CL4435 Greek Theatre

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Available to General Degree students with the permission of the Honours Adviser

Planned timetable

TBC

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr J P Hesk

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr J Hesk

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The extensive and elaborate funding and organization that lay behind Athens' theatrical festivals can tell us a lot about Athenian society. Material and textual evidence for the theatres' layout, stage conventions and framing ceremonies are crucial for the interpretation of Greek drama. This module will combine study of the Greek theatre's physical, ideological, religious and economic status with close reading of selected plays to address fundamental questions: why were tragedy, comedy, satyr plays and dithyrambs staged under auspices of Dionysus? Was Greek theatre specifically 'democratic' or more generally 'civic' in terms of its character, organization and sociology? How and why did Greek drama change and spread beyond Athens' borders? Did these dramatic genres speak to Athenians' own lives or take them to different realms though its myths and fantasies? This module is not just about reading the set plays in translation, then. And the first few weeks focus on the historical sources for, and some material culture of, the rituals, finances and politics of the theatre in classical Attica. It thereby draws on the latest research and eschews arbitrary boundaries between 'literature' and 'history'. The module offers fresh perspectives and skills, regardless of your degree programme.

Assessment pattern

3-hour Written Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 x 2-hour seminar.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Identify, describe and interpret a range of sources and play texts which are crucial for understanding the social, political, religious and economic role of theatrical festivals in Classical Athens.
  • Analyse the relationship between genre, context and meaning in a selection of set plays;
  • Show, ideally, a sophisticated understanding of the problems of evidence and interpretation which attend the study of specific plays and sources
  • Analyse and critically evaluate published research on Greek Theatre
  • Devise coherent and critically aware arguments both orally and in writing on key aspects of Greek Theatre via a thorough analysis of the set primary sources and texts and the evaluation of relevant published scholarship.