Learning objectives

The reading and understanding of at least five of the Greek tragedies, preferably including works by all three of the great tragic writers of Greek literature, and study of the specific kind of poetry the Greeks defined as tragedy, and the concept of tragedy in modern culture and how it relates to Greek culture.

Methodology

In class, teachers will present the core subject matter, outlining the main issues and explaining the most relevant approaches and proposed solutions to issues related to the study of tragedy and the tragic writers, and respond to questions. Students are expected to be familiar with the relevant bibliography and pose informed questions about texts they have not understood or have interpreted in a different way, and to engage in general debate with the teacher and other classmates on the subject matter. A proportion of class hours will also be devoted to the presentation by each student of some aspect of their reading or something they have studied and learned.

Thematic Units

I.   Tragedy as an institution of the polis. The poet, the chorus, the actors

II.  The hero and the themes. Epic and tragedy. Women

III. The tragic writer as a founder of contemporary Western society. Philosophy, poetry, anthropology. The philological perspective

IV. Words and action. The representation of tragedies

Bibliography

General reference texts on the Greek tragedies:

A. Pickard-Cambridge, The Dramatic Festivals of the Athenian, second edition edited by J. Gould and D. M. Lewis, Oxford 1968.

P. E. Easterling (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy, CUP 1997.

General reference texts on the Greek tragic writers:

 - D. Lanza, Alla ricerca del tragico, Belfagor 31 (1976); La tragedia e il tragico, in S. Settis (ed.), I Greci. Storia Cultura Arte Società, vol. I, Noi e i Greci, Torí (1996).

 - C. Miralles, Il tragico in Sofocle, Lexis 15 (1997).

 - C. Miralles, La luce del dolore. Aspetti della poesia de Sofocle, Nàpols (2009).

The tragedies themselves must be read in translation. Catalan versions by Carles Riba are highly recommended. Prose works by Aeschylus and Sophocles are available from the Bernat Metge Foundation, and the poetry of Sophocles and Euripides is published by Curial.

Students will find it useful to have a selection of complete or partial translations of each work in their preferred language.

Assessment

Students will be assessed on the work they present in class, on their level of understanding of the tragedies they have read and on a final project, the theme of which must by approved by the teacher.

Observations

Language of instruction: Catalan