Course Outline.
Area of Study 2 Classical Worlds – Agamemnon v. Medea.
In this Area of Study you need to complete the following tasks in preparation for the SAC and
the End of Year Examination. The tasks are a mixture of straight forward comprehension
activities, analytical investigations and text response work. All tasks need to be completed
prior to the SAC either in class or as homework tasks.
Concepts.
Terms that you need to be familiar with – simply define or explain in context of how they are used in the
plays.
Personalities
These are actual people or mythic characters – simply outline their role or how they contribute to the story.
Learning Activities.
These are activities conducted in class that will aid your understanding of the texts. Note-taking will be
expected.
Text Response and Analysis.
These are tasks that are most closely linked to the SAC/Exam preparation. Focus Questions require well
supported answers of approx 2-3 paragraphs in length. (Task guidelines are attached).
15/3 Agamemnon – Attic Masterpiece
Resources
Concepts
Personalities
Agamemnon




 Aeschylus
Mythic
 Atreus
 Leda
 Thyestes
 Iphigenia
 Calchas
 Menelaus
(Fagles)
Prologos
Parados
Argos
Dike
Learning Activities
· Read and 'perform'
extracts of
Agamemnon.
· Construct a Character
Table.
Text Response Activities
 Review the mythic background to
Agamemnon – what pre-empts the action?
 Marginal Thinking.
 Comprehension Table
 Focus Questions
 What character/s elicits your
sympathy? Explain your
response.
 Is justice served in this play?
Allan Kerr, Ruyton Girls' School, 2010
Explain your response.
22/3 Medea – First Night Flop
Resources
Medea
(Vellacott)
Concepts
 Colchis
 Barbarian
 Oracle
 Deus ex
Machina
Personalities
 Euripides
 Socrates
Mythic
 Pelias
 Helios
Learning Activities
· Read and 'perform'
extracts of Medea.
· Construct a Character
Table.
Text Response Activities
 Review the mythic background to Medea –
what pre-empts the action? What does this
tell you about Jason and Medea?
 Marginal Thinking
 Comprehension Table
 Focus Questions
 What defence could one mount
for Medea's actions?
 Does Jason deserve his
punishment?
12/4 – Power, Pericles and the Peloponnesian Wars
Resources
Concepts
Agamemnon
(Fagles)
 Delian League
 Peloponnesian
War
Medea
(Vellacott)
Readings #1
Personalities
 Kimon
 Pericles
 Thucydides
Learning Activities
· Research Athens under
Kimon;
· Read extracts of
Thucydides' account of the
first year of the
Peloponnesian War;
· Watch The Greeks –
Crucible of Civilisation
Episode 2 on Greece as it
was reaching its peak
under Pericles;
· Watch first 20 mins of The
Greeks – Episode 3
Empire of the Mind (PBS)
on Greece at onset of
Peloponnesian Wars.
Text Response Activities
 Marginal Thinking
 Athens 458 v 431 BCE – focus
questions:
 What specific events surrounded
the production of these plays?
 How are these events possibly
made manifest in the play?
 How has Athens changed over the
period?
 How had worship of the gods
changed over this period?
Allan Kerr, Ruyton Girls' School, 2010
19/4 – Common Threads – Women in power
Resources
Concepts
Personalities
Learning Activities
Agamemnon
(Fagles)
 Vengeance
 Adultery
(Classical
Greek notion
of...)
 Aspasia
Mythic
 Cassandra
 Helen
 Glauke
· Catalogue the
 Compare and contrast the characters of:
number of times
 Clytaemnestra and Medea.
Clytaemnestra and
 Agamemnon and Jason
Medea are referred to
 Watchman and Nurse.
as 'manly' or words of  Focus questions:
that ilk.
 Why did the boffins at the
· Research the position
VCAA choose these texts as a
of women in Athens
pair?
th
in the 5 Century
 What are these plays stating
BCE
about the position of women?
 Should the sins of the 'fathers'
be visited upon the 'sons'?
Medea
(Vellacott)
Readings #1
Text Response Activities
26/4– Different Tailors – Aeschylus v Euripides
Resources
Concepts
Agamemnon
(Fagles)
Review:
 Aristotle
 Protagonist
 Aristophanes
 Hubris
(as literary
 Role of Chorus
critics)
Medea
(Vellacott)
Readings #2
Personalities
Learning Activities
Text Response Activities
· Investigate how have
Aeschylus and
Euripides been
regarded by history?
· Investigate the
conventions of
Aeschylean theatre
compared to
Euripidean.
 What passage or quote best sums up the
message of both plays?
 What are the major motifs or images
employed in these plays?
 What are the main differences between the
two plays?
 Focus questions
 Why do you think Agamemnon
won its Dionysia? Medea, lost?
 What part do the gods play in
these tragedies?
Allan Kerr, Ruyton Girls' School, 2010
3/5 – Final Comparisons
Resources
Concepts
Agamemnon
(Fagles)
·
Medea
(Vellacott)
Readings #2
Personalities
Learning Activities
Text Response Activities
· Review and essay
preparation.
· Catalogue quotes that
illustrate the
similarities and
differences in these
plays.
 Prac SAC Essay Questions
 Justice is rarely served in
Classical texts.
 Women have and exert little
power in Classical texts.
 Classical texts illustrate that
vengeance is ultimately futile.
10/5 SAC Week
Allan Kerr, Ruyton Girls' School, 2010