Examination of the major Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and the Roman, Seneca, from the viewpoint of literary criticism and cultural and intellectual history.
Grading Options:
Optional; see degree guide or catalog for degree requirements
Instructor:
Chamberlain D
Office:
367 Susan Campbell Hall Phone:
(541) 346-5071
Withdraw from this course (75% refund, W recorded)
July 31:
Withdraw from this course (50% refund, W recorded)
August 2:
Withdraw from this course (25% refund, W recorded)
August 10:
Withdraw from this course (0% refund, W recorded)
August 10:
Change grading option for this course
You can't drop your last class using the "Add/Drop" menu in DuckWeb. Go to the “Completely Withdraw from Term/University” link to begin the complete withdrawal process. If you need assistance with a complete drop or a complete withdrawal, please contact the Office of Academic Advising, 101 Oregon Hall, 541-346-3211 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday). If you are attempting to completely withdraw after business hours, and have difficulty, please contact the Office of Academic Advising the next business day.
Expanded Course Description
This course will focus primarily on the themes and conventions of Greek tragedy in its social, political, and religious context of classical Athens in the 5th century, BC. Topics to be covered include the relationships between tragedy and ritual, tragedy and the polis ('city-state' and its institutions of law, religion, and the military) and drama and the representation of gender. We will consider the ways in which tragic drama simultaneously challenges and serves to perpetuate or create Athenian ideology. We will also read a few plays by the Roman philosopher and tragedian Seneca, who wrote during the first century CE, and study his transposition of the stories of Greek tragedy to a context of Stoic philosophy. We will consider what are the forces that transformed the Greek plays into a canon that was imitated by Roman writers and became the source material for diverse European art forms up to the present day. In addition to the primary texts, students will be expected to read contemporary critical essays that will introduce them to methodologies current in the field of Classics. We will also engage in brief in-class writing assignments that will not be collected but which will be used for the purpose of class discussion.
Course Fees: