The research paper for undergraduates should be 7-10 pages, or 1750-2500 words, and the research paper for graduate students should be 12-15 pages, or 3600-4500 words.

What about deadlines? Will we need to be available to come on line at a specific time?

You will not be required to come on line at a specific time, as this class does not use chat rooms, conference software, or other "synchronous" (that is, everybody at the same time) technology. You will, however, be required to meet specific deadlines for weekly assignments posted on the class discussion board, which will be due at or before midnight (Central Time Zone) every Wednesday and Friday throughout the semester.

Because these assignments are part of an ongoing group discussion, you should look upon the discussion board as our "classroom" and your posts on the board as "class participation." As with discussion in a traditional seminar, we will talk, or in this case write, together as a group about texts that we are all reading at a given time. Therefore, it is important that you come to class--or to the discussion board--prepared, having completed the assigned reading and ready to write about it. It is equally important that we all stay on the same subject. For that reason, discussion posts will receive no credit if you miss the deadline. There is enough flexibility built into the grading system that a couple of missed posts will not sink your grade; several missed posts, however, will deal your grade a serious hit.

Because the class is designed as a group effort, you will not be allowed to get access to discussion questions the week before they are posted, even if you are going out of town or will be otherwise occupied during one of the weeks of the semester. The whole idea behind the discussion board is to interact with one another and bounce off each other's ideas, and you can't bounce off other people's ideas if you're working ahead of them. Keep in mind, however, that you should be able to access the class from any computer, so being out of town isn't necessarily a problem. Many hotels have a business center that will provide internet access free of charge or for a minimal fee. Public libraries almost always offer computer use, and many cities have internet cafes. The software works equally well for PC and Mac computers, so that isn't a concern. Just don't forget to write down the web address of the class and take it with you, or save it somewhere in your e-mail system where you can get to it at a remote location!

I don't care whether you purchase the audio or the video version, since the content is identical, but please see my comments above before you decide upon which format you want. Honestly, I don't think you want the video unless it drives you crazy if you can't see the person you're listening to.

Do not attempt to save money by purchasing translations other than the ones I have requested here. I don't care how cheap it is (and yes, I'm quite aware of the fact that you can pick up really cheap "bargain" editions of Greek tragedies at used book stores. But there's usually a reason they are so cheap). Believe me, you will not save in the long run! There's nothing more boring and dry than a bad translation of a Greek tragedy, just as there can be nothing more thrilling and inspiring than a good one. What's more, not all translators are true to the original text. If you get a bad translation, you might make assumptions about a play that simply aren't true. That could hurt your grade, not to mention your knowledge of the subject. It will also hurt the other students enrolled in the class: in the worst-case scenario you will be spreading false information, and at best you will make it impossible for others to follow up on your examples because your book's pagination, line numbers, and even words will be different. That's not fair to you or to your classmates.

I have personally reviewed all of the translations below and I have good reasons for choosing each of them.

Required textbooks (but not the lecture tapes) are available at the university bookstore and at Thompson's.

A note about the Penguin texts: Penguin has just redesigned their covers and they look very different, but the inside material is identical with older editions. If you already own the Penguin edition of The Oresteia or The Three Theban Plays, it's okay to use the one you've got as long as it's the Fagles translation. Don't use it if it's the old Philip Vellacott translation.

Aeschylus, The Oresteia, trans. Robert Fagles (Penguin Books). We will read all three plays. This book's ISBN is 0140443339.

Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays, trans. Robert Fagles (Penguin Books). We will read Oedipus the King and Antigone. ISBN 0140444254.

Sophocles, Women of Trachis, trans. C.K. Williams and Gregory W. Dickerson (Oxford University Press). ISBN 0195070097. This excellent translation has gone out of print, but there are plenty of used copies kicking around. You'll need to purchase it on line, as the bookstore can't order out-of-print books. When I checked a few days ago, Best Book Buys was advertising several used copies of this edition at under ten dollars.

Sophocles, Sophocles: Three Dramas of Old Age: Elektra, Philoktetes, Oidipous at Kolonos with Trackers, ed. Michael Ewans (Everyman Books). ISBN 0460877429. We will read Elektra.

Euripides, Euripides: Four Plays,ed. Stephen Esposito (Focus Classical Library). We will read Medea, Hippolytus, and Bacchae. ISBN 158510048X.

We will also read or watch Euripides' Trojan Women. I strongly recommend Michael Cacoyannis's 1971 film, which is excellent. New and used copies are being offered at reasonable prices by Amazon.com.

Aristophanes, Aristophanes: The Wasps, The Poet and the Women, The Frogs, trans. David Barrett (Penguin Books). ISBN 0140441522. We will read The Frogs, but I will also recommend The Poet and the Women as an option. Both plays heavily satirize Euripides.