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Other Literature Courses

World literature is filled with masterpieces—some long cherished, others unfamiliar—that provide us with a wealth of perspectives on how storytelling can capture the spirit of unique peoples, places, and situations. Broaden your literary horizons with these courses.

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	Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life Professor J. Rufus Fears What makes a written work eternal—its message still so fundamental to the way we live that it continues to speak to us, hundreds or thousands of years distant from the lifetime of its author? Professor J. Rufus Fears presents his choices of some of the most essential writings in history—works that shaped the minds of great individuals and offer an extraordinary gift of wisdom. This course focuses on intellectual history and ethics and what the ideas in each great work can mean in your life today.
Save Up To $225	Classical Mythology Professor Elizabeth Vandiver From Athena to Zeus, Professor Elizabeth Vandiver leads an illuminating exploration of classical mythology and its treasure trove of unforgettable characters and stories. Classical Mythology is an introduction to the primary characters and most important stories of classical Greek and Roman mythology. Among those you will study 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 Hercules; and the famous classical myth of the Trojan War.
	Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition Various Professors From Mesopotamia to Mississippi, from the anonymous writer of the Epic of Gilgamesh to William Faulkner, writing 3,600 years later, many of the greatest figures of Western culture have been its writers. This course is your guide to a rich sampling of their masterpieces, chosen, explained, and analyzed by five outstanding professors. In addition to novelists, poets, and dramatists, you will study historians, biographers, essayists, philosophers, and the anonymous chroniclers behind the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels.
Save Up To $310	Life Lessons from the Great Books Professor J. Rufus Fears For every important moment in your life, there is a Great Book that can give you a unique perspective on the experience. In Life Lessons from the Great Books, master storyteller and veteran Teaching Company Professor J. Rufus Fears shows you how some of Western civilization's greatest literary masterpieces can provide you with guidance and consolation. Every book you explore in this course—from the Odyssey to Hamlet to Animal Farm—is a unique expression of the human spirit. They provide you with a wealth of insight into aspects of life, from how to conduct yourself in times of trouble to appreciating the simple moments in life. Rich in historical perspective, these 36 lectures reveal the many relevant insights in these enduring works of literature.
Save Up To $215	Dante’s Divine Comedy Various Professors Two gifted teachers share the fruit of two lifetimes’ worth of historical and literary expertise in this rewarding introduction to one of the greatest poems ever written. You will explore invaluable background information on Dante’s life, why he wrote the Divine Comedy, how to approach English editions, and many of the poem’s characters and episodes.
	Iliad of Homer Professor Elizabeth Vandiver From the wrath of Achilles to the machinations of Agamemnon that led to the fall of Troy, the Iliad is one of the most compelling meditations on the human condition ever written. Take an in-depth look at Homer's epic Greek poem in *The Iliad* of Homer** and realize why this literary masterpiece is held in such high regard. Alongside award-winning Professor Elizabeth Vandiver, examine the most important episodes in the Iliad and the universal human issues that Homer's poem addresses, including the limits of our freedom, the forces that shape our actions, and the fine line between justice and revenge.
	History of World Literature Professor Grant L. Voth Whether around the campfire or between the covers of a book, the urge to express life's meaning is a human constant. Distinguished scholar Grant L. Voth guides you through the great works of literature that reflect the deep need for self-expression, in a journey that will take you from the auditoriums of Ancient Greece to the quiet study of a 19th-century New England spinster. You'll sample some of the greatest literary expressions the world has known and experience storytelling in its many forms.
	Myth in Human History Professor Grant L. Voth Discover the truths hidden within the world's most enduring myths in the entertaining and illuminating Myth in Human History. Delivered by engaging storyteller and award-winning Professor Grant L. Voth, these 36 lectures are a comprehensive survey of great myths and the diverse cultures behind them. Taking you from the islands of ancient Greece and Japan to the plains of North America and Africa to the shores of New Zealand and Great Britain, this course will have you looking at—and understanding—mythology in startling new ways.
	Odyssey of Homer Professor Elizabeth Vandiver Take a detailed look at Homer's ancient Greek masterpiece of adventure. Professor Elizabeth Vandiver's *The Odyssey* of Homer** focuses on timeless themes contained in the warrior Odysseus's voyage home through strange lands and encounters with gods, witches, warriors, and monsters. Explore the cultural assumptions that lie behind Homer's lines, weigh the poem's critical and interpretative issues, and come to view the Homeric world as a place of conflict, trial, and return that helps us answer the question of what it means to really live.
Save Up To $215	St. Augustine’s Confessions Various Professors This course examines all 13 books, or chapters, of this masterpiece that inspired Dante and Martin Luther and encouraged Christianity to accept the thinking of Plato. It provides the background needed to understand the Confessions as Augustine intended and analyzes his account—told in stories that are as powerful as any in world literature—of the events leading to his Christian conversion.
	Classics of Russian Literature Professor Irwin Weil Russian literature famously probes the depths of the human soul. This course explores masterpieces at all levels—characters, plots, scenes, and sometimes even single sentences. Professor Irwin Weil, a passionate and illuminating teacher, has chosen a rich sampling of Russia’s greatest writers, based on his 50-year love affair with the language and its literature.
	Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature Professor Arnold Weinstein More than a mere "slice of life," classic novels perform a sort of miracle, jolting us to see the remarkable, often provocative truths that underlie the human condition. To experience these extraordinary novels is to ask deep and sometimes unsettling questions about our lives and our world. Join us for an epic journey, as you traverse three centuries, sojourn in foreign lands, and enter remarkable realms of the imagination.
Save Up To $215	Greek Tragedy Professor Elizabeth Vandiver The Greek tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides produced a group of plays whose grandeur and uncanny power are undiminished despite the passage of 2,500 years. Professor Elizabeth Vandiver's 24 engrossing lectures shed revealing light on both the context and the content of these stunning dramas from Athens's Golden Age.
Save Up To $215	Herodotus: The Father of History Professor Elizabeth Vandiver View the ancient world through the eyes of its first historian. This course addresses the most remarkable achievement of Herodotus—his narrative account of the great Persian Wars and their causes. It considers the ways his work retains a mythical world-view and discusses his influence on later Greek historians.
Save Up To $310	Western Literary Canon in Context Professor John M. Bowers Explore how some of the most influential masterpieces of literature became part of the elite catalog of books known as the Western literary canon. In The Western Literary Canon in Context, you journey from the ancient world to the 20th century and investigate the literary and historical significance of works including the Odyssey, Beowulf, Moby-Dick, War and Peace, and Ulysses. Award-winning Professor John M. Bowers reveals to you the amazing dialogue that occurs among authors, civilizations, generations, genres, and literary styles in the Western canon. Above all, this insightful course will reshape your thoughts on the development of Western literature.