Faculty First Year Seminars 191CLS3 - Monsters of Classical Myth

Mythical monsters are marvellous. They are also often menacing and malevolent. Whether they have impossibly hybrid bodies or dwell on geographical boundaries or transgress perceived societal norms, they demonstrate a unique marginality. But monsters are often also misunderstood. They don't exist just to provide foils for heroes or to represent inexplicable aspects of the natural world. Rather, monsters and their characteristics also provide a broad perspective on a wide variety of ongoing cultural concerns. Aside from informing us about how ancient West Asian and Mediterranean peoples perceived their environment and interacted with it, these mythological monsters constantly provide new approaches to ancient material.

First-year (R1ST)