HONRS 390 - Honors Colloquium
Instructor:
Ronald Hicks (BB-302 or 319a, 285-2443, rhicks@bsu.edu)
Optional Text:
The Celtic Heroic Age, edited by John T. Koch in collaboration with John Carey, 4th ed., Aberystwyth: Celtic Studies Publications, 2003.
Course Description:
HONRS 390. Irish Mythology. (3) Introduces the Irish mythological cycles, the primary characters, the nature of the religion, and its relationship to ancient Irish life.
Objectives:
This colloquium will attempt to familiarize students with Irish mythology and to lead them toward an understanding of the nature of Late Iron Age Irish culture as reflected in the tales, with an emphasis on the interrelationships between religion, the agricultural cycle, the landscape, and social organization.
Rationale:
After Greece and Rome, Ireland has the largest body of ancient literature of any country in Europe. Although most of this appears to have been put into writing between the seventh and twelfth centuries, from the details of language and motifs it seems clear that much of it took form within oral literature several centuries earlier. While the tales include stories of voyages, cattle raids, pursuits, feasts, places, and the like presented as though they are historical records, modern scholars are agreed that they are essentially mythological in their content. They are, in fact, our best clues to the nature of the pre-Christian Irish religion. However, they are not easily interpreted. Typically, discussions of the ancient Irish religion tell of the gods, their traits, and their deeds. But there is much more in the tales.
Course Format & Content:
The course will be taught through lectures and discussion. The tales will be analyzed in terms of their cultural context and likely significance. Topics and tales to be covered include the following, although all listed may not be covered and the order may vary somewhat (see www.bsu.edu/web/rhicks/ANTH_390.htm for links to tale sources and other information).:
Introduction:
The Celtic languages and the IndoEuropean language family
Relevance of other IndoEuropean belief systems to our understanding
Prehistoric and historical context
Cultural context of Irish myth--agricultural cycle (the calendar round), links with the landscape, need to search for motifs & patterns
Mythological Cycle (stories of the Tuatha Dé)
Lebor na Gabála Érenn (‘The Book of the Takings’)
Cath Maige Tuired ('The Battle of Moytirra')
Tochmarc Étaíne ('The Wooing of Étaín')
Dindshenchas (‘Histories of Places’) - relevant excerpts
Ulster Cycle (tales of Cú Chulainn)
Togail Bruidne Da Derga ('The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel')
Fled Bricrenn ('Bricriu’s Feast')
Táin Bó Cúalnge (‘The Cooley Cattle Raid’)
Longus Macc n-Uislinn ('Dierdre and the Sons of Uisliu')
Scéla Muicce Meic Da Thó ('The Story of Mac Dathó’s Pig')
Serglige Con CuChulainn ('Cú Chulainn's Wasting Sickness')
Fenian Cycle (tales of Finn MacCumhall)
Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne ('Pursuit of Diarmuit and Gráinne')
Oisin in Tír na nOg ('Oisin in the Land of the Young')
Historical Cycle/Cycles of the Kings
Tales of Cormac MacAirt
Evaluation of Student Performance:
Student will be evaluated through three papers, one for each major cycle of tales except the Historical, and in terms of their contributions to class discussions.