The Tradition of Ancient Greek Tragedy (optional course)

Members of the intersession group

• Dr. N. Gochev
• Dr. Y. Zabudskaya
• Dr. I. Darchia

Annotation

The aim of this course is, firstly, to help the students to see the Greek tragedy as a genre, which has given the beginning of a whole and - to some extent - autonomous literary tradition. The original religious and cultural context is lost, but every epoch (and writer) had taken the extant texts as a ground for its (his/her) specific interpretation. So the course is concerned with the variability and oneness of the textual tradition.

Secondly, the course proposes a glance to the way some thinkers have spoken on the tragedy as a specific kind of art. In this way the students will have the chance to hear something about the most influential texts, concerned with the theory of ancient drama.

Thirdly, the authors of the course are interested in the way the works of the Greek poets are put on the stage; and, in general how every epoch (and artist) do imagine the figures of the plays. That’s why the course is concerned also with paintings, theatrical performances and films.

At last, the authors will propose lectures and materials, concerning the reception of the Greek drama in Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia. At this point the aim is to see what the influence of the Greek theatrical tradition on these national cultures is, and what are the reasons of the artists and translators to pay attention to some of the plays (and authors) and to neglect others.

Stages of work and deadlines

• The developed plan - 15.03.06
• Full bibliography - 1.05.06
• Syllabus - 01.07.06
• Discussion - in September

Part I: Origins of Greek Tragedy

• The Origin of Tragedy - Sources and Problems (seminars based on reading of ancient sources and students reports with abstracts on the main works on this topics) (Y. Zabudskaya)
  

Part II: Poetics of Greek Tragedy

• The Aristotle’s view on the Poetry in the Context of his Philosophy (N. Gochev)
• Colour and Greek Tragedy Scenography (I. Darchia)
• Tragedy as a local genre: peculiarities of structure, the development of dramaturgic innovations, mythological basis and historical allusions (Y. Zabudskaya)
• Tragic language: tropoi, shemata, dialect division (Y. Zabudskaya)
  

Part III: The Reception of Greek Tragedy in European Thought, Literature and Fine Arts

• Seneca and Ovid. The Greek Literature at Rome (N. Gochev)
• Renaissance Interpretations of Greek Drama (Y. Zabudskaya)
• The Female Tragedy Figures in French Classical Drama (N. Gochev, Y. Zabudskaya)
• Forming of classicists doctrine: the development of Graeco-Roman theories and innovations (5-acts division and Rule of three unities) (Y. Zabudskaya)
• The Understanding of Greek Drama in the Literary and Aesthetic Works of Goethe and Schiller (N. Gochev, Y. Zabudskaya)
• Themes of Greek Tragedy in the European Painting - XVI-XX c. (N. Gochev)
• Mythological drama of 20-th century: principles of a plot’s choice (Y. Zabudskaya)

Part IV: The Reception of Greek Tragedy in European Theatre and Cinema of XX c.

• Main directions in literary translation. History of translation: translation as interpretation of ancient texts (Y. Zabudskaya).
• The titles of the other themes will be proposed at the end of the first stage of the work

Part V: Greek Tragedy Reception in Bulgarian, Georgian and Russian Theatre of XX c.

• Some Aesthetical Aspects of Greek Tragedy Reception in Georgian Theatre of XX c. (I. Darchia)
• Some Social and Political Aspects of Greek Tragedy Interpretation in Soviet and Post-Soviet Georgia. (I. Darchia)
• Euripides “Medea” in Colchis: Peculiarities of Georgian Theatrical Interpretations. (I. Darchia)
• Russian Translations of Greek Drama (Y. Zabudskaya)
• Stylistic peculiarities of original text in translation: Aeshylus “Agamemnon” in Russia (Y. Zabudskaya).
• The interpretation of “Antigone” in the Sfumato Theatre, Bulgaria (N. Gochev)

Bibliography (Works of modern scholarship)

• P.-A. Alt. Tragödie der Aufklärung, Eine Einführung, 1994
• L. Aylen. Greek Tragedy and the Modern World, 1964
• J. Barrett. Staged Narrative. University of California Press, 2002
• I. Brooke. Costume in Greek Classic Drama. Courier Dover Publications, 2003
• J. R. Brown. The Oxford Illustrated History of Theatre. Oxford University Press, 2001
• Ders. Europa und die griechiesche Tragödie vom kultischen Spiel zum Theater der Gegenwart, 2000
• J. W. Donaldson Theatre of the Greeks. Kessinger Publishing, 2004
• P. E. Easterling (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy. Cambridge University Press, 1997
• P. E. Easterling. The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. Cambridge University Press, 1989
• S. Goldhill. Reading Greek Tragedy. Cambridge University Press, 1986
• L. Goldstein. The Origin of Medieval Drama. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2004
• J. Gregory (ed.). A Companion to Greek Tragedy, 2005
• E.Hall, F. Macintosh, A. Wrigley, Ed. Dionysus Since 69. Oxford University Press, 2004
• K. V. Hartigan. Greek Tragedy on the American Stage. Greenwood Press, 1995
• J. H. Huddilston. Greek Tragedy in the Light of Vase Paintings. Macmillan, 1898
• E. F. Jourdain. An Introduction to the French Classical Drama. Clarendon Press, 1912
• H. A. Kelly. Ideas and forms of Tragedy from Aristotle to the Middle Ages, 1993
• S. V. Longman. Drama As Rhetoric Rhetoric As Drama. University of Alabama Press, 1998
• K. MacKinnon, Greek Tragedy and into Film, 1986
• M. McDonald. Ancient Sun, Modern Light. Greek Drama on the Modern Stage, 1992
• K. S. Misra. Modern Tragedies and Aristotle’s Theory, 1981
• C. Mueller-Goldingen. Studien zum antiken Drama, Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2005
• Martha C. Nussbaum. The Fragility of Goodness. Cambridge University Press, 2001
• Iv. Nyusztay. Myth, Telos, Identity. The Tragic Schema in Greek and Shakespearean Drama. Rodopi, 2002
• R. Rehm. Play of Space: Spatial Transformation in Greek Tragedy. Princeton University Press, 2002
• Al. Scobie. Hitler's State Architecture: The Impact of Classical Antiquity. Penn State Press, 1990.
• O. Taplin. Greek Tragedy in Action. Routledge (UK), 2002
• J. M. Walton. A Greek Sense of Theatre. Routledge (UK), 1996
• M. L. West. Ancient Greek Music. Oxford University Press, 1994
• K. J. Wetmore. Black Dionysus. McFarland & Company, 2003
• R. Williams. Modern Tragedy, 1992
• Ch.Whitmore. Supernatural in Tragedy. Kessinger Publishing, 2004