FRS 002F - Sec. 001 - (1 unit) - CRN 92786 - T 3:10 – 5:00 pm - 123 Wellman
Greek Tragedy as a Performing Art

Instructor: Lynn Roller, Program in Classics and Art History, College of Letters and Science

Description: While the corpus of Greek tragedy is well known and is included in several courses offered at UCD, most courses on Greek tragedy stress literary analysis of the texts. The original plays, however, were meant to be seen on stage, not read privately, and our reaction to them is often quite different when we see them in performance. This freshman seminar will introduce the students to five examples of Greek tragic plays in English translation. We will read and discuss the plays together, and different groups of the students will prepare scenes from these plays (or a whole play, as time permits) for dramatic reading. Study of the plays will be supplemented by study of the physical form of the ancient Greek theater and by a consideration of the circumstances of ancient Greek theater production, such as costumes, scenery, and acting style. The goals of the seminar are to teach the students to read Greek tragedy critically, to enhance their skills in public speaking and writing, to enhance their research skills, and to increase their appreciation of an ancient culture that produced a number of important works of theater that are still being produced today.

Format: The seminar will meet weekly for one two-hour block of time, with two additional evening sessions of two hours each for viewing films of the plays. The texts will be Aeschylus, The Oresteia: Agamemnon/The Libation Bearers/The Eumenides, translated by Robert Fagles (Viking Penguin); and Euripides, Medea and Helen, translated by James Morwood (Oxford University Press). All the students will read all plays as a group. Then students will be divided into performing groups to prepare a dramatic reading of some key individual scenes. In addition, each student will be responsible for one short oral report on some aspect of Greek theater production and will write a short paper (2-3 pp.) on the dramatic impact of a particular scene in one play. Grading: Oral report -- 25% Paper -- 25 % Participation in dramatic readings -- 25% Contribution to general class discussion -- 25%.

About the Instructor: Lynn Roller is a member of the faculty in the Programs in Classics and Art History with special interests in the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome. She has conducted archaeological research in Greece and for the last twenty years she has been a member of the archaeological expedition investigating the site of the Gordion in Turkey. She is interested in all aspects of ancient Greek culture, including its art, literature, history, and religion.