| Unit name | Greek and Roman Drama |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLAS22363 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Michelakis |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will examine a number of central dramatic texts from Greece and Rome; all texts will be studied in translation. The emphasis will be placed on understanding and appreciating the plays within the ancient contexts within which they were performed. In order to offer a thematic focus for this body of rich and diverse material, the unit will concentrate on a selection of dramas which retell mythological themes, and which in particular explore the relationship between gods and humans. Among the aims of the unit will be: to encourage students to consider notions of genre (tragedy and comedy), and to look at contextual differences between Greek and Roman theatre.
1 x essay of c. 2,500 words (50%) and 1 x 90 minute exam (50%).
P.E. Easterling (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy (Cambridge, 1997)
S. Goldhill, Reading Greek Tragedy (Cambridge, 1986)
J. Jones, On Aristotle and Greek Tragedy (London, 1962)
K.J. Dover, Aristophanic Comedy (London, 1972)
M.S. Silk, Aristophanes and the Definition of Comedy (Oxford, 2000)
A.J. Boyle, An introduction to Roman tragedy (London 2006)
E. Segal, Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus (New York, 1987)
Set texts ****final list tbc****:
Aeschylus, The Oresteia (= Aeschylus I, trans. Grene and Lattimore; Chicago)
Euripides, Bacchae (in The Bacchae and other plays, trans. Vellacott; Penguin)
Aristophanes, Frogs (in The Frogs and other plays. trans. Barrett; Penguin)
Aristophanes, Birds (in Birds and other plays, trans. Halliwell, Oxford World’s Classics)
Plautus, Amphitryo (in The Rope and other plays, trans. Watling; Penguin)
Seneca, Oedipus (in Four Tragedies and Octavia, trans. Watling; Penguin)
