The Goddess Diana as Selene

ADOPT-A-GODDESS PROJECT DEADLINES April 20 May 11

This independent project involves your choosing an approved goddess, researching her on the web and in print texts, reflecting on your research and course experiences, and then writing an essay that brings your thinking to bear on what you have learned about the goddess and archetypal symbolism.

Step 1: Choose one of the major Olympian goddesses to study in greater depth: Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, or Athena .

Step 2: Search the World Wide Web for relevant pages on your goddess that include and are additional to those linked to the course syllabus. The following sites will be particularly useful:

• Classical Myth: The Ancient Sources, by Laurel Bowman; contains pages on ancient texts and also ancient images for all the major classical goddesses and gods
• Greek Mythology Link (from the Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, by Carlos Parada)
• Mythology in Western Art, primarily a collection of images, not all of them ancient
• Diotima: Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World (for this site you will need to use the Search page)

Research Log due: April 20. Submit a log of all the web sites you visited in researching images and information about your goddess, including correct URLs and a brief description of the resources on the site which are relevant to the reflective essay you will write.

Step 3: Read about your goddess in the following print texts on reserve in Gill library (not every book deals with all the goddesses, but you are required to read all of these that treat your goddess).

• Baring, Anne and Jules Cashford. The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image.
• Bolen, Jean S. Goddesses in Everywoman (BL785.D66).
• Downing, Christine. The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine(HQ1206.B54 1985).
• Morford, Mark and RJ Lenardon. Classical Mythology (BL722 M67).
• Pratt, Annis. Dancing with Goddesses: Archetypes, Poetry, and Empowerment (PR508.A66 P73 1994).

Goddess Essay due: May 11. Write an essay that combines your research in print and on the web with your own thoughts about this goddess. This is not primarily a research paper, but rather a reflective essay which is informed by class notes, slides, readings and discussions we have had during the semester. You will need to include a bibliography of sources consulted (with page numbers); any direct quotations or borrowed ideas or interpretations must be properly cited and documented. You should include xeroxes of relevant images from your web search and/or the books you have consulted as you discuss your goddess's visual appearance and attributes. Your essay will contain all the following points in a coherent, connected reflective narrative.

1. Analyze your goddess's archetypal role and symbols, including such points as her visual appearance and her interaction with other deities and mortals in myths (how do these relate to the framework for the analysis of feminine archetypal symbolism that we have studied in this class—Neumann's diagram, the two characters of the feminine, positive and negative symbolism, etc.?)
2. Discuss the values, positive and negative, that your goddess represents for modern human beings (eg., what does she suggest about the worth of the feminine? about its dangers or pitfalls? about relationships? about psychological development and maturity?)
3. Explain how the mythic and artistic representations of classical goddesses that we have been studying provide a kind of "map" for charting one's course through the type of inner and outer archetypal influences a modern woman is likely to encounter. In your opinion, can a knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of the feminine archetype change one's way of looking at the world? Explain how it can it make a significant contribution to an individual's personal search for identity in the face of cultural sex stereotyping and pressures.

You may, if you wish further information on your goddess, consult other mythology handbooks and analytic discussions of mythology, but this is not required You may find this brief listing of additional sources helpful (do not use popularized and romanticized handbooks of mythology such as those by Edith Hamilton or Bulfinch):

• Barthell, E.E. Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece. (Ref BL303 B6)
• Bell , Robert E. Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. (Ref BL 715 .B445 1993).
• Campbell, J. The Mythic Image. (Folio BL311 C274)
• Grant, M. Myths of the Greeks and Romans. (BL722 G7)
• Graves, Robert. Greek Myths (Illustrated edition). (BL 781.G65 1982)
• Guirand, F. Greek Mythology. (BL782 G8)
• ———. (ed.). The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. (BL781 G8)
• ———. Zeus and Hera: Archetypal Image of Father, Husband, and Wife. (BL782 K4 Vol. 5)
• Mayerson, P. Classical Mythology in Literature, Art, and Music. (NX650 M9 M38)
• Pears Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends. (Ref BL311 S24 1976 Vol. 1)
• Pinsent, J. Greek Mythology. (Quarto BL782 P53)
• Reinhold, M. Past and Present: The Continuity of Classical Myths. (BL722 R4)
• Slater, P. The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and the Greek Family. (DF93 S55)