The Greeks: Drama and Lyric

The Greeks: Drama and Lyric covers the beginning of drama and some of the earliest comedies and tragedies known to the Western world. This course includes lectures on the three primary tragedians from the Ancient Greek world by Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides and also one of the most famous writers of Greek comedy, Aristophanes. The course also offers an introduction to Greek lyric poetry from the same era, including passages by Pindar, Sappho, and Quintus of Smyrna. A lecture on the minor epic poetry of Hesiod is also included as a complement to part Greeks: The Epics.

Course Objectives:

To become proficient in the conversational approach to learning: close readings, interpretive questions, and Socratic discussions of the texts. 2. To gain a grasp of the literary figures and the historical framework of the time period. 3. To develop lateral thinking skills by analyzing and synthesizing themes and motifs. 4. To cultivate an appetite for learning as a way of life (the life of the mind). 5. To cultivate a desire to pursue the highest things. 6. To be able to think Christianly and write persuasively about perennial human questions.

Texts or Required Materials:

• Aeschylus (The Oresteia)
• Sophocles (Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus)
• Aristophanes (The Clouds & The Frogs)
• Euripides (The Medea and The Trojan Women)
• Sappho & Pindar (various poems & odes)
• Theocritus (Idyls I, VI, VII, and XI)
• Hesiod (Works and Days)
• Quintus of Smyrna (The Fall of Troy)
• Apollonius of Rhodes (The Argonautica)

Materials for this course will be made available free of charge by the instructor.