Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
* synthesize information about the various versions of the Oedipus myth;
* demonstrate critical understanding of the prescribed plays as works of literature;
* evaluate modern interpretations of the prescribed plays;
* contribute constructively to group discussion;
* construct relevant and analytical written work on the prescribed plays.

Indicative Module Content:

Lectures

Week

1. Introduction
2. Early versions of the Oedipus story
3. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (Eteocles and the women)
4. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (shield scene)
5. Sophocles, Antigone (Creon)
6. Sophocles, Antigone (Antigone)
7. Sophocles, Oedipus the King (myth)
8. No lecture
9. Sophocles, Oedipus the King (Oedipus; fate)
10. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
11. Euripides, The Phoenician Women
12. No lecture

Tutorials

Week

1. No tutorial
2. No tutorial
3. The social and political context of Greek tragedy
4. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
5. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes
6. Sophocles, Antigone
7. Sophocles, Oedipus the King
8. No tutorial
9. Discussion of essay topics
10. Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus
11. Euripides, The Phoenician Women
12. No tutorial

Student Effort Type	Hours
Lectures	10
Tutorial	8
Specified Learning Activities	35
Autonomous Student Learning	47
Total	100

Not applicable to this module.

Incompatibles:
GRC3006E - Myth & Tragedy in Ancient Gree, GRC30200 - Greek Tragedy and Myth


 

Assessment Strategy  

Description	Timing		Component Scale		% of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Tutorial attendance and participation	Throughout the Trimester	n/a	Graded	No	30
Essay: 2,000-word essay	Coursework (End of Trimester)	n/a	Graded	No	70

 

Resit In	Terminal Exam
Spring	No

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

Feedback on the written assignment will be sent to the students through Brightspace as soon as possible after submission, which will typically be within one week for this module. The lecturer will be available to give further individual feedback on request.

Prescribed texts

Early Versions of the Oedipus Story (handout)
Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes (in Persians and Other Plays tr. C. Collard, Oxford World’s Classics)
Sophocles, Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (in The Three Theban Plays tr. R. Fagles)
Euripides, The Phoenician Women (tr. P. Burian & B. Swann, Oxford University Press)

Indicative secondary reading

J. Griffin, ‘The social function of Attic tragedy’, Classical Quarterly 48 (1998), 39–61
H.C. Baldry, ‘The dramatization of the Theban legend’, Greece and Rome 3 (1956), 24–37
R. Buxton, Myths and Tragedies in their Ancient Greek Contexts (Oxford, 2013)
M. Lloyd (ed.), Oxford Readings in Aeschylus (Oxford, 2007)
C. Sourvinou-Inwood, ‘Assumptions and the creation of meaning: reading Sophocles’ Antigone’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 109 (1989), 134–48
H.P. Foley, ‘Tragedy and democratic ideology: the case of Sophocles’ Antigone’, in B. Goff (ed.), History, Tragedy, Theory: Dialogues on Athenian Drama (Austin, 1995), 131–50
E.R. Dodds, ‘On misunderstanding Oedipus Rex’, Greece and Rome 13 (1966), 37–49
P. Burian, ‘Suppliant and saviour: Oedipus at Colonus’, Phoenix 28 (1974), 408–29
L.A. Swift, ‘Sexual and familial distortion in Euripides’ Phoenissae’, Transactions of the American Philological Association 139 (2009), 53–87

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