Module Content and Indicative Topics

On this interdisciplinary module, you will consider some important ways in which Europe has shaped the world and has in...

This module examines the development of modern social theory by looking in detail at the ideas of European thinkers such as Rousseau, Marx, Freud,...

This module examines the development of modern social theory by looking in detail at the ideas of European thinkers such as Rousseau, Marx, Freud, Lévi-Strauss, and Laclau and Mouffe.

It investigates how these thinkers conceived of society and social change, exploring themes such as inequality,historical materialism and capitalism, civilisation and taboo, cultural diversity, the subject and the social, and democracy. It also explores the methodological and philosophical premises of social theory.

Ancient Greek|Ancient Languages and Cultures|Classics|Comparative Literary Studies

Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 8 weekly lectures and 2 weeks of seminars where the class will split into two groups. 

Content: The...

Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 8 weekly lectures and 2 weeks of seminars where the class will split into two groups. 

Content: The module will study a representative selection of ancient Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides in translation. We will also read Aristotle’s Poetics and consider its value for navigating Greek tragedy. The module meets once a week, for two hours. The first hour will usually include a lecture and/or student presentations; the second will be a seminar in format, involving open discussion and close reading of relevant passages. For each session students are expected to have read at least TWO of the items of scholarship in addition to the relevant play(s), and to discuss the questions arising in class. This module aims to introduce students to the hugely influential genre of Athenian tragedy, both through close reading of the plays, and by locating them within their broader literary, performative, intellectual, political and religious contexts.

Skills: By the end of the module, the students should have learnt how to engage in close reading of the texts and make effective use of secondary bibliography in order to analyse and understand the content and context of Greek tragedy. They should be able to read the texts independently and present their conclusions in a coherent and thoughtful manner both orally and in writing.

Introductory reading:

E. Hall Greek Tragedy: Suffering Under the Sun (Oxford, 2010); R. Scodel An Introduction to Greek Tragedy (Cambridge, 2010); S. Goldhill, Reading Greek Tragedy (Cambridge, 1986); The Poetics of Greek Tragedy, M. Heath (London, 1987).

*NB: Greek Tragedy is run biennially and rotates with Greek Comedy in alternate years. 