University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 1

Availability restrictions: Available to General Degree students with the permission of the Honours Adviser

Planned timetable: TBC

The extensive and elaborate funding and organization that lay behind Athens' theatrical festivals can tell us a lot about Athenian society. Material and textual evidence for the theatres' layout, stage conventions and framing ceremonies are crucial for the interpretation of Greek drama. This module will combine study of the Greek theatre's physical, ideological, religious and economic status with close reading of selected plays to address fundamental questions: why were tragedy, comedy, satyr plays and dithyrambs staged under auspices of Dionysus? Was Greek theatre specifically 'democratic' or more generally 'civic' in terms of its character, organization and sociology? How and why did Greek drama change and spread beyond Athens' borders? Did these dramatic genres speak to Athenians' own lives or take them to different realms though its myths and fantasies? This module is not just about reading the set plays in translation, then. And the first few weeks focus on the historical sources for, and some material culture of, the rituals, finances and politics of the theatre in classical Attica. It thereby draws on the latest research and eschews arbitrary boundaries between 'literature' and 'history'. The module offers fresh perspectives and skills, regardless of your degree programme.

Relationship to other modules

Anti-requisite(s): You cannot take this module if you take CL4416

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 x 2-hour seminar.

Scheduled learning hours: 22

Guided independent study hours: 278

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 3-hour Written Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 50%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 50%

Personnel

Module teaching staff: Dr J Hesk