, there must be vigorous public discussion. All students are required to contribute to the ongoing enterprise of classroom discussion and debate.
There are four requirements for this course: a set of in-class essays, two take-home essays, and a final paper. Each of these will comprise 25% of the final grade.
The In-Class Essays
Please be aware of the dates in the schedule of readings which are underlined and in boldface. These dates mark the first day of discussion of the material listed underneath the dates. On each of these underlined days, there will be an in-class writing assignment at the beginning of class. Usually, students will be shown an art-slide and asked to discuss the art object from the perspective of the assigned readings. Make notes on the most important points in the readings and bring them to class to use in writing your in-class essay and always bring your copy of the Homeric Hymns, when relevant. Students are required to write eight of the possible ten in-class essays. No make-up essays are possible; this means that you must be in class to write the essays. Taken as a whole, the essays are worth 25% of the final grade. If you do not write all eight essays, you will lose the entire 25% of the final grade that the in-class essays represent. The essays will form the basis for beginning class discussions, so be prepared to be asked to read your essay aloud to your classmates and to defend what you have written in the context of spirited intellectual debate. The essays will be collected by the instructor and read for evidence of coverage of the reading material.
The Take-home Essays
Students are required to write two take-home essays of 5-7 pages in length. The essys must be typed, double-spaced, with standard margins and type size. Due-dates for the essays are Oct. 19 and Nov. 20. Late essays will not be accepted, except for documented medical emergencies. The essays must be grammatically correct and free of spelling errors; essays that are marred in these ways will be returned, uncorrected, for revision and will not be graded until they are in the proper form. When quoting an author, please use quotation marks and give credit in a footnote or in parentheses immediately following the quotation. Familiarize yourself with the rules for plagiarism, and present the ideas of others correctly.
A list of topics for each essay will be distributed by the instructor roughly two weeks before the essay is due. There is no extra research required for these essays; source materials are the readings on the syllabus. The point of the essays is to engage in critical analysis of the course readings.
Finally: regular attendance is required; class sessions begin at 9:35 a.m.--please arrive promptly.