Each play is considered both in its own right and in relation to larger issues, such as the tragic treatment of myth, relevance to contemporary Athenian problems, and the understanding of the world that these plays might be said to imply. Through attention to matters of production, an attempt is made to imagine the effect of the plays in performance in the Athenian theatre. The course considers, in addition, possible definitions of tragedy, with the aid both of other writers' views and of experiences of the texts themselves. In this course, students study ancient creation myths, the mythology of the Olympian gods, and Greek heroic and epic saga. Particular attention is paid to ancient authors' exploration of universal human themes and conflicts, mythology as an embodiment and criticism of ancient religious beliefs and practices, and the treatment of mythological themes in the ancient and modern visual arts.
All readings are in English translation.
Attention is paid to the practice of animal sacrifice, the Greek and Roman religious festivals, the contrast between public and private cult, the tolerance of religious diversity under paganism vs. the intolerance of monotheism, and pagan ideas of personal salvation. The course's approach is historical. The great age of Athenian democracy, so fertile in its influence on our own culture, is the focus of this course, with particular attention paid to the social and political history, the intellectual life, the art, and the literature of the period. Issues such as imperialism and the exclusion of certain categories of people from full participation in the democracy are emphasized. The course traces Periclean Athens' antecedents in the archaic period and its end under the effects of the Peloponnesian War.