Roman Tragedy, Seneca: Phaedra

The aim of the course is to offer a general introduction to Roman Tragedy as well as a linguistic, a metrical analysis, and an interpretation of Seneca’s Phaedra. The course focuses on the following: 1. Seneca’s life and work: Biography, Seneca’ work (prose, tragedies) and his personality. 2. Phaedra. a) Introduction: the Hippolytus and Phaedra myth and its dramatic use, originality, content and structure, the characters (Hippolytus, Phaedra, the Nurse, Theseus), imagery, the philosophy of the tragedy, the role of nature (natura) in Phaedra, the Amazonian origin of Hippolytus, the 'geography' and the anti-racial character of Phaedra, hunters and game, the dating of the Phaedra and its political dimension, the reception of the Phaedra, the manuscript tradition and the history of Phaedra’s text, prosody and scansion, the 'cursed' generation of Phaedra, Hippolytus’ origins, Euripides’ Hippolytus the Bearer, Ovid’ fourth Heroine and its translation by Maximos Planoudes, Racine’s and Yannis Ritsos’ Phaedra. b) Text, translation, analysis and commentary of the Phaedra (verses for study from the Latin original: 85-273; 423-588; 959-990; 1123-1155. The remaining lines in translation). In the course of the lectures, emphasis is mainly given to issues of the tragic plot construction, the intertextual delineation of tragic characters, philosophy as a means of producing meaning, Seneca’s dramatic art, the integration of the dramatic narrative in the historical context of the late Neronian period, the study of the evolution of the Latin language in the post-classical period and the metrical recitation of the iambic trimeter.

Objectives

1. To familiarize the students with the basic issues related to Roman Tragedy in general, and Senecan drama in particular. 2. To familiarize the students with the history, the aesthetics and the ideology of the middle and the late Julio-Claudian period. 3. To familiarize the students with the historical status of Latin in the middle and the late Julio-Claudian period. 4. To help students practice in Latin grammar, syntax and vocabulary. 5. To help students practice in iambic trimeter.

Prerequisites

No specific requirements needed.

Syllabus

The course focuses on the following: 1. Seneca’s life and work: Biography, Seneca’ work (prose, tragedies) and his personality. 2. Phaedra. a) Introduction: the Hippolytus and Phaedra myth and its dramatic use, originality, content and structure, the characters (Hippolytus, Phaedra, the Nurse, Theseus), imagery, the philosophy of the tragedy, the role of nature (natura) in Phaedra, the Amazonian origin of Hippolytus, the 'geography' and the anti-racial character of Phaedra, hunters and game, the dating of the Phaedra and its political dimension, the reception of the Phaedra, the manuscript tradition and the history of Phaedra’s text, prosody and scansion, the 'cursed' generation of Phaedra, Hippolytus’ origins, Euripides’ Hippolytus the Bearer, Ovid’ fourth Heroine and its translation by Maximos Planoudes, Racine’s and Yannis Ritsos’ Phaedra. b) Text, translation, analysis and commentary of the Phaedra (verses for study from the Latin original: 85-273; 423-588; 959-990; 1123-1155. The remaining lines in translation). In the course of the lectures, emphasis is mainly given to issues of the tragic plot construction, the intertextual delineation of tragic characters, philosophy as a means of producing meaning, Seneca’s dramatic art, the integration of the dramatic narrative in the historical context of the late Neronian period, the study of the evolution of the Latin language in the post-classical period and the metrical recitation of the iambic trimeter.