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GRK30090

Academic Year 2024/2025

Greek Texts: Euripides (GRK30090)

Subject:
Greek
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Classics
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Professor Michael Lloyd
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module focuses on Euripides' Medea, to be studied in the original Greek. The play, first performed in 431 BC, is one of the most famous and powerful Greek tragedies, and deals with the role of women, the problem of revenge, and Greek attitudes to foreigners. Classes will be devoted to reading the text and discussing points of interest. Students will be expected to prepare a section of the text for each class, and to be able to translate and discuss it.

About this Module

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:

Indicative Coursework Essay Titles

(a) ‘A bourgeois quarrel between an obtusely selfish man and an over-passionate woman’ (D.W. Lucas). How adequate is this as an account of Euripides’ Medea?

(b) ‘Medea is quite certain that the gods will support her punishment of Jason. And the final surprising appearance of the chariot of the sun seems to prove her right’ (Helene Foley). Discuss.


Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

54

Autonomous Student Learning

28

Lectures

18

Total

100


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

The module is taught in small classes, typically 2-3 students, and focuses on reading the text in Greek and discussing points of interest. There will be 18 classes in total.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

Students taking this module should have completed GRK20140 Intermediate Greek or equivalent.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Greek Texts: Euripides (GRK10070)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): 50-minute class test (translation and comment) Week 5 Graded No
35
No
Exam (In-person): 50-minute class test (translation and comment) Week 11 Graded No
35
No
Assignment(Including Essay): 1,500-word essay Week 14 Graded No
30
No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
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?

Students will receive detailed individual feedback on all their assignments.

Prescribed Text

Euripides, Medea, ed. D.J. Mastronarde (Cambridge University Press, 2002)

The edition by A. Elliott (Oxford University Press, 1969) is more elementary, and has a useful vocabulary.

Recommended Secondary Literature

W. Allan, Euripides: Medea (London, 2002)
A.P. Burnett, ‘Medea and the tragedy of revenge’ Classical Philology 68 (1973), 1–24 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/268785)
–––––– , Revenge in Attic and Later Tragedy (Berkeley & Los Angeles, 1998), Ch. 8
D.J. Conacher, Euripidean Drama (Toronto, 1967), Ch. 10
H.P. Foley, ‘Medea’s Divided Self’, Classical Antiquity 8 (1989), 61–85 ≈ Female Acts in Greek Tragedy (Princeton, 2001), Ch. III.5
R. Just, Women in Athenian Law and Life (London, 1989), pp. 268–76
B.M.W. Knox, ‘The Medea of Euripides’, Yale Classical Studies 25 (1977), 193–225. Reprinted in E. Segal (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Tragedy (Oxford, 1983)

Name Role
Ms Suzanne Lynch Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 10:00 - 10:50
Spring Tutorial Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 10:00 - 10:50