GRST 206 - Greek Tragedy and Its Reception

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as DRAM 206) In this class we consider the work of the three surviving Athenian tragedians –– Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides–– as well as the continued flourishing of their plays in the forms of new translations, performances, and adaptations. In our study of the ancient plays we examine the historical and civic role of tragedy in Athenian society and the ways in which each tragedian brought his distinct vision to the reshaping of inherited myths to suit his own voice and political moment. We begin with a close study of plays from each tragedian written about the family of Agamemnon– Aeschylus’s Oresteia, Sophocles’s Electra, and Euripides’s Orestes– and look at the different ways that each playwright works within the same mythic cycle. This study of the flexibility of tragic myth-making in antiquity then creates a foundation for our study of modern reinterpretations of select other ancient plays. The modern examples we consider come from a variety of global contexts and a variety of media including dramatic, cinematic, and novelistic. Among the questions we consider are: how does the translator/ playwright / author/ director position their work in relationship to the ancient source text they are working with? What is the difference between a “translation,” a “version,” and an “adaptation”? How does cultural context work to shape a distinctive meaning that is both in conversation with the Greek play and distinctly original? Rachel Friedman.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS