Classical Mythology

By: Elizabeth Vandiver, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Elizabeth Vandiver

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

These 24 lectures are a vibrant introduction to the primary characters and most important stories of classical Greek and Roman mythology. Among those you'll investigate are the accounts of the creation of the world in Hesiod's Theogony and Ovid's Metamorphoses; the gods Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Persephone, Hermes, Dionysos, and Aphrodite; the Greek heroes, Theseus and Heracles (Hercules in the Roman version); and the most famous of all classical myths, the Trojan War.

Professor Vandiver anchors her presentation in some basics. What is a myth? Which societies use myths? What are some of the problems inherent in studying classical mythology? She also discusses the most influential 19th- and 20th-century thinking about myth's nature and function, including the psychological theories of Freud and Jung and the metaphysical approach of Joseph Campbell. You'll also consider the relationship between mythology and culture (such as the implications of the myth of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades for the Greek view of life, death, and marriage), the origins of classical mythology (including the similarities between the Theogony and Mesopotamian creation myths), and the dangers of probing for distant origins (for example, there's little evidence that a prehistoric "mother goddess" lies at the heart of mythology).

Taking you from the surprising "truths" about the Minotaur to Ovid's impact on the works of William Shakespeare, these lectures make classical mythology fresh, absorbing, and often surprising.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2000 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2000 The Great Courses

Good but way to short

Good listen, but so short it could just brush st the surface. Would have liked some more in depth.

Fantastic professor and course

I’ve listened to several Great Courses by Elizabeth Vandiver and I can’t recommend her highly enough. She’s intelligent and clearly passionate about Greco-Roman classics and her courses have added layers of depth and understanding to my time spent reading the great works of antiquity. Absolutely great teacher and courses.

Liked It but Course Too Short

Great survey of myths and interpretations but course too short

This is the fifth course I've taken from Professor Vandiver and I always appreciate her work. She provides great insight and good full-bodied summaries of the topics being discussed. This course was no different but I did walk away with a feeling it could've been so much more and I was left with more of a mixed general feeling of it.

Professor Vandiver covers a good amount of myths from ancient Greece and Rome grouping them and structuring the course under these categories:
o Gods/Goddesses
o Heroes
o Trojan War
o Greek Tragedy (house of Atreus and Oedipus)
o Female monsters
o Roman myth

She provides interesting and thought-provoking analysis in interpreting the contents of the myths to provide insight into the values and morals of the ancient Greek civilization. I won't get into examples here: experience it for yourself!

To me the most interesting myth tellings are related in lectures 7 and 14 (Demeter/ Persephone and Theseus).

But this course was woefully short and it was quite obvious. And to be honest some of the accountability falls on the professor herself. Yes, 24 lectures themselves are just not enough to cover ancient Greek and Roman mythology. We have so much material in this arena that filling 12 more lectures would've been a cinch. But the issue here is not just that (for whatever reason) the good Professor felt restricted to 24 lectures, instead we could've certainly done without lectures 2, 3, a good part of 24, and 8, 12, and 15 could've been consolidated into one lecture. Additionally, I felt like too much time was spent on some of the Greek Tragedy works. There's a whole course on that! And by our esteemed professor herself! I count at least 5 lectures we could have gotten back for more myths. Considering she mentions herself a few times that she had to leave out a lot of other myths she wanted to cover, again I feel like she is her own worse enemy here.

It was painful getting through lectures 2 and 3 on defining what myth is and what it does. The key pieces of these discussions could've easily been fit in to the background lecture (1) and give us more lectures on the actual myths! I don't much care about literary criticism over the years or its history. I care about the myths themselves and the well regarded professor's analysis of them.

A side effect of this lack of time appears to be her very curious decision to not dedicate a full lecture on Jason...perhaps the second most famous Greek hero of them all! Sure he was mentioned at times in various lectures but a full accounting of his adventures was not related anywhere. Why were Theseus and Heracles selected for deep analysis and not Jason?

Another (minor) downside: Professor Vandiver barely takes a breath in most lectures leaving little time for what she is saying to sink in with the listener making it sometimes hard to follow the narrative of the myths (easy to get lost as to who is who and who did what) as well as leaving little time to grasp the deeper understandings/interpretations of the myths she reveals before she is on to the next sentence/topic.

Still a lot to like here. I certainly recommend this course and thoroughly enjoy Professor Vandiver. She obviously has amazing passion for the subjects she covers in her courses and on the whole she provides great teaching and analysis. Just wish we had more time for that here....

Superb

Another great title from Great Courses. Dr Elizabeth Vandiver is by far my favorite instructor. I will also continue to listen other titles that she has done. Great work!

Very enjoyable lecture series

It really helped me fill in part of what was never included in my own education.

A good treatment of the material.

I was very pleased with this course, over all. Unfortunately, it started out a little rough. The Professor was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, she seemed rushed, or perhaps nervous through the first chapter and a half. Afterwards she falls into an easy lecture style, and seems like she's enjoying giving lecture a little more. Beyond these small points, I thought it was a useful series, with a good treatment of classic mythology.

Great lectures!

What did you love best about Classical Mythology?

Very interesting material. I learned so much. Professor Vandiver was an excellent speaker and made the subject come to life.

Excellent Lectures on Mythology

Where does Classical Mythology rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is the first of the Great Courses audiobooks I have read and it was so good I will listen to more. Can not compare with the fictional books I have listened to - different genre.

Who was your favorite character and why?

NA

What does Professor Elizabeth Vandiver bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She was a wonderful lecturer who is extremely knowledgeable on her subject. She kept me actively listening the entire time. It was a very complex subject that she gave just enough details for understanding in this basic course. Her voice and manner of speaking kept me engaged.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I needed to digest the information in between lectures.

Very good. Chapters are mislabeled.

Very thorough dip into Greek Mythology. Provides a lot of useful context. Well worth reading for anybody interested in history, mythology, philosophy.

Intellegent Presentation

Thoughtful and well articulated presentation of Greek mythology. Anyone wanting an intellectual introduction to Classical Greek (with some references to Roman as well) should consider this course. Very rewarding listen.