Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students should be able to:
* translate the text with confidence and accuracy;
* evaluate modern interpretations of the text;
* answer questions on specific points in the text;
* construct a relevant and analytical essay on the text.
Indicative Module Content:
Prescribed Text
Aeschylus, Eumenides, ed. A.H. Sommerstein (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
Translations
The Loeb translation by Sommerstein is reliable, as is the translation by C. Collard in the Oxford World’s Classics series.
Recommended Secondary Literature
M. Lloyd (ed.), Oxford Readings in Aeschylus (Oxford, 2007), 20–29
E.R. Dodds, ‘Morals and politics in the Oresteia’, in The Ancient Concept of Progress (Oxford, 1973), 45–63. Reprinted in Oxford Readings in Aeschylus.
C.W. Macleod, ‘Politics and the Oresteia’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 102 (1982), 124–44. Reprinted in Collected Essays (Oxford, 1983), 20–40, and also in Oxford Readings in Aeschylus.
O.P. Taplin, The Stagecraft of Aeschylus (Oxford, 1977), ch. 8
R.P. Winnington-Ingram, Studies in Aeschylus (Cambridge, 1983)
A.J. Podlecki (ed.), Aeschylus: Eumenides (Warminster, 1989)
S.D. Goldhill, Reading Greek Tragedy (Cambridge, 1986), chh. 1 & 2
Indicative Coursework Essay Titles
(a) ‘The questions are indeed answered and the conflicts resolved’ (Richard Seaford). Is this a fair assessment of Eumenides as a conclusion to the Oresteia?
(b) How far should Eumenides be seen as ‘a play for its day’ (Alan Sommerstein)?