Out of an abundance of caution in response to the spread of COVID-19, we have canceled all remaining seminars in the Winter/Spring 2020 term. Please visit www.newberry.org/covid19 for further updates.

Please email seminars@newberry.org with any questions.

Seminar Description

Helen: half–mortal, half–divine, the Face that Launched a Thousand Ships. Defined in myth and history by who and what she was to others, Helen often remains trapped like a fly in amber. This class seeks to understand her by granting her a more complex humanity. Readings will include Euripides’s Helen and The Trojan Women; Sappho’s “Fragment 16”; passages from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey; H.D.’s poem “Helen in Egypt,” and other poems, stories, myths, and interpretations, both classical and contemporary.

Six sessions. E – $230, R – $253

Melinda Rooney writes and teaches in Chicago. She has taught seminars on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey for the Newberry and was formerly a professor at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Materials List

Required:

• A selection of shorter materials distributed by the instructor.
• A free digital course packet of additional material, compiled by the instructor and distributed electronically before the seminar begins.

First Reading:

• Please read "Class One" in the digital course packet for the first class (a digital file of this reading will be sent with the email confirming your registration).

Registration Information

• Online registration opens at 9 am (CST) on Tuesday, January 7.
• Phone registration opens at 12 pm (CST) on Wednesday, January 8.

Early registration (E) prices are in effect from January 7 at 9 am through January 24 at 4 pm. Regular registration (R) prices are in effect January 24 at 4 pm through the end of the term.

We offer a 10% discount to members, seniors, and students.

Need Help? Please email seminars@newberry.org.

This seminar is part of the Newberry’s Seminars Program. Learn more about registering for a seminar, program policies and procedures, or teaching a seminar.