Assignments due by beginning of class on indicated days. Schedule subject to change at instructor's discretion.
| Why? | |
| 19-Aug | No assignment. Themes, materials, procedures. Why? |
| Greek tragedy. Patterns, relevance and relatability | |
| 21-Aug | Sophocles: Antigone 1 = somewhat more than the first ½ of play, in the Penguin print edition, pp. 59-107.
In other words, start from the beginning and read through Antigone's speech where she says she's being dragged away to punishment ("Land of Thebes, . . . They drag me away, now, no more delay," right before the chorus starts talking about "Danaë, Danaë. . . ."
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| 26-Aug | Sophocles: Antigone 2 (finish). Review the Study Guide; do the rest as per 21-Aug assignment, only this time, it'll be the Antigone 2 Guiding Question. |
| 28-Aug | Readings in Honig Antigone, Interrupted. Access web readings, Guiding Question, etc. via Study Guide. |
| 2-Sep | No class (Monday classes meet) |
| 4-Sep | Greek Tragedy: origins, ancient practice, ancient theory. Access web readings, Guiding Question, etc. via Study Guide. |
| 9-Sep | Euripides: Bacchae 1 (Signet-Penguin, pp. 395-430 = Kindle location 7858 "PROLOGUE" to location 8528, just before "THIRD CHORAL LYRIC" — basically, first half of play). Study Guide, with Guiding Question #1. |
| 11-Sep | Euripides: Bacchae 2 (pp. 430-456, i.e., rest of play). Study Guide, with Guiding Question #2. |
| 16-Sep | Aeschylus: Persians (Oxford, all). Study Guide. |
| 18-Sep | Two things:
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| 23-Sep | No class (Rosh Hashanah) |
| 25-Sep | Aeschylus: Agamemnon 2. (Start Agamemnon's entrance, p. 132, chorus line "Come, my king." Read though to end of play.) Study Guide. |
| 30-Sep | Aeschylus: Libation Bearers (Penguin, all). Study Guide. |
| 2-Oct | No class (Yom Kippur) |
| 7-Oct | Aeschylus: Eumenides (Penguin, all). Study Guide. |
| Are we prisoners of fate — is that what tragedy is? | |
| 9-Oct | Chapter 3, pages 12-16, in "Knowing and Not Knowing: How Oedipus Brings Down Fate," in: Critchley, Simon. 2019. Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us. New York: Pantheon Books. Text access via Study Guide. |
| 14-Oct | Midterm exam on readings etc. through 7-Oct (not on the Critchley reading). Study Guide. |
| 16-Oct | Sophocles: Oedipus the King (Penguin, all). Study Guide. |
| 21-Oct | Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus READ ALL. Study Guide. |
| Euripides' tragedies — is it tragedy? | |
| 23-Oct | Euripides Medea (Signet, all). Study Guide. |
| 28-Oct | Euripides: Iphigenia at Aulis (Signet, all). Study Guide. |
| 30-Oct | Euripides: Hippolytus (Signet, all). Study Guide. |
| 4-Nov | Euripides: Cyclops (Signet, all). Study Guide. |
| 6-Nov | Euripides: Alcestis (Signet, all). Study Guide. |
| Does tragedy help? | |
| 11-Nov | Aristophanes: Frogs (print text, Focus/Hackett, all). Study Guide. |
| Roman tragedy: more of the same and completely different | |
| 13-Nov | Seneca: Phaedra part 1 (Penguin). Pages 98-127. That's the beginning of play to partway through Act 2, just before the chorus that praises Hippolytus' beauty. Study Guide. |
| 18-Nov | Seneca: Phaedra part 2 (Penguin). Pages 127 (chorus on Hippolytus' beauty) to end. Study Guide. |
| 20-Nov | Two things:
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| 25-Nov | No class |
| 27-Nov | No class (Thanksgiving) |
| 2-Dec | Pseudo-Seneca: Octavia (Penguin, all). Study Guide. |
| Course wrap-up: What have we learned? | |
| 4-Dec | No assigned reading, but be prepared to ask and answer good questions about the course as a whole: themes, findings, etc. We'll talk about the final exam, but that won't be the focus of the discussion you'll be preparing for. See more on the Study Guide, which also provides a guide to the final exam. |
| 8-Dec | 8-10am. Final exam, FA 212. On readings, etc., 9-Oct through 4-Dec. Study Guide under preparation. |