The Feminine Archetype in Classical Mythology

Relief of the head of Medusa	City goddess of Antioch (photo courtesy of VRoma)

Schedule of Topics and Assignments

Class meetings: Mooney Center 112, Tuesday and Thursday, 2-3:15 p.m., unless a special session is announced.

Specific assignments will be made at the end of each class and posted in the Calendar section of Angel.

Tuesday, January 24: Introduction to the course, syllabus, mythology.
Please go to Academic Computing Services before the next class meeting to enroll in the course website.

Unit 1: The Nature of Archetypal Symbolism:

• The Jungian Approach to Symbolic Interpretation: January 26-31
  • Readings: D. Wehr, Jung & Feminism, Ch. 3; Dr. McManus, Notes: Approach
• Introduction to the Process of Individuation: February 2-7
  • Readings: D. Wehr, Jung & Feminism, Ch. 4; Dr. McManus, Notes: Persona and Shadow
• Individuation and Androgyny: February 9-14
  • Readings: D. Wehr, Jung & Feminism, Ch. 6; Dr. McManus, Notes: Anima, Self

Unit 2: Matriarchal/Patriarchal Consciousness and Values

• Gender Dualism: February 16-28
  • Readings: Dr. McManus, Notes: Gender Attitudes of Consciousness; Baring & Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess, Preface, pp. xi-xv, Ch. 13 "Eve: The Mother of All Living," pp. 486-546 ; P. Young-Eisendrath, "Myth and Body: Pandora's Legacy in a Post-Modern World" Wehr, Jung & Feminism, Ch. 2, pp. 13-25; J. Singer, Androgyny, pp. 218-224; C. Christ, Womenspirit Rising, "Why Women Need the Goddess," pp. 273-287.
• Importance of Reinterpreting and Reclaiming Archetypal Symbols: February 28-March 2
  • Readings: H. Haste, "Reclaiming the Symbols" in The Sexual Metaphor, pp. 188-203
  • Cosmogonies: the Hopi creation myth, Genesis 1-2, Hesiod's Theogony
  • A. Ulanov, "Descriptions of the Feminine," in The Feminine in Jungian Psychology and in Christian Theology, pp. 137-167
  • Worksheet Discussion: March 7

Unit 3: The Feminine Archetype: Structure and Symbols

• Elementary and Transformative Characters of the Feminine: March 7
  • Reading: Erich Neumann, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype, pp. 64-74
• Manifestations of Feminine Archetypal Symbolism From Antiquity to the Present: March 9
  • Reading: Dr. McManus, Notes: Central Symbolism of the Feminine Archetype
  • Guest Lecture: Professor Emerita Barbara F. McManus: March 9

Unit 4: Analysis of Mythic and Artistic Symbolism: Classical Goddesses

• The Elementary Goddesses: Gaia, Hera, Demeter, Hestia, Amazons, Erinyes (Furies), Hekate, Medusa: March 21, 23, 28, April 4
  • Readings: hyperlinks to the goddesses; Dr. McManus, Notes on the Elementary Character of the Feminine; William Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans, pp. 15-51, 61-94; Gaia: Baring & Cashford, pp. 299-314; Demeter, Hansen, pp. 144-147 and Homeric Hymn to Demeter (7th century BCE); Furies, Hansen, pp. 155-6; Amazons, Hansen, pp. 168-170; Hera, Hansen, pp. 186-189, Baring & Cashford, pp. 314-19; Hestia, Hansen, p. 202; Gorgons: Hansen, pp.158-9, Monsters: Hansen, pp. 228-234, Perseus: Hansen, pp. 261-263.
  • Images: Eve, M+, Demeter in Eleusis

• The Transformative Goddesses: Pandora, Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite: April 6, 11, 13 , 18
  • Readings: hyperlinks to the goddesses; Dr. McManus, Notes on the Transformative Character of the Feminine; Pandora: Hansen, pp. 257-8, Baring & Cashford, pp. 515-518; Artemis: Hansen, pp. 117-120 and pp. 202-204 (Honor), Hymn to Artemis, Baring & Cashford, pp. 320-332; Athena: Hansen, pp. 121-126 and 113-115 (Ares), Hymns to Athena, Baring & Cashford, pp. 332-345; Aphrodite: Hansen, pp. 105-109 and 264-5 (Eros), Hymn to Aphrodite, Baring & Cashford, pp. 349-364.
  • Viewing of the film Clash of the Titans: April 18

Unit 5: Analysis of Mythic and Artistic Symbolism: Primordial Goddesses: The Great Mother, Cybele: April 20

• Texts: Dr. McManus' The Primordial Goddess and The Son Lover (excerpts from Neumann's The Origin and History of Consciousness); Baring and Cashford, Chapter 3, pp. 106-144, and 10, pp. 391-415; Neumann, The Great Mother, pp. 94-119.
• Links: Great Mother of the Gods, Goddess of Willendorf, Venus Figurines, Smyrna's Mother Goddess, Pravda's Rheia/Cybele, Cybele and the Gallae, Images of Cybele in the Maetreum of Cybele, the Goddess Lunar Calendar, Ancient Goddess Grotto

Unit 6: Androgyny & Archetypal Symbolism: The Androgynous Ego: Odysseus, Calypso, Circe, Sirens: April 25, 27, May 2, 4, 9

• The Odyssey: Readings in the text
• Links: Study Guide, Characters, A Play: Circe & Calypso; Updating Oudeis, Art of the Odyssey

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