Course Blackboard Page And Language Acquisition Center: This course is being taught as a hybrid (this concept will be discussed further on the first day of class), and important components of the course are delivered through Blackboard. You should log in to Blackboard regularly to participate in on-line discussions and check for announcements. Most weeks you are required to post a brief writing assignment in response to a question I will pose (10 postings total). Many weeks you are also required to watch a film or attend a performance outside of class. All of the films we will discuss in this class will be on reserve at the Language Acquisition Center on the 2nd floor of Agnes Arnold Hall.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. If you have never taken a Classics course, however, or if you have never read any Greek literature before, you will need to put in extra effort in order to succeed in this class. Also, this course requires careful planning on your part. Make sure to get tickets to performances and plan ahead to make time for watching assigned films, some of which are not easily accessible. Most weeks you need to remember to post to the on-line discussion. Some weeks have a lot of assigned reading. Keep in mind that even though the class meets only once per week, it requires the same work load as any other junior level humanities/visual and performing arts course.

Required Reading:

The Oresteia (Oxford World Classics) by Aeschylus, Christopher Collard (Translator)

    * Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; ISBN-13: 978-0192832818

The Persians and Other Plays (Oxford World Classics) by Aeschylus, Christopher Collard (Translator)

    * Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; ISBN-13: 978-0192832825

The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone by Sophocles (Author), Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald (Translators)

    * Publisher: Harvest Books; ISBN-13: 978-0156027649

The Gospel at Colonus by Lee Breuer (Author)

    * Publisher: Theatre Communications Group; ISBN-13: 978-0930452940

The Trojan Women and Other Plays (Oxford World Classics) by Euripides, James Morwood (Translator)

    * Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; ISBN-13: 978-0192839879

The Bacchae and Other Plays (Oxford World Classics) by Euripides, James Morwood (Translator)

    * Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA;ISBN-13: 978-0192838759

The Birds by Aristophanes, Jeffrey Henderson (Translator)

    * Publisher: Focus; ISBN: 978-0941051873

Recommended Reading:

Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides by R. Blondell, M-K Gamel, Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, Bella Zweig  (ISBN 978-0415907743). This book contains an excellent, 90 page introduction to Greek tragedy.

Components of Course Grade: Weekly Web Postings (10 postings total) 50%; Review essay of Birds performance 10%; Tests (2) 40%

    *Attendance Policy: Because of the nature of this course, which meets only once a week, attendance is absolutely required. Test questions will be based on material covered in class lectures. You will not do well on the tests if you do not attend class.*

Schedule of Readings and Lectures

    * All reading assignments must be completed in advance of the day to which they are assigned.

Week 1 (1/19) Introduction to the course and Greek Tragedy

Recommended reading in advance of class: Women on the Edge pp. 5-47.

Week 2 (1/26) Greek Tragedy and Performance

Read: Aeschylus, Agamemnon (the first play in the Oresteia trilogy)
Additional Assignment: Posting #1

Week 3 (2/2) Greek Tragedy and Democracy I: The Beginnings of Greek Democracy

Read: Aeschylus, Libation Bearers (the second play in the Oresteia trilogy)
Additional Assignment: Posting #2

Week 4 (2/9) The Oresteia

Read: Aeschylus, Eumenides (the third play in the Oresteia trilogy)
Additional Assignment: Posting #3

Week 5 (2/16) Greek Tragedy and Representation: Aeschylus’ Persians

Read: Aeschylus, Persians; watch: 300

Additional Assignment: Posting #4

Week 6 (2/23) Greek Tragedy and Myth: Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes

Read: Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes and Seven by Will Power (available through Blackboard)

Watch: Bill Moyers interview with Will Power, creator of Seven

Additional Assignment: Posting #5

Week 7 (3/1) Test 1

Week 8 (3/8) Greek Tragedy and Democracy II: Pericles and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War

Read: Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannos [aka Oedipus Rex]
Additional Assignment: Posting #6

Week 9 SPRING BREAK

Week 10 (3/22) Greek Tragedy and Religion: Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus

Read: Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus; Read and watch The Gospel at Colonus (PBS Great Performances, video available at the Language Acquisition Center, the iTunes store, and Amazon.com)
Additional Assignment: Posting #7

Week 11 (3/29) The Emotions of Greek Tragedy: Electra

Read: Sophocles, Electra and Euripides, Electra

Additional Assignment: Posting #8

Week 12 (4/5) The Politics of Performing Greek Tragedy: The Trojan Women

Read: Euripides, Trojan Women; reviews of recent performances

Additional Assignment: Posting #9

Week 13 (4/12) A Comic Interlude: Comic responses to the Peloponnesian War
Read: Aristophanes, Birds

Attend: The Classical Theater Company’s production of Aristophanes’ Birds (4/6-4/24)

Week 14 (4/19) Greek Tragedy and Democracy III: The “Radical” Democracy at the height of Peloponnesian War

Read: Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis

Watch: Michael Cacoyannis’ Iphigenia (available at the Language Acquisition Center and YouTube, linked from Blackboard)

Additional Assignment: Posting #10

Week 15 (4/26) Test 2

*5/3 by midnight: Review essays are due*

Learning Outcomes: In this course this course students will enhance their critical thinking and communications skills by exploring and writing critically about both ancient and modern performance traditions of Athenian tragedy. By studying ancient Greek myth and demonstrating their understanding of the religious and performance traditions of another culture through various writing assignments students will develop intercultural competence. In the area of teamwork, on the weekly discussion boards students will be required to read and consider each other’s interpretations of ancient texts and modern performances and to respond to one another.