Syllabus in Mythology and Folklore

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COURSE SYLLABUS

Second Semester, School Year 2013-2014

 

Course Code/Title                                                      : MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE

Prerequisite                                                                : ENG 1
Course Credit                                                             : 3

Course Description:

Provides a study in a mythological and folk narratives from different countries to gain deeper insights into the nature of human beings, their origin,   their desires, their fears, their instincts, and their needs, in general and in the different cultural patterns of countries in particular.

Course Objectives:

At the end of the semester, the students should be able to:

1. identify the various gods, goddesses, heroes, and other characters;
2. outline and summarize the different stories;
3. give the theme or the human situation depicted in the stories;
4. cite the modern-day influences and equivalents of the characters and stories;
5. evaluate the moral decisions and actions of the characters in the stories;
6. express appreciation for the wisdom of the past; and
7. integrate the PCU and CASTE values.

Course Outline:

TIME FRAME	CONTENT/SUBJECT MATTER
Week 1	I.    Introduction to the Course       A. Getting to know the instructor, the students, and the course B.  Distribution of course syllabus       C.   Introduction to Mythology and Folklore
Week 2-3	II.   The Gods, Goddess, and the Earliest Heroes       A.  The Titans and the Twelve Olympians       B.   The Lesser Gods of Olympus, the Water, the Earth, and the Underworld       C.   The Roman Gods Quiz 1
Week 4	III. The Two Great Gods of Earth: Demeter and Dionysus
Week 5	IV. The Origin of Humankind       --    Prometheus and Pandora Quiz 2
Week 6	PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
Week 7	V.  The Earliest Heroes       A.  Prometheus and Io       B.   Europa       C.   The Cyclops Polyphemus       D.  The Flower-Myths
Week 8-9	VI. Stories of Love       A.  Cupid and Psyche       B.   Eight Brief Tales of Lovers Quiz 3
Week 10	VII. The Quest of the Golden Fleece
Week 11	VII. Four Great Adventures       A. Phaëthon       B.   Pegasus and Bellerophon       C.   Otus and Epialthes       D.  Daedalus Quiz 4
Week 12	MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Week 13-14	VIII. The Great Heroes before the Trojan War       A.  Perseus       B.   Theseus       C.   Hercules       D.  Atalanta Quiz 5
Week 15-16	IX. Less Important Myths       --Oedipus, Midas, etc.
Week 17	X.  Norse Mythology       A.  Norse Gods and Goddesses       B.   The Creation of the World Quiz 6
Week 18	FINAL EXAMINATION

Textbooks/Materials:

Hamilton, E. (1942). Mythology: Timeless tales of gods, goddesses, and heroes. NY: Grand Central Publishing.

Guerrero, G. T. (2013). Instructional Minutes. URL: http://instructionalminutes.blogspot.com. Label: “Mythology”.