CC 365 ● Skidmore College ● Fall 2020
Dear Cinemythologists,
Given that we’re facing one of the most contentious and consequential presidential elections in U.S. history, we won’t have class on Tuesday, November 3.
Whatever your political stance, use the day as needed for projects, errands, and self-care. And, above all, vote — if you haven’t already.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
Just a reminder that the third milestone of the semester project, the annotated bibliography, is due Sunday, November 1, at noon (EST).
Visit the Semester Project page for complete requirements, and please remember to follow the formatting requirements.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Thursday, October 29, our unit on the Trojan War continues. Please do the following.
VIEWING
Streaming on Swank Digital Campus. Take notes as you see fit. This is our first real introduction to the big-budget Hollywood screen epic, and our readings today will reflect that fact.
ANALYSIS
Gross and Jefferson will continue our Analysis series. Their sequence selection is in the comments.
READING
Today’s readings begin focused on Helen of Troy, but quickly zoom out toward considerations of genre and the film-making process.
Nisbet, in a brief overview of today’s viewing, demonstrates why the film remains relevant after almost 70 years.
This excerpt, from the inaugural chapter of Llewellyn-Jones’ book (which is fast becoming a seminal work on the Hollywood screen epic), will set tone for our discussions of screen epic.
Chapter 5 of Looking at Movies is devoted to mise-en-scène (roughly translated as “staging”), a term which encompasses all of the elements we see in any given shot or sequence, from set design, costuming, make up, lighting and more. So many of these elements define the screen epic, so it’s appropriate that we take a deeper dive into their history and practice.
SEQUENCES
Use the comments feature on this post to recommend a sequence to be reviewed and discussed in class.
Recommendations should contain the following:
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Tuesday, October 27, our fourth and final unit, on the Trojan War, officially begins. As is customary, we’ll begin with primary sources: all reading, no viewing.
READING
In a perfect world, we would have time to read all of the Iliad, which is the primary text about the Trojan War — though it is hardly all-encompassing. In fact, the poem’s focus is on an argument that rages among the Greek forces for roughly seven weeks in the tenth year of the conflict. You won’t find the abduction of Helen or the Trojan Horse here. What you will find is an epic about honor and the morality of war, about mortals and gods, and about a city not yet beaten down into the dust.
In subsequent classes we’ll consider the larger sweep of the Trojan War and the texts in which that sweep is best represented.
But not today. Today, we’ll let Homer do the talking. These books will not only introduce the poem’s main characters but also the epic scope that would inspire later poets and artists — the lives of human beings set against a great cataclysm.
This optional, bare-bones summary of the Iliad by Prof. David J. Mastronarde (Berkeley) will help fill in the gaps left by our selective reading of the poem.
In class we’ll discuss themes of Homer’s epic as well as its impact on screen texts.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
A gentle reminder that Quiz 3, on our Medea & Jason unit, is due via email on Sunday, October 25, at noon (EST).
Please visit our Quizzes page for complete guidelines, and remember to follow the formatting requirements.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Thursday, October 15, our unit on Medea and Jason concludes. Please do the following.
VIEWING
Streaming on YouTube. The link above takes you to a version with English subtitles. This is a challenging film, so be sure to take notes and maybe even jot down some questions.
ANALYSIS
Cullors and Pettit will continue our Analysis series. Their sequence selection is in the comments.
READING
This chapter comes from a volume many of you have cited in your bibliographies.
SEQUENCES
Use the comments feature on this post to recommend a sequence to be reviewed and discussed in class.
Recommendations should contain the following:
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Tuesday, October 20, our on Medea & Jason, continues with a close look at the most iconic version of this myth’s heroine: the Medea of Euripides. Accordingly, this will be an all-reading, no-viewing class
READING
If there is one text that has shaped the legacy of Medea, it is this play. If you read no other Athenian tragedy in your life, let it be this one.
As you read, please consider the following questions, and identify specific passages that support your reasoning.
A. Who are the Chorus, and how would you characterize their relationship with Medea?
B. What, if anything, precipitates the murder of the children. Is the audience prepared for it, or does it come out of the blue? Why do you think so?
C. How would you characterize the relationship between Medea and the male characters of the play? How do you think the staging reflects that relationship?
D. This tragedy, though now widely hailed as Euripides’ masterpiece, was accorded last place at the dramatic festival of 431 BCE. What might account for that verdict?
Griffiths’ chapter on Euripides’ tragedy will help you think through some of the above. Please read it after the play, not before.
Note that Griffiths’ book is from the same very useful Routledge series as Daniel Odgen’s book on Perseus.
In class we’ll discuss the play and then survey screen texts indebted to Euripides.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Thursday, October 15, our unit on Medea and Jason continues. Please do the following.
VIEWING
Streaming on Swank Digital Campus. Take notes as you see fit. Here is another opportunity to you to revisit the work of Ray Harryhausen — Harryhausen, at the height of his powers; you, with far more experience in approaching myth on screen.
ANALYSIS
Eiger and Raker will continue our Analysis series. Their sequence selection is in the comments.
READING
Blanshard and Shahabudin, as they usually do, provide not only important context for today’s viewing but also its reception in later screen texts.
These sections from Looking at Movies have not a little bearing on Jason and the Argonauts, which is both nearly 60 years old and an FX extravaganza.
SEQUENCES
Use the comments feature on this post to recommend a sequence to be reviewed and discussed in class.
Recommendations should contain the following:
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
On Tuesday, October 13, our third unit, on Medea & Jason, officially begins. As is customary, we’ll begin with primary sources: all reading, no viewing.
READING
Another excerpt from “Apollodorus”‘s Bibliotheca or Library of Greek myth, that ancient encyclopedia dedicated to cataloguing and sorting out the vast body of legends and lore associated with the Greco-Roman world.
Here you have a generous outline of the entire Argonautic legend, from the launch of the Argo to the ill-fated residency of Medea in Athens. In our third unit, we’ll expand this outline with other primary texts, starting with the very next reading.
These are the highlights from the Argonautica, a 3rd-century BCE epic composed by Apollonius, a poet and scholar of Egyptian Alexandria. An extremely learned poem, stuffed full with references to Homer and other epic and mythological works, the Argonautica owes its extremely expansive worldview to its era — the time after the death of Alexander the Great, who had united much of Europe and Asia.
These excerpts comprise the episodes typical in representations of the Argonauts’ voyage to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Between this text and the summary of Apollonius, you’ll have a very full view of the Medea and Jason legend.
NOTE: The e-book is from the Loeb Classical Library, which publishes Greek and Roman authors in their original languages and in English: the original is at left, the translation at right. As you come to grips with the page numbers above, remember that the total should be halved; and they are small pages at that.
In class we’ll discuss these versions of the Medea and Jason legend, and then consider two screen texts that represent the legend’s bifurcated reception: rollicking adventure versus heart-wrenching tragedy.
DC
Dear Cinemythologists,
A gentle reminder that Quiz 2, on our Heracles/Hercules unit, is due via email on Sunday, October 11, at noon (EST).
Please visit our Quizzes page for complete guidelines, and remember to follow the formatting requirements.
DC
