TS
Jul 7, 2020
Well thought out well presented. I feel I have gained a very knowledgeable and thorough understanding of both Greek and Roman mythology and their historical gods and goddesses from taking this course.
KW
Aug 19, 2020
I loved this course. It covers material that is generally available to those who can afford an expensive private education. It was a great way to keep myself occupied during the coronavirus lockdown.
By Evelyn T
•Jan 30, 2020
The course started out really interesting and I felt like I was learning a lot. However, by the middle to end, the quality of the lectures started degrading-- I felt like the professor was talking in circles and at times I was unable to figure out what he was trying to say. Summarizing and taking notes became a lot harder.
I'm not sure how much of this was due to the terrible quality of the transcript. There are literally parts that are annotated as [UNKNOWN] or [SOUND] mid-sentence. There is also a lot of grammatical error.
Although much of the readings were not compulsory, there are test questions about the myth that you would only know from the reading and not from what's learned in the lecture. In this case, it would probably be better to just mark them as necessary so that everyone is on the same page.
By Brandy L
•Mar 16, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this course. Greek and Roman Mythology has always been something I was interested in and this class introduced many new ways I could actually look at these myths.
By eileen r
•Sep 24, 2016
This course is exceptional. in large part because Professor Struck is thoroughly skilled, knowledgeable and enthusiastic in his lectures. From the first lecture, and consistently throughout the course, he imbues the material with both contemporary relevance and historical connections. He makes the student a part of the conversation, and always ties together concepts that in less skilled hands might seem disparate. He lends his own intellectual brand of assocations to certain of the more complex ideas, thus rendering them accessible to learners who are new to the literature, history, "litcrit" and psychology of myth. Perhaps most important, Professor Struck's love of his subject(s) is infectious; though he does not appear to teach another Coursera course, I am sufficiently interested now, to take the other offering Greek history on Coursera. However, I wish that he were teaching a continuation of the class. As he said in the final lecture, we but skimmed the surface. It would be awesome if he could lead a more in-depth journey into the creations of these poets and their peers. I also appreciate the fact that Professor Struck recommended excellent editions of the texts. There are so many from which to choose; it was a gift to have his recommendation. I highly recommend this class. You will learn about myth - and you will learn about learning.
By Barbara G
•Oct 13, 2018
Much was good, so let me move to suggestions and critiques. The instructor/lecturer makes a lot of grammar errors, mostly related to pronominal objects of prepositions. It's distracting. He also constantly characterizes the material under discussion as "awful, nasty, horrible," and so forth. I find it both a cop-out and offensive! What are the materials aiming to communicate? What is the instructor wanting to show us, beyond "horrible and nasty"? The somewhat superficial technique of asking us to consider ourselves as ancient Greeks and Romans fails utterly, since without a fair degree of learning that is not provided here and not possible, we are manifestly NOT ancients; it's misleading to imply we easily can be. Thank you.
By CLEROUX G
•Feb 1, 2018
The content is interesting but transcripts really need improving. It's very hard to follow because punctuation and spelling are often wrong.
By Angelia J M
•Apr 12, 2016
The only thing that I can TRULY remember from this course is the instructor saying ,,,huh,huh,huh,...
By Anne M
•Dec 8, 2016
I wish I could give this more stars, but considering all aspects of the course, 2 stars is fair. It started out great, but I grew bored after 3 sections (each containing 10 lectures, each about 1/2 hour long). The instructor is great, the material is interesting but lacks few visual aids or interactive aspects that could heighten enjoyment and aid retention of the material. The test at the end of each section is very difficult much of it focuses on the minutia of the lectures, rather than major issues. In some cases, I couldn't even find the answers amid the text of the lectures that I had printed out.
By Maria M
•Jul 15, 2017
Extremely boring, couldn't get through the first 10 minutes of "What is myth?" Needs more concrete information and not vague extrapolation on how ~*~cool~*~ myths are.
By David J M
•Dec 28, 2018
This is an excellent course with an excellent instructor. The course uses primary sources in translation and teaches the student different ways of analyzing and interpreting myths.
By Laurence B
•Mar 2, 2018
Very interesting topic
The way it is taught is not very good. Script full of errors and lack of support throughout the lessons
By Rikki W
•Jun 1, 2020
Wow! Peter Struck has a strong passion for Mythology that comes through in his lectures. I really enjoyed reading the Odyssey with the class and gaining a deeper understanding of it's meanings and purpose. It was great to learn not only about ancient myths, but their roles in ancient societies and the different lenses to look at them with today.
If I could change one thing about this course, I would rename it Greek Mythology. It is an overstatement to say that this course is on Greek AND Roman Mythology when only two of the ten weeks cover Roman myth. I would have liked to spend more time with the Aeneid or Ovid's work.
I decided to take this course when I got back from Italy two days before the boarder closed and entered into a seemingly unending quarantine. I have always had a moderate interest in Greek and Roman mythology and am so glad to have finally had the opportunity to begin exploring the subject. Thank you Professor Struck!
By Tais R G
•Nov 16, 2017
The transcrips are not edited. THe content is very interesting and well presented. I would have liked even more accompaning visual examples.
By Hun-Yong J
•Jan 16, 2019
Love the class. Professor Struck provide the necessary back-drop and necessary tools to properly enjoy classical myth. Name changes from Greek vs Roman myth was made clear by Professor Struck. And because of this clarification, contrast in myth can be realized, except for Ovid.
By Peter S
•Jul 2, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyable and instructive introduction to a different world and our historical and present interpretation of its meanings and mysteries. Would recommend to a friend or family member.
By Valeria W
•May 9, 2019
This course was excellent and I am very grateful to Professor Struck for his interesting views and explanations about the different texts. He gave me a strong motivation to pursue my reading and studies. There is however a point which did not give satisfaction: as I am not a native speaker of English, I had to have constantly recourse to the transcriptions and they are appalling, at times incomprehensible. This detracted from the full enjoyment of an otherwise excellent course. I very much look forward to other courses from Professor Struck. Thank you very much for giving me this great opportunity to learn.
By Sonia R R R
•May 5, 2020
It is a great source of information. New ways to understand mythology trough various tools. How to analyse myths according to Ancient and modern eyes. A new understanding was born in my mind.
By Anne S
•Jan 24, 2019
Excellent. This course is extremely well presented and very interesting. I learned a lot about Greek and Roman mythology. I wish Professor Struck would offer a follow up!
By Kate m
•May 14, 2017
This is a great course that looks into many ancient pieces of literature from Greek and Roman times. Professor Peter Struck is a teacher who looks at many details normally missed by others. As a thirteen year-old who loves ancient cultures and civilizations, I must say that I was not bored, and that Professor Struck had a way of capturing my attention. The pictures, lectures, and discussions are devised to help the student gain a better understanding of the subject. The stories we looked at, such as the Odyssey, Greek Tragedies, and Ovid's Metamorphosis, were hard but exciting. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to look into Greek and/or Roman literature, culture, and even some history.
By Neringa B
•Jan 3, 2017
Prof.Struck's lively presentation manner sustained my interest in Greek Mythology (initially considered as irrelevant to me knowledge) until the end of the course. Myth analysis tools helped me establish a number of connections between ideas of the past and those of the present day. In addition, I've gained new insights into the phenomenon of words/speech. As a consequence, a short poem sprang to mind:
Theatre of the Absurd
I've noticed Speaker thy one word
So many meanings can begird
But have you noticed from the start
Mislabelled noumena tear lives apart
(From Trojan city to Dido's heart).
By Jamie S
•Jul 19, 2020
This course was inspiring and a sheer delight to take part in. It is well written and structured, the reading is fun, the lectures are engaging and the end of week tests and assignments are just as interesting as the lessons leading to them. The Discussion Forums are a brilliant place to share your views on the material covered. Professor Struck is an inspiration and I look forward to learning more about Ancient Myth in the future.
TLDR: If i could give this course 6 stars, I would ;)
By Julia F
•Sep 12, 2021
Strucks way of teaching can get anyone hooked to the stories in an exciting way, while still teaching theorical lessons in a way that isn't boring, but instead easy to understand and fun. It's extremely easy to do the course and form a connection to it, time really passes by. I completely recomend it!
By Shabna C
•Jul 16, 2020
Professor Struck was absolutely wonderful and the ideal guide for this course. Loved all the lessons, throughout the weeks and all the added tidbits and info that he was able to throw in to make the course all the more worth while. Highly recommend to those interested in mythology.
By Melanie
•Sep 30, 2017
This class was amazing and Peter Struck was a great instructor. My only request is that readings for each section be put clearly at the beginning of the section instead of the end of the discussion question, so that they can be read before going through that week's videos.
By Lim X N
•Sep 12, 2021
It was fun listening and learning about the epics, stories and myths of Greece & Rome! I enjoy learning about the different strategies that can produce different interpretations of what was written, which gave many interesting & eye-opening perspectives.
By Yaron K
•Jul 18, 2020
Annotated reading of the classic mythology texts such as Odysseus, Hesiod's Theogony, Homeric hymns, Virgil. Well presented. Professor Struck clearly knows his material and presents both the specific texts, and general frameworks to analyze them.