Tragedy was a hybrid genre invented in sixth-fifth century Athens, where tragic
performances in the city's festival of the Greater Dionysia played a vital role in
the democratic polis. This course will focus on reading in Greek a complete
tragedy of Sophokles or Euripides; we will also read in translation several other
tragedies, a satyr-play, and a comedy of Aristophanes. While focusing on
questions of particular importance for the play we are reading in Greek, we will
also situate that play in a larger context by exploring, for instance: aspects of the
social and political situations in and for which tragedies were produced; the
several performance genres out of which tragedy was created; developments in
the physical characteristics of the theater and in elements of staging and
performance; problems of representation particularly relevant to theatrical
production and performance.
Format: Recitation/discussion. Evaluation will be based on contributions to
class, several 1- to 2-page papers involving close textual analysis, perhaps a mid-
term exam, a final exam, and a final paper.
Prerequisites: Greek 201 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limit: 12
(expected: 4-5).