ARCADIA CENTER

advertisement
ARCADIA CENTER
ANCIENT GREEK LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION:
EURIPIDES’ PHOENISSAE
AND THE THEBAN PLAYS OF THE EXTANT TRAGIC CORPUS
Course Lecturer: Anna Lamari. Ms. Lamari will be available for office hours
after class.
Aim of the Course: The aim of this course is to familiarize students of Greek
literature with one of the most fertile mythical traditions, that of the city of Thebes.
Our focus will be Greek tragedy and we will use one of the latest Euripidean plays
(The Phoenissae -409/408 B.C.) as the basis for our discussion. The students will
become acquainted with modern critical tools such as narratology and intertextuality,
which are now widely employed in the textual analysis of classical texts. Chief topics
will be: the myth of Oedipus and his exile, the teichoskopia scene, the quarrel
between the two brothers Polyneices and Eteocles and the expedition against Thebes,
the figure of Teiresias, the figures of Kreon and Menoeceus, the confrontation of the
two armies in front of the walls of Thebes, the myth of Jocasta, Antigone’s character,
marriage and exile, and last, but not least, a general overview of the role of the
Chorus. These main themes will be examined not only as parts of the Phoenissae, but
also intertextually, with reference to other relevant plays of the Theban Cycle. What is
more, the text of the Phoenissae will be analyzed under a narratological scope;
relevant issues such as anachronies, the use of time, narrators, and focalizers will be
regularly raised.
Course Format: Most of the classes will involve both lecture and discussion.
Students should feel free to ask questions at any time during a lecture if they feel
unclear about what has been said. Sessions marked ‘discussion’ will be devoted to
student-led discussion. There will be a mid-term exam in March (a sample test will be
distributed in advance) and a final in May. There are also two required essays, which
will be due by the begging of March and end of April respectively. Finally, during the
last weeks of April there will be class presentations of selected topics.
Grades: All essays and exams are graded by the course instructor. Each
examination counts for 25% of the total. The two essays count for 40%, while class
presentation and class contribution and attendance count for 10%.
Obligation on Students: Regular and timely attendance is expected. The
required essays must be handed on the prescribed date. All materials marked as
‘required readings’, together with the relevant texts must be read for the day
prescribed.
Required Texts:
Aeschylus, vol.2, ed. Grene and Lattimore (Chicago)
Euripides, vol.5, ed. Grene and Lattimore (Chicago)
Sophocles, vol.1, ed. Grene and Lattimore (Chicago)
MEETINGS:
Session 1
Introduction to the Course, Introduction to Attic Theatre and Tragedy: Introductory
Lecture and Discussion (views about the genesis of drama, the definition of drama by
Aristotle, its content and form, time and place of performance).
Required Readings:
P. D. Arnott, Introduction to the Greek Theatre, London 1959, pp.15-25, 30-31.
Session 2
Introduction to Tragedy: Lecture and Discussion: Euripides, Greek mythical tradition
and its role in shaping the plot of tragedy, Phoenissae and the Theban myth.
Required Readings:
E. Craik, Phoenician Women, Warminster 1988, pp. 17-22.
D. J. Mastronarde, Euripides. Phoenissae, Edited with Introduction and Commentary,
Cambridge 1994, pp. 1-11, 17-30.
Session 3
The Theatre of Dionysus: Lecture and Discussion. Topography of the ancient Attic
Theatre: the orchestra, the theatron, the skene; the chorus; the costumes; the Ancient
Festivals, the Tragic Contests, the Choregoi.
Required Readings:
E. Simon, The Ancient Theater, trans. C. E. Vafopoulou-Richardson, London 1982,
pp.1-15, 20-27.
P. D. Arnott, Introduction to the Greek Theatre, London 1959, pp.32-62.
Session 4
Introduction to Narratology: Narrative, Story, Fabula, Narrative Text, Narrator.
Required Readings:
M. Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Toronto 1997, pp.3-9,
19-31.
G. Genette, Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, trans. J. Lewin, Ithaca 1980,
pp.25-32.
Session 5
Introduction to Narratology:
Focalization, Narrative Levels.
Required Readings:
Order-Narrative Time, Duration-Speed, Frequency,
M. Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, Toronto 1997, pp.142144.
G. Genette, Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, trans. J. Lewin, Ithaca 1980,
pp.33-40, 86-88, 94-95, 113-117, 227-234.
Session 6
Phoenissae 1-87: Jocasta’s monologue and Oedipus’ myth (the discussion will also
look forward, towards the very end of the play, lines 1595-1624).
Required Readings:
Euripides, Phoenissae.
Session 7
Theban Plays: Oedipus’ myth. Lecture and Discussion.
Required Readings:
H. C. Baldry, ‘The Dramatization of the Theban Legend’, Greece and Rome 25
(1956) 24-37.
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus.
Session 8
Phoenissae 88-260: Teichoskopia. Lecture and Discussion.
Required Readings:
D. J. Mastronarde, Eupipides. Phoenissae, Edited with Introduction and Commentary,
Cambridge 1994, pp. 168-173.
Session 9
-The identity of the Chorus and the parodos. Why Phoenician Women?
-Theban Plays and Homer’s Iliad: Teichoskopia. Lecture and Discussion.
Required Readings:
K. Hartigan, ‘Why “Phoenician” Women?’, Eranos 98 (2000) 25-31.
Aeshylus, Seven Against Thebes.
Homer, Iliad 3.
W. G. Thalmann, Dramatic Art in Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes, London 1978,
pp. 38-42.
Session 10
Phoenissae 261-637: Polyneices, Eteocles; their verbal confrontation (the discussion
will also look forward to Phoenissae 1217-1422, i.e. the two brothers’ confrontation
and the ensuing fratricide in the battlefield).
Required Readings:
A. J. Podlecki, ‘Some Themes in Euripides’ Phoenissae’, Transactions of the
American Philological Association 93 (1962) 355-373, pp. 357-362.
Session 11
-The agon in Sophocles and Euripides.
-Theban Plays: Polyneices, Eteocles; their confrontation and fratricide. Lecture and
Discussion.
Required Readings:
C. Collard, ‘Formal Debates in Euripides’ Drama’, Greece and Rome 22 (1975) 58-71
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
W. G. Thalmann, Dramatic Art in Aeschylus’s Seven Against Thebes, London 1978,
pp. 20-22
Session 12
Unofficial test paper on which the Mid Term Examination will be based.
Session 13
Mid Term Examination.
Session 14
Phoenissae 638-959 and Bacchae : the figure of Teiresias. Lecture and Discussion.
Requiered Readings:
Euripides, Bacchae
Homer, Odyssey 11
Session 15
Phoenissae 896-1018: the figures of Kreon and Menoeceus (the discussion will also
look forward to Phoenissae 1625-1638)
Required Readings:
D. J. Mastronarde, Contact and Discontinuity [University of California Publications
Classical Studies, 21], Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 1979, pp. 92-97.
Session 16
-The poetics of sacrifice in Euripides.
-Theban Plays: The figures of Kreon and Menoeceus. Lecture and Discussion.
Required Readings:
P. Vellacot, Ironic Drama. A Study on Euripides’ Method and Meaning, Cambridge
1975, pp.178-204.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus
Session 17
Phoenissae 1090-1422: the confrontation of the two armies and the fratricide.
Required Readings:
E. M. Blaiklock, The Male Characters of Euripides, New Zealand 1952, pp. 191-208.
Session 18
Seven Against Thebes and Phoenissae: The manifestations of power.
Required Readings:
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
A. Hecht, H. Bacon, Aeshylus; Seven Against Thebes, London 1974, pp. 8-16
Session 19
Phoenissae 1423-1459: the myth of Jocasta; a general overview (discussion will also
look back to Jocasta’s monologue, lines 1-87).
Required Bibliography:
D. J. Mastronarde, ‘The Optimistic Rationalist in Euripides: Theseus, Jocasta,
Teiresias’, in M. Cropp, E. Fantham, S. E. Scully (edd.), Greek Tragedy and its
Legacy, Alberta 1986, pp. 201-211.
Session 20
Phoenissae 1460-end: the presence of Antigone; her exile and marriage.
Required Readings:
E. Segal, ‘Antigone: Death and Love, Hades and Dionysus’, in E. Segal (ed.), Oxford
Readings in Greek Tragedy, Oxford 1983, pp. 167-176.
Session 21
Theban Plays: the myth of Antigone and Jocasta. Lecture and Discussion.
Required Readings:
Sophocles, Antigone
H. C. Baldry, ‘The Dramatization of the Theban Legend’, Greece and Rome 25
(1956) 24-37.
Session 22
Phoenissae: the burial of Polyneices (discussion concerning all the textual evidence
available to us confirming or refuting the burial of Polyneices).
Session 23
Exodus and the end of the play. Euripidean or not?
Required Readings:
Conacher, D. J., ‘Themes in the Exodus of Euripides’ Phoenissae’, Phoenix 21 (1967)
92-101.
Session 24
Phoenissae: The role of the chorus.
Required Readings:
M. B. Arthur, ‘The Curse of Civilization: The Choral Odes of the Phoenissae’,
Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 81 (1977) 163-185.
D. J. Conacher, Euripidean Drama, Toronto 1967, pp. 245-9.
Session 25
Final Examination.
Download