Module CLAS2621: INTERPRETING GREEK TRAGEDY TODAY

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2621: INTERPRETING GREEK TRAGEDY TODAY

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To study three Greek tragedies and a variety of critical approaches to interpreting them; both as performances and as literary texts.
• To gain an awareness of a range of critical theories (their application and limitations).

Content

• The module covers Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Euripides' Medea and Trojan Women and refers to the performance tradition of these tragedies alongside a variety of critical approaches (e.g. Structuralism, Deconstruction, Semiotics, Narratology, New Historicism, Feminism, Psychoanalytic Criticism, Gender Theory and Post-Colonialism).

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of the translated texts of three Greek tragedies (and some examples of their re-performances) in detail; of the relationship of the tragedies to their Athenian dramatic, literary, social and cultural context; of the issues of interpretation raised by the tragedies.
• Knowledge of a range of critical theories; their relationships to each other; their advantages and limitations.

• Ability to understand and interpret, on a broad and on a detailed level, the genre of Greek tragedy.
• Ability to identify some critical theories operative in scholarship and to evaluate differing interpretations of the tragedies in the light of the ancient text.

• Ability to use both primary and secondary sources to interpret texts; to use texts as a means of understanding their broader cultural background; to evaluate the arguments of others and to produce arguments of one's own in support of a given case.
• Increased familiarity with techniques of analysing and organising theoretical argument and presenting the results in writing.
• Enhancement of research and writing techniques in preparation for more sophisticated work (including the final-year dissertation).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will provide detailed analysis of the tragedies and critical theories. Seminars will provide opportunities to engage with the texts and interpretative issues through various activities undertaken in a discursive context.
• A formative essay will enable engagement with the advantages of a specific critical approach for the interpretation of a Greek tragedy; a summative essay will develop the skills so far acquired by engaging critically with the limitations of a specific critical approach for the interpretation of a Greek tragedy. Tutorials will provide feedback during this process.
• The examination will assess students' familiarity with the text of the tragedies covered in the lectures; their ability to identify appropriate critical approaches to illuminate details of those texts; and will test the general sophistication of their analysis.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

1 essay of c.1500 words (Michaelmas Term). No collections.