Greek Tragedy

Overview

Course No. 217

Explore the enduring power of Greek tragedy through this 24-lecture course by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver. Delve into the masterpieces of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides that have captivated audiences for 2,500 years and influenced thinkers from Aristotle to Freud.

These lectures examine tragedy’s origins in 5th-century BCE Athens, its cultural context, and its profound exploration of the human condition. You’ll analyze landmark works like Oedipus Rex, Medea, and The Oresteia while discovering how these plays were originally performed and why they remain relevant today.

Video Lectures

01: Tragedy Defined (32 min)

Examine the fundamental nature of tragedy and its emergence in Golden Age Athens.

02: Democracy, Culture, and Tragedy (31 min)

Explore how Athenian democracy and social values shaped tragic drama.

03: Roots of a Genre (31 min)

Investigate tragedy’s possible origins in Dionysian rituals and other sources.

04: Production and Stagecraft (32 min)

Reconstruct the experience of attending a 5th-century tragic performance.

05: Aeschylus—Creator of an Art Form (31 min)

Study Aeschylus’s pioneering contributions through his earliest surviving plays.

06: “The Oresteia”—Mythic Background (30 min)

Learn the Trojan War and House of Atreus myths underlying this trilogy.

07: “The Oresteia”—”Agamemnon” (31 min)

Analyze themes of guilt, justice, and gender in the trilogy’s first play.

08: “The Oresteia”—”Libation Bearers” and “Eumenides” (32 min)

Trace how Aeschylus resolves moral conflicts in the trilogy’s conclusion.

09: A Master of Spectacle (31 min)

Appreciate Aeschylus’s innovative use of stagecraft and special effects.

10: The Three “Electras” (31 min)

Compare how Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides treated the Electra story.

11: The Sophoclean Hero (31 min)

Examine Sophocles’ signature isolated heroes through Ajax.

12: Antigone and Creon (31 min)

Debate conflicts between divine/human law in this Theban tragedy.

13: “Oedipus the King” I (31 min)

Study Sophocles’ masterful handling of the Oedipus myth’s inevitability.

14: “Oedipus the King” II (31 min)

Evaluate Freud’s and Aristotle’s influential interpretations of the play.

15: Two Tragedians, One Hero (31 min)

Contrast Sophocles’ and Euripides’ treatments of Heracles.

16: Greek Husband, Foreign Wife (31 min)

Analyze Medea‘s exploration of gender and cultural identity.

17: Phaedra, Hippolytus, and Aphrodite’s Wrath (31 min)

Examine Euripides’ inversion of Theseus’ story in Hippolytus.

18: Euripides on War and Women (31 min)

Discover Euripides’ anti-war messages in Hecuba and Trojan Women.

19: Euripides the Anti-Tragedian (30 min)

Study Euripides’ late plays that subvert tragic conventions.

20: The Last Plays of Euripides (31 min)

Explore Iphigenia at Aulis and Bacchae as final masterworks.

21: Euripides and the Gods (30 min)

Assess Euripides’ complex relationship with traditional theology.

22: The Last Plays of Sophocles (31 min)

Analyze Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus as Sophocles’ final statements.

23: Other Tragedians and a Comedian (30 min)

Consider Prometheus Bound, Rhesus, and Aristophanes’ comic insights.

24: The Tragic Legacy (29 min)

Trace Greek tragedy’s influence from Seneca to modern revivals.