Module CLAS2621: INTERPRETING GREEK TRAGEDY TODAY

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2621: INTERPRETING GREEK TRAGEDY TODAY

Prerequisites

• CLAS1601 Remembering Athens or ENGL2011 The Theory and Practice of Literary Criticism or equivalent.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

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 gobbet task of 400-750 words (Michaelmas term) and 1 essay of c.1500 words (Michaelmas Term). No collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University