Much of what we call English literature owes its origins to the diverse and ancient cultures that created the Greco-Roman and biblical literatures. This course will consist of selected readings of early Western literature chosen from its beginnings in the Homeric epics, Greek tragedies and the Hebrew Testament; through major works of Christian culture in the Middle Ages, such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Dante’s Divine Comedy; to the revival of classical learning in the Renaissance, embodied in the work of such authors as William Shakespeare and John Milton. The course may examine classical and Biblical works in translation, as well as works originally written in English. Always, however, this course will explore something of what early literature in the West tells us about changing notions of the spiritual and the material—of heroism, faith, love and redemption—and the relationship of these ideals to our world today. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in the Arts. Prerequisite or co-requisite: ENGL 102, CORE 101, NITZ 180, or CORE 301.
2016-2017 Course Catalog / Courses / Literature in History I: The Beginnings through the Renaissance