Greek Tragedy:  CL 55, Spring 2005
Also listed as DR 56, CL 155, GR 155

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 12:00 - 12:50 (block F)
GR 155 will meet an additional two-hour block, to be arranged.
Dr. Anne Mahoney
Office: Eaton 326, x7-2439. Office hours for students Monday 10:30 - 12:00, Thursday 1:00 - 2:00. I am frequently on campus and can always be reached by email:  anne.mahoney@tufts.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, trans. Peter Meineck
Sophocles, Ajax, ed. David Grene
    Antigone, ed. David Grene
    Oedipus at Colonus, ed David Grene
    Seekers (Ichneutae), trans. Anne Mahoney, in Perseus
Euripides, Hippolytus, trans. James Morwood.
    Suppliant Women, trans. Stephen Scully and Rosanna Warren.
    Medea, trans. James Morwood.
    Helen, trans. James Morwood.
    Cyclops, ed. David Grene.
Aristotle, Poetics, translated by Malcolm Heath ($11)

The suggested translations, except for Ichneutae, have been ordered through 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 Ajax and Hippolytus in Ancient Greek.

For Greek 155, in addition to the above:
Euripides, Hippolytus, ed. W. Barrett ($50)
Sophocles, Ajax, ed. W. B. Stanford ($30)
Aristotle, Poetics, ed. D. Lucas ($25)
The Meters of Greek and Latin Poetry,, James W. Halporn, Martin Ostwald, Thomas G. Rosenmeyer ($15, recommended)

Other resources:
Course web page, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/~amahoney/cl55_s05.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 misunderstanding. We will read selected tragedies and will consider the main features of tragic performance. Readings will focus on the depiction of Athens and her greatest heroes.

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 56 (Greek and Roman Comedy), 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:
You will have several short written assignments (300-500 words), and a final exam. 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:

Students in CL55 or DR56 (undergraduates)
Intelligent participation in class discussions 15%
Short papers (12% each) 72%
Final exam 13%
Total 100%

Students in CL155 (graduates and undergraduates)
Intelligent participation in class discussions 15%
Major paper 21%
Short papers (9% each) 54%
Final exam 10%
Total 100%

Students in GR155 (graduates and undergraduates)
Intelligent participation in class discussions, main section 15%
Intelligent participation in class discussions, Greek language section 18%
Major paper 21%
Short papers (6% each) 36%
Final exam 10%
Total 100%

Schedule of exams and assignments:

The final exam will be Friday, 6 May, at noon. All sections must take the final.

Make-up exams will be given only in exceptional circumstances, and only if you make arrangements at least 24 hours before the scheduled time of the exam.

Short written assignments are due in class on 4 February, 18 February, 4 March, 18 March, 8 April, and 22 April; all of those dates are Fridays. Late papers will not be accepted. If you will not be in class on the day when an assignment is due, email it to me to arrive by the end of class.

For students in CL155 and GR155, the major paper is due 15 April, with intermediate assignments due on 1 February, 25 February, 29 March, and 8 April. Late papers will not be accepted; if you do not meet the intermediate deadlines, you can expect to have considerable trouble completing the paper on time.

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 and Sciences 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.

Titles are linked to texts; names and other phrases are linked to background material.
1. Thursday, 20 January. Introduction; policies and procedures.
2. Friday, 21 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. Tuesday, 25 January. Aeschylus. Agamemnon.
4. Thursday, 27 January. Agamemnon.
5. Friday, 28 January. Agamemnon.
6. Tuesday, 1 February. Play data sheet due. Aeschylus Libation Bearers (Choephoroe)
7. Thursday, 3 February. Libation Bearers
8. Friday, 4 February. First assignment due. Aeschylus Eumenides (Kindly Ones; also called Erinyes or Furies).
9. Tuesday, 8 February. Eumenides
10. Thursday, 10 February. Eumenides
11. Friday, 11 February. Sophocles. Ajax
12. Tuesday, 15 February. Ajax
13. Thursday, 17 February. Ajax
14. Friday, 18 February. Second assignment due. Antigone
15. Tuesday, 22 February. Antigone
16. Friday, 25 February. Preliminary bibliography due. Antigone
17. Tuesday, 1 March. Oedipus at Colonus
18. Thursday, 3 March. Oedipus at Colonus
19. Friday, 4 March. Third assignment due. Oedipus at Colonus
20. Tuesday, 8 March. Euripides Hippolytus
21. Thursday, 10 March. Hippolytus
22. Friday, 11 March. Hippolytus
23. Tuesday, 15 March. Medea
24. Thursday, 17 March. Medea
25. Friday, 18 March. Fourth assignment due. Medea
26. Tuesday, 29 March. Working bibliography due. Suppliant Women
27. Thursday, 31 March. Suppliant Women
28. Friday, 1 April. Suppliant Women
29. Tuesday, 5 April. Helen
30. Thursday, 7 April. Helen
31. Friday, 8 April. Fifth assignment due. Abstract due. Helen
32. Tuesday, 12 April. Trends in later drama
33. Thursday, 14 April. Aristotle. Poetics
34. Friday, 15 April. Final paper due. Poetics.
35. Tuesday, 19 April. Poetics.
36. Thursday, 21 April. Poetics.
37. Friday, 22 April. Sixth assignment due. Satyr plays; see illustrations.
38. Tuesday, 26 April. Euripides Cyclops.
39. Thursday, 28 April. Sophocles Ichneutae.
40. Friday, 29 April. Review and summary.
41. Friday, 6 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

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
John Hollander, Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse. New Haven: 1989. PE1505 .H6 1989
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
Sophie Mills, Theseus, Tragedy, and the Athenian Empire. Oxford: 1997. PA3136.M55 1997
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
Alan Sommerstein, Greek Drama and Dramatists. New York: 2002. PA3131.S6613 2002
Oliver Taplin, Greek Tragedy in Action. Berkeley: 1978. PA3201.T3
Henry J. Walker, Theseus and Athens. Oxford: 1995. PA3015.R5 T48 1995
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
On reserve:
Euripides, Hippolytus, ed. W. S. Barrett. Oxford: 1964. PA3973.H7 1964
Sophocles, Ajax, ed. W. B. Stanford. Macmillan: 1963. PA4413.A5 1981
A. M. Dale, The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama. Cambridge: 1968. PA3550.D3 1968
Roy Gibson and Christina S. Kraus, The Classical Commentary. Leiden: 2002. PA47.C53 2002
In the circulating collection:
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
Satyrs at play
Plutarch's Life of Theseus
The Oresteia Project, new operas based on the three plays of the Oresteia
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



HTML by AEM, last update 25 January 2005.
Prof. Mahoney's home page
Department page