Free Classes on Greek Myth and History

For the Savvy Writer of Historical Fiction!*

Greek and Roman Mythology from the University of Pennsylvania!

From their site:

This course will focus on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations.

I have a couple of the suggested texts already on my shelf, and the rest I have been reading and referring to online, but now I kind of want to buy them and take this course as something of a review class. My Classical Studies program was focused a lot more on the history than the mythology (my disappointment knows no bounds), so it would be nice to supplement things a little bit, and I am a TOTAL sucker for learning -- it's totally possible that this professor will talk about things in a way that I haven't considered and I want in. No start date yet though.



The Ancient Greeks from Wesleyan University!

From their site:

This is a survey of ancient Greek history from the Bronze Age to the death of Socrates in 399 BCE. Along with studying the most important events and personalities, we will consider broader issues such as political and cultural values and methods of historical interpretation.

My Ancient History professor in college was amazing, and really asked a lot of us in regard to primary source reading and critical thinking, interpretation and communication of those ideas. I'm not too proud to admit I did not always deliver to his expectations. I wanted to, though! I swear! Anyway, this class would be fun as a review, too, and the text is entirely online if you prefer not to buy it, with handy links in the syllabus. It begins March 18th and let me refer you to my note above about being a sucker for learning because that is how this is going down. Plus the course load is only 2-4 hours per week -- totally manageable! In fact, I am already signed up, and you should too!


Western Civilization Podcasts

A third option in the "Free online class" category is not a formal class, but definitely a great survey of history available for the taking. A while back, my ancient history professor, Bill Caraher put the first half of a Western Civ I course of podcasts up for free. You won't get a certificate of Accomplishment -- but you WILL learn a lot.



*With thanks to Galleycat for directing my attention to the first two!