Aims

“Passion plays”

Revenge, forbidden love, murder, incest, rape and the odd sinister ghost... The tragedies of classical Greece and Rome combine full-blooded exploration of extremes of human experience with intense poetry and also polished rhetorical moralising. These plays laid the foundations for almost all serious drama in the Western literary tradition. But what did classical tragedy in its original forms involve, and how did it relate to its original contexts? Why has it had such an impact on the way European theatre developed?

This module looks in depth at representative plays by the Greek dramatists Euripides and Sophocles and the Roman dramatist Seneca, at the differing role and nature of tragedy within 5th-century Athenian and 1st century A.D. Roman society, and at the connections and comparison between the Greek and Roman dramatists, considering also the influence of both on the development of later European drama.

This module aims:
1. To further develop students' skills in critical analysis and appreciation of literary texts, and particularly of dramaturgical qualities and questions.
2. To provide the opportunity to explore and to develop the skills of comparison and analysis involved in evaluating, the early theatrical history of western European Culture, and the influence of that early history on the later development of European dramatic literature.
3. To advance students' understanding of the relationship between literary works and their socio-cultural context (specifically, in classical Greece and Rome), and their skills in exploring and analysing the various ways in which this relationship can work.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module looks in depth at representative plays by the Greek dramatists Euripides and Sophocles and the Roman dramatist Seneca, at the differing role and nature of tragedy within 5th century Athenian and 1st century A.D. Roman society, and at the connections and comparison between the Greek and Roamn dramatists, with some opportunity to consider the influence of both on the development of later European drama.
Texts covered:
Euripides, Hippolytus and Seneca Phaedra (with some consideration of Racine's Phedre)
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus and Seneca Oedipus (with some consideration of John Dryden's Oedipus)
Euripides, Ion (with some consideration of T.S. Elliot, The Confidential Clark)
Seneca, Thyestes

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The lectures (i) introduce overall topics, issues and themes involved in the study of Greek and Roman, demonstrating how these apply to the specific plays studied; (ii) look in more detail at aspects of particular plays by the authors involved, illustrating methods, approaches and analytical skills which can be used in assessing these works.
Students develop skills in tackling these aspects for themselves by (i) preparing relevant tasks for group-work within
selected lectures throughout the course; (ii) preparing to participate in more extended discussions and skills application sessions in seminars.
Seminars and workshops provide students with an opportunity to participate in discussion, thus improving their oral communication skills, and to apply in depth for themselves key skills of literary and dramatic analysis developed by the module.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assignment assesses students’ ability to apply their knowledge of, and skills in analysing, key characteristics of
Senecan and Euripidean dramatic writing.

The examination tests students’ ability to apply skills and approaches learnt in the module to the detailed analysis of representative passages, and to present concise analytical discussion of broader key topics or issues covered in the module; it gives students the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge of and analytical skills involved in assessing the influence of Greek and Roman drama on the later European tradition.