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2021/2022

The Theatre in Greece

Code: 104208 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2503702 Ancient Studies OB 3 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Carmen Sanchez Mañas
Email:
Carmen.Sanchez.Manas@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

It is highly recommended -but not essential- that students enrolling in this subject have previously passed all the Greek language subjects included in the teaching plan for the 1st and 2nd academic years of the Bachelor's Degree in Ancient Sciences.

Instrumental knowledge of the most common modern languages in the specialised bibliography of Classical Studies (English, French, Italian and, to a lesser extent, German) is also recommended, given that readings in these languages will be proposed.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This course is part of the subject "Greek Philology" and is taught in the first semester of the 3rd year of the Bachelor's Degree in Ancient Sciences. It is a compulsory subject, the contents of which are considered fundamental for the students' philological training.


The formative objectives of this subject are twofold:
1r) To contextualise the origin and development of the Greek dramatic genre in the context of Greek literature.
2n) To acquire an in-depth knowledge of the characteristics of the Greek dramatic genre in its two variants - tragedy and comedy - through the translation and commentary of a selection of representative texts of its main authors and works.

 

Competences

  • Apply grammatical knowledge acquired in the analysis and comprehension of Latin and Greek texts.
  • Interpret texts written in Latin and Greek to understand the history and Classical civilisations.
  • Interrelate linguistic, historical and archaeological knowledge of the ancient world with knowledge of other areas of the humanities, mainly ancient literature, philosophy and art.
  • Make a commentary on a literary texts applying knowledge of genres, metrics and stylistics.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Develop comprehensive commentaries on a particular aspect of the Greek world based on a reading of the texts proposed.
  2. Extract information from the Greek texts on features of the Greek imaginary, ways of thinking and mentality.
  3. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  4. Translate fragments of the Greek works proposed.
  5. Write a stylistic commentary on a Greek text.

Content

The contents of this course are organised around three axes:

 

1. A theoretical framework, which aims at contextualising the Greek dramatic genre as a performance and which will be developed in accordance with the following topics:

Origins of Greek drama: tragedy and comedy

Context of representation of tragedy and comedy

Myth and drama

Characteristics of tragedy. Main authors and works

Characteristics of ancient comedy. The work of Aristophanes.

Persistence and tradition of Greek drama in Western culture.

 

2. Translation practice (ca. 50 verses/day) based on a selection of texts proposed by the teacher. The main theme of the anthology will be "Women and power". Specifically, the following passages will be translated:

 

TEXT 1. The Barbarian Queen: Atossa in Aeschylus' Persiand [x177].

v. 155-255: the premonitory dream of Atossa

v. 681-758: dialogue between the ghost of Darius and Atossa

 

TEXT 2. Women against the tyrant in Sophocles' Antigona. [x 390]

v. 1-100: Dialogue between Antigone and Ismene.

v. 162-210: Creon appears before a crowd of Thebans and issues his first edict.

v. 334-366: In praise of the human being.

v. 441-470: Creon, aware that Antigone has buried the body of Polynices, confronts her, but she not only acknowledges her guilt, but also argues and justifies her actions.

v. 683-723: Haemon tries to convince his father to desist from his intention to kill Antigone.

v. 883-928: Antigone's last words.

v. 1033-1090: Creon confronts Tiresias, who reveals terrible predictions against Creon and his family.

 

TEXT 3. Feminine ways of overcoming in Euripides' Medea [x 258].

v. 1-48: The wet nurse introduces the plot of the tragedy by recalling how Medea arrived in Corinth at Jason's side, and exposes the misfortune that now afflicts her master: Jason has decided to repudiate Medea and take as his wife the daughter of the king of Corinth.

v. 465-592: Medea returns his decision to Jàson, as she has done many things for him. Jason responds to Medea's harsh accusations and defends his decision by claiming that the new marriage will provide better welfare for all of them, particularly his children.

v. 764-806: Medea has managed to get Aegeus, king of Athens, to swear an oath to take her in, and now she is ready to carry out her revenge: first she will kill her bride and then - a terrible decision - her own children.

v. 1040-1080: Medea approaches her children for the last time and seems, for moments, incapable of carrying out the fatal assassination.

 

TEXT 4. Women in ecstasy. The Bacchantes [x 223].

v. 215-232: Penteu doubts the divine character of Dionysus.

v. 677-774: The Bacchantes are stalking the shepherds.

v. 1043-1152: The messenger tells of Pentaeus' death.

 

TEXT 5. A conjugal love scene in Aristophanes' Lysistrata [x 139] TEXT 5.

v. 840-979: Dialogue between Kinesias and his wife Mirrina.

 

TOTAL NUMBER OF VERSES TO BE TRANSLATED: 1187.

 

3. Reading in translation of the following works:

Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes.

Sophocles, Oedipus Rex.

Euripides, Medea.

Aristophanes, The Clouds.

Methodology

The teaching methodology of this course will consist of alternating theoretical explanations of the syllabus with translation and commentary on the selection of passages.

The anthology of texts will be available in the classroom moodle space. According to the plan, students are expected to translate at a rate of around 24 verses per hour [24 verses x 55 hours of autonomous translation = 1320].

Students must submit a literary review of the comedy The Clouds by Aristophanes.



Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Exposició de temes teòrics 10 0.4 1, 2
Traducció i comentari de textos 40 1.6 1, 5, 4
Type: Supervised      
Tutories d'orientació per a fitxa de lectura 5.5 0.22 1, 3
Type: Autonomous      
Confecció d'una fitxa de lectura 15 0.6 1, 3
Lectura de fonts complementàries 5 0.2 1, 2
Lectures en traducció de les obres proposades 15 0.6 1, 2
Traducció de l'antologia de textos 55 2.2 1, 5, 2, 4

Assessment

1. Assessment activities

Assessment is a continuous process during which students must be able to see their progress by means of partial marks. The following activities will be taken into account for the assessment of this subject:

-two translation and literary commentary exams distributed throughout the course [35% +35%].

-A reading control of the three plays included as course readings [10%].

-A reading test of Aristophanes' The Clouds [10%].

-Class attendance and participation [10%].

 

2. Re-evaluation process

Students will have the right to be re-assessed for the course provided that:

-have completed 2/3 of the proposed assessment activities.

-have obtained an average mark equal to or higher than 3.5.

-They can recover: a translation exam (35%), the reading control (10%) and the literary worksheet (10%).

Students are obliged to consult the grade report of the course before the end of the course to ensure that there has been no error in the transfer of grades by the teacher.

 

3. Plagiarism

In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be initiated. If there are several irregularities in the assessment acts of the same subject, the final mark for this will be 0.

 

4.Virtual or hybrid teaching

If the tests cannot be taken face-to-face, the format will be adapted (while maintaining the weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB's virtual facilities. Assignments, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussions of exercises through Moodle, Teams, etc. The teaching staff will ensure that students can access them or will offer them alternative means that are available to them.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assistència i participació a classe 10% 0 0 1, 2, 4
Control de lectura de les lectures obligatòries 10% 1.5 0.06 1, 2
Examen I 35% 1.5 0.06 5, 4
Examen II 35% 1.5 0.06 5, 4
Presentació d'una fitxa de lectura 10% 0 0 5, 2, 3

Bibliography

ADRADOS, F.R. (1983). Fiesta, comedia y tragedia. Madrid.

ALSINA, J. (1971). Tragedia, religión y mito entre los griegos. Barcelona.

ARTIGAS, E.; HOMAR, R. (2016). L'escena antiga. Martorell.

BAÑULS, J. V.; DE MARTINO, F.; MORENILLA, A. (eds) (1998-2014) sèrie: El teatro clásico en el marco de la cultura griega y su pervivencia en la cultura occidental. XVII volums. Bari.

BEYE, CH.R. (ed.) (1984). La tragedia greca. Guida storica e critica. Roma-Bari.

BUDELMANN, F. (1999). The Language of Sophocles. Communality, Communication and Involvement.

Cambridge.

CASSIO, A.C. (ed.) (2008). Storia delle lingue letterarie greche. Firenze.

CLAUSS, J.J.; JOHNSTON, S.I. (eds.) (1997). Medea: Essays on Medea in myth, literature, philosophy and art. Princeton N.J.

COLVIN, S. (1999). Dialect in Aristophanes : and the politics of language in ancient Greek literature. Oxford.

CSAPO, E. - SLATER, W.J. (1994). The Context of Ancient Drama. Michigan.

EASTERLING, P.E. (ed.) (1997). The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge.

GARCÍA NOVO, E.; RODRÍGUEZ ALFAGEME, I. (eds) (1998). Dramaturgia y puesta en escena en el teatro griego. Madrid.

GREGORY, J. (ed.) (2005). A Companion to Greek Tragedy. Oxford.

GUZMÁN GUERRA, A. (2005). Introducción al teatro griego. Madrid.

IERANÒ, G. (2010). La Tragedia greca: origini, storia, rinascite. Salerno.

JAKOB, D. - SAÏD, S. (1988). "Dossier Bibliografique sur la Tragédie". Métis3/1-2, 361-512.

LESKY, A. (1973). La tragedia griega. Barcelona.

LÓPEZ FÉREZ, J.A. (ed.) (1988). Historia de la literatura griega. Madrid.

LUCAS, D.W. (1969). The Greek Tragic Poets. London.

McDONALD, M.; WALTON, J.M. (eds.) (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre. Cambridge; New York.

MOLINARI, C. (ed.) (1994). Il teatro greco nell'età di Pericle. Bologna.

OUDEMANS, TH.C.W. - LARDINOIS, A.P.M.H. (1987). Tragic Ambiguity. Anthropology, Philosophy and Sophocles' Antigone. Leiden, New York, Köln.

PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE, A. (19732). The Dramatic Festivals of Athens. Oxford (1953).

RABINOWITZ, N.S. (2008). Greek Tragedy. Malden.

REINHARDT, K. (2010). Sófocles. Madrid.

REVERMANN, M. (ed.) (2014). The Cambridge companion to Greek comedy. Cambridge.

ROISMAN, H.M. (ed.) (2014). The Encyclopedia of Greek tragedy, I-III. Chichester.

ROMILLY, J. DE (1990). La tragédie grecque. Paris.

- (1971). Les temps dans la tragédie grecque. Paris.

VARA DONADO, J. (1996). Origen de la tragedia griega. Cáceres.

VERNANT, J.-P.; VIDAL-NAQUET, P. (1987-1989). Mito y tragedia en Grecia Antigua, I-II. Madrid (Paris 1972-1986).

VICENTE SÁNCHEZ, A.; BELTRÁN CEBOLLADA, J. A. (eds) (2010). Grecia y Roma a escena. El teatro grecolatino: actualización y perspectivas. Madrid.

VICKERS, B. (1973). Towards Greek Tragedy. Drama, Myth, Society. London.

 

Bibliografia sobre mètrica

DALE, A.M. (19682). The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama. Cambridge.

GENTILI, B.; NERUSINO, F. (eds.) (1999). La colometria antica dei testi poetici greci. Pisa.

GUZMÁN GUERRA, A. (1997). Manual de métrica griega. Madrid.

RAVEN, D.S. (19682). Greek Metre. An Introduction. London.

WEST, M.L. (1982). Greek Metre. Oxford.

- (1987). Introduction to Greek Metre. Oxford.

 

A aquesta bibliogràfica bàsica cal afegir les edicions dels textos i els manuals de contingut, literari, lingüístic o mitològic, així com els comentaris de cada autor i de cadascuna de les tragèdies i/o comèdies tractades.

 

Enllaços d'interès

 

ARTICLES DEL WEB DE LICEUS

MELERO A., "La comedia.Orígenes de la comedia. Características generales".

RAMÓN PALERM, V., "Aristófanes y otros poetas de la comedia antigua".

RAMÓN PALERM, V., "Aristófanes y otros poetas de la comedia antigua".

VARIAS, C., "La tragedia. Orígenes de la tragedia. Características generales de la tragedia griega. La tragedia

anterior a Esquilo", Madrid 2005: http://www.liceus.com/ (pàgina web de Liceus) Biblioteca virtual

"E-excellence". 17 pág. ISBN: 84-9822-193-5.

VARIAS, C., "Esquilo", Madrid 2005: http://www.liceus.com/ (pàgina web de Liceus: Servicios de Gestión y

Comunicación, S.L.) Biblioteca virtual "E-excellence". 21 pág. ISBN: 84-9822-089-0.

VARIAS, C., "Sófocles", Madrid 2005: http://www.liceus.com/ (pàgina web de Liceus: Servicios de Gestión y

Comunicación, S.L.) Biblioteca virtual "E-excellence". 24 pág. ISBN: 84-9822-121-8.

VICENTE, A., "Eurípides", Madrid: http://www.liceus.com/ (pàgina web de Liceus: Servicios de Gestión y

Comunicación, S.L.) Biblioteca virtual "E-excellence". 24 pág. ISBN: 84-9822-581-7.

 

PÀGINES SOBRE TEATRE GREC

http://www.xtec.cat/~sgiralt/labyrinthus/graecia/littera/drama.htm

http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/theater.html

 

TRES BREUS INTRODUCCIONS AL DRAMA GREC DEL NATIONAL THEATRE DE LONDRES:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSRLK7SogvE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSr6mP-zxUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-BvMbfkxcc

Software

If required (online or hybrid teaching), Teams.