Teaching assistant: Ms. Andromeda Yelton.
Office: Classics department, Eaton 319, 627-2896; office hours for students Monday 11:30 - 12:30, Tuesday 3:00 - 4:00, Thursday 10:30 - 11:30, and by appointment.
Email: ayelton@alumni.hmc.edu

Resources
Goals for the semester
Pre-requisites for each section
Workload and grading
Schedule of exams and assignments
General policies
Assignments by class
Selected bibliography

Required texts and suggested translations:
Primary texts:
Aeschylus, Oresteia, translated by Peter Meineck. ($9)
Sophocles, Ajax and Philoctetes, in Sophocles II, ed. David Grene ($10)
        Seekers (Ichneutae), trans. Anne Mahoney, in Perseus
Euripides, Helen and Cyclops, in Euripides II, ed. David Grene ($10)
        Hecuba and Trojan Women, translated by James Morwood ($9)
        Iphigeneia at Aulis and Rhesus, translated by James Morwood ($9)
Aristotle, Poetics, translated by Malcolm Heath ($11)

The suggested translations, except for Ichneutae, are available in the University Bookstore.  Additional translations of all these works are available in the Perseus Digital Library (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu), and translations are also available in the Tisch Library.  You may use any translation of these texts, into English or into any other language you can read fluently. Students in GR 155 will read the translations and will read selections in Ancient Greek.

Reference:
J. Hollander, Rhyme's Reason ($12)

For Greek 155, in addition to the above:
Aristotle, Poetics, ed. D. Lucas ($25)
Text of and commentary on the play you choose for your major paper

Other resources:
Course web page, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/~amahoney/cl55_s02.html
Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

Goals for the semester:
Aristotle defined tragedy as the enactment of a heroic action, meant to provoke pity and fear in the audience.  In the best tragedies, as he saw it, the main character falls from good fortune to bad, not because he or she is a bad person but because of some error, mistake, or flaw.  We will read selected tragedies and will consider the main features of tragic performance.  Readings will focus on the Trojan War, as presented by the three great tragedians.

The readings are primary texts, in English translation.  Knowledge of Ancient Greek is neither required nor assumed, except in the GR 155 section (for which Greek 7 or equivalent is pre-requisite). Students in the other sections who have completed Greek 2 or equivalent are encouraged to read selected plays in their original language.

Students will use the resources of the Perseus Digital Library to supplement the readings.

Pre-requisites for each section:
CL 55 and DR 56 are open to any interested student, whether or not you have studied the classics before.

CL 155 is an advanced undergraduate course, also open to graduate students, designed for classics majors. In order to write a substantial paper, you must be able to read classical scholarship. Students wishing to enter this section should have taken CL 31 (Classics of Greece), CL 37 (History of Ancient Greece), or another course on Greek literature.

GR 155 is a graduate course, also open to undergraduates. In addition to the work of CL 155, students in this section will read selections from the plays in Ancient Greek. Students wishing to enter this section should have taken GR 7 (Intermediate Greek), or two or more years of high-school Greek.

Workload and grading:
There will be two in-class exams, one hour each, for the CL55 and DR56 sections, and a two-hour final for all sections.  Each exam will cover material since the last one.  You will have several short written assignments (300-500 words).  Students in CL155/GR155 will write a substantial paper. Students in GR155 will meet one additional period each week to discuss the texts in Greek. You will have reading assignments for each class.

The grades will be computed as follows:
 
 

Schedule of exams and assignments:

The two hour exams will be
 

General policies:
You should complete the reading assigned for each class before that day's class; read the entire play before the first class in which it is to be discussed. You should bring the text to class, and you will probably want to bring your notes on the reading.

Attendance in class is required.  Exams will be based on material from lectures and class discussions, and written assignments will build on class work.  Attendance and participation count significantly towards final grades; see above. On the other hand, if you must occasionally miss class for a legitimate reason, I will assume you can keep up with the work.

I am happy to read drafts of papers as you work on them, or to answer questions about assignments. You may not re-write and re-submit assigned papers; the final copy is due on the scheduled due date, and will be graded.

I call your attention to University policy against plagiarism and other forms of cheating.  Please refer to the Bulletin of Tufts University, p. 40-41, for details: "Absolute honesty on the part of every college student is and always shall be an integral part of the plan of higher education at Tufts University."

Please note that except in the most extraordinary circumstances, I will not give "incomplete" grades.  As you know, an Incomplete means that you did not complete the work of the course, and it is the policy of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Technology that incomplete work must be completed within six weeks of the beginning of the next semester.

No extra credit work is permitted, and grades in this course are not "curved."

Topics and reading assignments by class:

Due dates for assignments for all sections are marked in pink; those for the upper-level sections only (CLS 155, GRK 155) are in brown and those for the lower-level sections only (CLS 55, DR 56) are in green.

Titles are linked to texts; names and other phrases are linked to background material.

1.      Wednesday, 16 January: introduction; policies and procedures.
2.      Friday, 18 January: historical framework; performance practice in the Greek theater. See the chronology, the introduction to the fifth century BC, and the guide to citing ancient sources.
3.      Wednesday, 23 January: stories of the Trojan War. See overview of the basic myth.
4.      Friday, 25 January: Aeschylus. Agamemnon.
5.      Monday, 28 January: Play data sheet due. Agamemnon
6.      Wednesday, 30 January: Aeschylus Libation Bearers (Choephoroe)
7.      Friday, 1 February: Libation Bearers
8.      Monday, 4 February: Aeschylus Eumenides
9.      Wednesday 6 February: Eumenides
10.    Friday, 8 February: First assignment due. Sophocles. Ajax
11.    Monday, 11 February: Ajax
12.    Wednesday, 13 February: Ajax
13.    Friday, 15 February: First exam.
14.    Wednesday, 20 February: Sophocles. Philoctetes
15.    Friday, 22 February: Preliminary bibliography due. Philoctetes
16.    Monday, 25 February: Philoctetes
17.    Wednesday, 27 February: Euripides
18.    Friday, 1 March: Second assignment due. Euripides. Hecuba
19.    Monday, 4 March: Hecuba
20.    Wednesday, 6 March: Hecuba
21.    Friday, 8 March: Euripides. Trojan Women
22.    Monday, 11 March: Trojan Women
23.    Wednesday, 13 March: Trojan Women
24.    Friday, 15 March: Working bibliography due. Euripides. Iphigeneia at Aulis
25.    Monday, 25 March: Iphigeneia at Aulis
26.    Wednesday, 27 March: Iphigeneia at Aulis
27.    Friday, 29 March: Third assignment due. Trends in later drama.
28.    Monday, 1 April: Euripides. Helen
29.    Wednesday, 3 April: Helen
30.    Friday, 5 April: Second exam.
31.    Monday, 8 April: Rhesus, formerly attributed to Euripides
32.    Wednesday, 10 April: Rhesus
33.    Friday, 12 April: Fourth assignment due. Abstract of paper due. Aristotle. Poetics
34.    Wednesday, 17 April: Poetics
35.    Thursday, 18 April (Monday schedule): Poetics
36.    Friday, 19 April: Final paper due. Poetics
37.    Monday, 22 April: Satyr plays; see illustrations.
38.    Wednesday, 24 April: Cyclops (Euripides)
39.    Friday, 26 April: Fifth assignment due. Ichneutae (Sophocles)
40.    Monday, 29 April: Review and summary
41.    Wednesday, 8 May: Final exam

Selected bibliography:
This bibliography is limited to books in English that are available in Tisch Library.

Texts and alternate translations
Aeschylus, The Oresteia, translated by Peter Meineck.  Indianapolis:  1998.  PA3827.A7 M45 1998
------------, translated by Ted Hughes.  New York:  1999.  PA3827.A7 H84 1999
Sophocles, edited and translated by Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones.  Cambridge:  1994.  PA4414.A1 L56 1994
------------, Ajax, translated by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear. Oxford: 1999. PA4414.A5 G65 1999
Euripides, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: 1955-1959. PA3975 .A2 1955
Aristotle, Poetics, translated by Leon Golden. Tallahassee: 1981. PN1040 .A513 1981
------------, edited and translated by Stephen Halliwell. Cambridge: 1995. PA3621 .A75 1995
John Hollander, Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse. New Haven: 1989. PE1505 .H6 1989

Other books
W. S. Allen, Vox Graeca.  London:  1968.  PA267.A4
John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray, The Oxford History of the Classical World.  Oxford:  1986.  DE59 .O94 1986
R. W. B. Burton, The Chorus in Sophocles' Tragedies. Oxford: 1980. PA4417 .B86
Eric Csapo and William Slater,  The Context of Ancient Drama.  Ann Arbor:  1995.  PA3024.C75 1995
G. Dobrov, Figures of Play: Greek Drama and Metafictional Poetics. Oxford: 2001. PA3136 .D63 2001
P. E. Easterling, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge: 1997. PA3131.E28 1997
Michael Grant, Atlas of Ancient History.  New York:  1994.  G1033.G65 1994 (reference)
James C. Hogan, A Commentary on the Plays of Sophocles. Carbondale: 1991. PA4417 .H64 1991
Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth, The Oxford Classical Dictionary.  New York:  1966.  DE5.O9 1996
John H. Huddliston, Greek Tragedy in the Light of Vase Paintings. New York: 1898. NK4645 .H8
J. Jones, On Aristotle and Greek Tragedy. New York: 1962. PA3131 .J6
H. D. F. Kitto, Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study. London: 1939. PA3131.K5
Richmond Lattimore, Story Patterns in Greek Tragedy. Ann Arbor: 1964. PA3133 .L3
A. D. Nuttall, Why Does Tragedy Give Pleasure? Oxford: 1996. PN1892.N88 1996
L. D. Reynolds and Nigel Wilson,  Scribes and Scholars.  Oxford:  1974.  Z40.R4 1974
William C. Scott, Musical Design in Aeschylean Theater. Hanover: 1984. ML169 .S37 1984
------------, Musical Design in Sophoclean Theater. Hanover: 1996. ML169.S38 1996
Charles Segal, Tragedy and Civilization. Norman: 1999. PA4417 .S47 1999
Erich Segal, Oxford Readings in Greek Tragedy. Oxford: 1983. PA3133.G68 1983b
Oliver Taplin, Greek Tragedy in Action. Berkeley: 1978. PA3201 .T3
Cedric Whitman, Sophocles:  a Study of Heroic Humanism.  Cambridge:  1951.  PA4417.W5
Bernhard Zimmermann, Greek Tragedy: an Introduction. Baltimore: 1991. PA3131 .Z513 1991

For Greek 155
Aeschylus, Agamemnon, ed. J. D. Denniston and D. Page. Oxford: 1957. PA3825 .A8 1957
Aristotle, Poetics, ed. D. W. Lucas. Oxford: 1968. PA3893 .P5 1968

On-line resources:
Citing ancient sources and on-line sources.
Chronology of Greek tragedy
Introduction to the fifth century BC
Overview of the Trojan War myths
Satyrs at play
Perseus:  a digital library with an extensive collection on Ancient Greece
Diotima:   Women and Gender in the Ancient World
Suda On Line:  a 10th-century Greek encyclopedia of classical antiquity, being translated into English by a team of scholars
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, a journal of book reviews
L'Année Philologique on line, containing only a few years but with the standard abbreviations for journal titles and a standard list of subject categories
TOCS-IN, tables of contents of journals of interest to classicists
Gnomon on line, selections from this bibliographic journal
Ancient Medicine/Medicina Antiqua:  an extensive site on medicine in the ancient world
Ancient Greece in Fiction:  a bibliography of novels and short stories set in the ancient world
Fragment of a Greek Tragedy:  a well-known parody by A. E. Housman (yes, the poet:  he was also a classical scholar)
Voice of the Shuttle:  the best gateway site for humanities research
American Philological Association (APA):  the professional association for classicists in the US
Classical Association of New England (CANE):  the professional association for classicists in New England
Tufts University Classics Department:  course descriptions and faculty listing