CLASS 1535

FWS: Ancient Underworlds, Fresh Hells: Katabatic Literature and Media

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

Whether it be a fascination towards death or a refusal to grieve your loved ones, literary traditions have produced these katabaseis (descent narratives) despite geographical, chronological, and cultural boundaries. It is for this reason that we must ask the questions: Why do we return to hell? And what does journeying there signify? And what can we learn about these cultures and societies that produced these narratives via their attitudes towards mortality? From the strong intertextual Greco-Roman tradition of these narratives to the omnipresence of this plot device across origins, to increased modern and transmedial ones, underworlds old and new serve as the perfect background for a students' intellectual curiosities and aptitude for varied styles of writing.

When Offered Fall.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

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