GRC30080

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
* synthesize information about the various versions of the Oedipus myth;
* demonstrate critical understanding of the prescribed plays as works of literature;
* evaluate modern interpretations of the prescribed plays;
* contribute constructively to group discussion;
* construct relevant and analytical written work on the prescribed plays.

Indicative Module Content:

Lectures

Week

1. Introduction
2. Early versions of the Oedipus story
3. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (Eteocles and the women)
4. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (shield scene)
5. Sophocles, Antigone (Creon)
6. Sophocles, Antigone (Antigone)
7. Sophocles, Oedipus the King (myth)
8. No lecture
9. Sophocles, Oedipus the King (Oedipus; fate)
10. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
11. Euripides, The Phoenician Women
12. No lecture

Tutorials

Week

1. No tutorial
2. No tutorial
3. The social and political context of Greek tragedy
4. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
5. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
6. Sophocles, Antigone
7. Sophocles, Oedipus the King
8. No tutorial
9. Discussion of essay topics
10. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
11. Euripides, The Phoenician Women
12. No tutorial

Student Effort Hours:

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

This module is taught through a combination of lectures and tutorials. The lectures give basic information about the subject, and outline the main issues of interpretation of the five plays. The tutorials discuss the plays in more in detail in small groups, typically 8-10 students. The module is assessed by a learning journal (30%) and an end-of-trimester essay (70%). The learning journal comprises four 500-word reports discussing issues raised in the tutorials.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.

Module Requisites and Incompatibles

Incompatibles:
GRC3006E - Myth & Tragedy in Ancient Gree, GRC30200 - Greek Tragedy and Myth


 

Assessment Strategy

 

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on written assignments will be sent to the students through Brightspace as soon as possible after submission, which will typically be within one week for this module. The lecturer will be available to give further individual feedback on request.

Prescribed texts

Early Versions of the Oedipus Story (handout)
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (in Persians and Other Plays tr. C. Collard, Oxford World’s Classics)
Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (in The Three Theban Plays tr. R. Fagles)
Euripides, The Phoenician Women (tr. P. Burian & B. Swann, Oxford University Press)

Indicative secondary reading

J. Griffin, ‘The social function of Attic tragedy’, Classical Quarterly 48 (1998), 39–61
H.C. Baldry, ‘The dramatization of the Theban legend’, Greece and Rome 3 (1956), 24–37
R. Buxton, Myths and Tragedies in their Ancient Greek Contexts (Oxford, 2013)
M. Lloyd (ed.), Oxford Readings in Aeschylus (Oxford, 2007)
C. Sourvinou-Inwood, ‘Assumptions and the creation of meaning: reading Sophocles’ Antigone’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 109 (1989), 134–48
H.P. Foley, ‘Tragedy and democratic ideology: the case of Sophocles’ Antigone’, in B. Goff (ed.), History, Tragedy, Theory: Dialogues on Athenian Drama (Austin, 1995), 131–50
E.R. Dodds, ‘On misunderstanding Oedipus Rex’, Greece and Rome 13 (1966), 37–49
P. Burian, ‘Suppliant and saviour: Oedipus at Colonus’, Phoenix 28 (1974), 408–29
L.A. Swift, ‘Sexual and familial distortion in Euripides’ Phoenissae’, Transactions of the American Philological Association 139 (2009), 53–87

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.