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I'll be teaching an English Lit course next semester -- it's a Gen Ed 200 course, "Understanding Literature" where the student is looking at fiction, drama, and poetry, but I'm doing this one as a "Special Topics" course with an emphasis on science fiction and fantasy. I'll be using the first few weeks of the class to look at the 'roots' of the genre -- going well back past the 19th Century to look at material that might be considered in the genre if we were to look at it today (for instance, Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" is an obvious fantasy).
I have several thoughts along those lines, but I'm curious as to what some of you think. So... what would your choices be for ancient works that point toward the eventual modern genre of sf/fantasy? What piece of literature/mythology/etc might you pick to examine if you were teaching the course?
I have several thoughts along those lines, but I'm curious as to what some of you think. So... what would your choices be for ancient works that point toward the eventual modern genre of sf/fantasy? What piece of literature/mythology/etc might you pick to examine if you were teaching the course?