Greek Tragedy

Greek Tragedy

English 4910/5910 - WWW class, Fall 2003
Dr. Susan Spencer, University of Central Oklahoma

- General Information on Assignments and Required Texts -

All students must have an e-mail address and access to the internet. Please contact Dr. Spencer at tragedy@miscellanies.org if you have any questions about the class that are not answered here. You can also use the UCO e-mail address of sspencer@ucok.edu, but the tragedy account was set up especially for correspondence pertaining to this class.

Detailed descriptions of the assignments and deadlines can be accessed through the class home page, but read this page first.

What plays will we study?

English 4910/5910 is a study of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. We will read twelve plays during the course of the semester: three tragedies by Aeschylus, four each by Sophocles and Euripides, and Aristophanes' comedy The Frogs, which satirizes the great tragic playwrights. You will find information on specific plays and editions on the list further down on this page.

What texts will we use?

In addition to the play scripts, we will be using an audio book instead of a standard paper textbook. You can purchase this either as a cassette tape, an audio CD, a videotape, or DVD (depending on your needs and your budget), so you will need access at least once a week to a reliable cassette or CD player or a VCR or DVD player.

What are the writing requirements?

The writing requirements will be as follows. All written work except for the quiz responses will be posted on line so you can read and respond to each other's work. You must be willing to agree to this in order to meet the class requirements. The grades you receive on any assignments will, of course, be completely confidential.

Undergraduate students:

one quiz per week

two discussion board posts per week, in response to questions asked by the instructor

responses to two reviews of academic articles or chapters posted by graduate students

end-of-semester research paper (to be converted for on-line viewing)

Graduate students:

one quiz per week

two or three discussion posts per week

one original discussion question, posted to the board with input from the instructor

two reviews of academic articles or chapters

end-of-semester research paper (to be converted for on-line viewing)

Wondering if an online course is right for you? You might want to take a look at this page of helpful Tips for Online Success provided by the Illinois Online Network, or this quiz, Is Online Learning for me? from Colorado Community College. These links will open a new window on your browser.

Required texts for Greek Tragedy

Tapes In addition to the tragedies themselves, this class requires a background "text," Professor Elizabeth Vandiver's tapes on Greek Tragedy. These must be purchased directly through The Teaching Company. I don't care whether you purchase the audio or the video version, since the content is identical. You will notice that the price quoted on the web page is over $100, so don't order through the web page! Call the 800 number directly to get a 70% discount. If you didn't receive my e-mail message on how to get the discount, please contact me immediately at tragedy@miscellanies.org

Optional: You might also want to purchase Prof. Vandiver's lectures on Classical Mythology, which would make an excellent companion piece and would help you understand the mythological context of the tragedies. These are on sale through The Teaching Company's website at the 70% off price until July 31. You can buy both sets bundled together, either by phone or on the web, at the 70% discount (you will not need to call the 800 number if you buy both sets of tapes).

Books You can often get a better deal on book prices on the web if you comparison shop through Best Book Buys. The link to Best Book Buys will open a new window on your browser.

A note about translations

Please do not attempt to save money by purchasing translations other than the ones I have listed 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 for the low price). 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.

I had a couple of students last year who insisted on using free versions off the internet. One was unable to slog through the reading and did not pass the class. The other consistently did poorly on the weekly quizzes and was often off-base in the discussion questions, which became a problem for everybody involved. Do not try to cut corners in this way or I can guarantee you will regret it.

I have personally reviewed all of the translations below. In my opinion they are the best affordable paperback translations available today that combine readability and accuracy, and I have very good reasons for choosing the translations that I did.

Required textbooks (but not the Vandiver tapes) will be available at the university bookstore and at Thompson's as soon as the fall textbooks are on the shelves.

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

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

Euripides, Euripides: Ten Plays, trans. Paul Roche (Penguin: Signet Classics). We will read Medea, Hippolytus, The Trojan Women, and Bacchae. ISBN 0451527003

Aristophanes, Aristophanes: The Wasps, The Poet and the Women, The Frogs, trans. David Barrett (Penguin Books). We will read The Frogs. ISBN 0140441522

Face-to-Face Meeting

Last year, a number of students requested a face-to-face meeting on campus, so I have arranged for "dinner and a movie" on Monday, November 3. At 5:30 p.m. in the Liberal Arts building's Pegasus Theater, I will be showing Michael Cacoyannis's brilliant film version of Euripides' Trojan Women, which we will be reading and discussing that week. After the film, at 7:30, we will convene in Liberal Arts suite 105, send out for pizza, and socialize. Bring your own drinks, or you can purchase something from the vending machines in the hall. Bring Kleenex, too--the play is sad. This meeting is not required, but I hope everyone will show up. It should be a lot of fun, and the Cacoyannis film really is amazing.

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