From the Fall of Troy to the virtual adventures of modern computer games, the exploits of heroic men and women have held an enduring fascination. This module will consider epic literatures from ancient to modern times in order to appreciate their influence and the ways in which they continue to affect culture.

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the concept of ‘the epic’ and ‘the heroic’ in the context of folklore and literature.
• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of the themes and motifs of the epic and the heroic in selected areas or folklore, literary works and films.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how a range of source materials can be used in the study of themes and concepts covered in this course.
• Demonstrate an understanding of modern scholarly approaches to the study of themes and concepts covered in this course.

Intellectual Skills:

• Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the underlying concepts and principles associated with the study of history and folklore.
• Initiate, undertake and articulate a basic analysis of historical information.
• Develop explanations and support them with evidence.
• Communicate, in both verbal and written form, the knowledge and understanding acquired on the course.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills

• Identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and or peculiarities of alternative historical interpretations.
• Initiate, undertake and articulate a basic analysis of historical information.
• Deepen understanding of the broad themes and developments considered in the course through the analysis of a historical source or sources.
• To research, plan and structure essays and/or projects.
• To recognise, evaluate and interpret different types of evidence.
• To develop, at a basic level, subject-specific and critically-discerning information literacy skills.

This module is taught in 10, two-hour sessions, delivered on a weekly basis. These sessions will consist of a 1-hour lecture followed by class discussion and group work on specific topics relating to the module. The discussion and group work will enable the students to think critically and contribute to the debates and topics presented during the lectures. The discussion-led sessions and the lectures will be supplemented by resources available to the students via Learning Central. One session will be a visit to the Scolar rare books collection of Cardiff University which will enable students to see and discuss special collections material relevant to subjects covered in other lectures.

Academic Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have:

•  found relevant resources in the library and online;
•  assessed the reliability of different sources of information;
•  demonstrated a critical approach to academic texts.

Transferable/employability Skills:

By the end of the period of learning, the typical student will have shown that he/she can:

• work effectively as part of a group;
• present an argument, accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form.
• time manage and organise study methods and workload;
• gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information; and familiarity with appropriate means of identifying, finding, retrieving, sorting and exchanging information.

1 Achilles and the heroic life: Achilles has become the prototype of the heroic life, one who prefers honour above all else, yet has a weakness.  Other heroes such as Sigurd and Bendigeidfran  have similar characteristics and this session will examine the ‘heroic biography’ of a hero’s life.

2 Penelope and her Sisters; Women play important roles in heroic tales and this session examines the function of heroic women such as Helen, Penelope, Cassandra, Grendel’s Mother, and Circe.

3 Norse Heroes from saga to Tolkien.  As one of the most popular fantasy authors whose work depends on earlier heroic material, this session will enable students to appreciate the relation between original source and contemporary ideas.

4 Cosmic Epics: the Hawaiian Hina myths, Maui and Gilgamesh.  The actions of heroic figures have been of creation narratives in many cultures. This session will examine diverse figures from Polynesian and Mesopotamian mythic epic.

5 Comic epic heroes from classical to picaresque. The adventures of Apuleius, Don Quixote, and Tom Jones may not seem heroic at first glance, but these figures often call picaresque heroes achieve their goals by other means, clearness, cunning.

6 Welsh legend and modern fantasy.  The tales of the Mabinogion have been part of Welsh cultural life since they were re-edited in the 19^th century

7 The Odyssey: Homer’s story recounts the many adventures of Ulysses as the prototype of a returning hero. This session will also examine a selection of of ‘returning heroes’.

8 Rama and Sita. The Ramayana is known throughout eastern cultures and the characters and events are reflected in art, architecture theatre and dance as well as the many versions of the texts themselves. 

9 Fantasy epics in alternative worlds.  Modern fantasy novels films and role-paying games (rpgs) are often cast as epic journeys

10 Library Visit .  Students will have the opportunity to examine relevant material in the Library’s special Collections.

Selections from literary works, TV and film will be provided during the course on Learning Central and in Senghennydd Library.

Key texts

Catherine Bates, The Cambridge Companion to the Epic (Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Alan Dundes (ed.), In Quest of the Hero (N.J.: Princeton University Press,1990) 

Dean A. Miller,TheEpic Hero (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002)

Paul Acker, Carolyne Larrington, T. A Shippey, Revisiting the poetic Edda: essays on Old Norse heroic legend (New York; London : Routledge, 2013)

Audrey Becker, Kristin Noone,Welshmythology and folklore in popular culture: essays on adaptations in literature, film, television and digital media (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2011)

Norman T Burns; Christopher Reagan, Concepts of the hero in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (State University of New York at Binghamton: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976)

Jane Chance, Tolkien'smodern Middle Ages (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)

Dawn Heinecken, The warrior women of television: a feminist cultural analysis of the new female body in popular media (New York: Peter Lang, 2003)

Peter Hunt, Alternative worlds in fantasy fiction (New York: London: Continuum, 2001)

Jennifer Larson, Greek heroine cults (Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995)

Brian Lewis, TheSargon legend: a study of the Akkadian text and the tale of the hero who was exposed at birth (Cambridge, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1980)

Hasmukhlal Dhirajlal Sankalia, The Ramayana in historical perspective (Delhi: Macmillan, 1982)

Alexander Welsh, Reflections on the hero as Quixote (Princeton; Guildford: Princeton University Press, 1981)