Greek 442: Euripides, Medea -- SPRING 2000
Professor C. Luschnig -- AD310A (office hours) luschnig@uidaho.edu
Textbooks: Euripides, Medea with notes by Alan Elliott, Study packet (at bookstores), web site
Until the books come in , try: Medea with links to LSL http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?vers=Greek%3BLoeb%7Clsj&lookup=eur.+med.+1&browse=1
Purpose of the course: to become more fluent in Greek, to learn to read Greek poetry and to learn more about Greek tragedy. And to read one of the masterpieces of Greek literature.
Attendance: is required and includes being prepared. If you cannot attend please prepare the assignment and turn it in the next time.
Grading: on classwork, tests, projects.
Semester assignments:
- I Read Medea in English. (First week)
- Ia See the Medea in English
- Ib See the Medea (or part of it) in Greek
- II Read Medea in Greek. (Weeks 1-16)
- III Perform a scene from Medea in Greek (with another member of the class and with cue cards if needed)
- IV Read some articles about the play. Work on vocabulary and themes. Write a paper (4-6 pp) on one of these topics as it relates to this play or another topic that occurs to you. I will be happy to help with topics or bibliography. DUE: April 24. xa/rij period: until April 27. Early drafts and questions can be brought any time before that. For bibliographies look here.
- Freedom and slavery
- Women and Men
- Music and Metrics
- The Language of Ritual
- Ethnicity
- The Political Situation: where are the citizens?
- The Historical Setting
- The Greek Family
- Poetics -- including diction, word order, metaphors, relation of metrics to meaning, word patterns...
- Dramatic movement
- Popular Religion
- Popular Morality (the ethic of revenge)
- The myth of Jason and Medea--how the story is told in the play: whose story is it?
Week I (10-14 January)
- Monday: reading at sight; scansion. Reading or viewing of the play in English (outline of Medea)
- Tuesday: scan five lines; translate lines 1-20
- Wednesday: scan five lines; translate lines 21-45; read pp. 128-133 in Elliott.
- Thursday: translate lines 46-62 review and sight reading.
If you have not taken Greek Tragedy there is information on the web site.
Week II (18-20 January)
- Tuesday: read 15-25 lines
- Wednesday: read pp. 101-122 in Elliott ; translate 15-25 lines + grammar; scan 5 - 10 lines
- Thursday: translate 15 lines; sight reading — finish prologue
Week III
- Monday: read one article from the backgound readings; translate 15-25 lines + grammar
- Tuesday- Wednesday: parodos [we may do this leap-frog fashion with each member of the class responsible for a section.
- Thursday: finish parodos, review + read ahead
Week IV
Week V
Finish Medea’s speech and read to 362.
Weeks VI et seqq.
Read the play, trying to get faster. Read more for Mondays and work on the grammar review and the previous week's work. For Tuesdays and Wednesdays read ahead. For Thursdays study vocabulary and read ahead. We will try to do some sight reading every week. When we finish an episode and ode there will be a review and a test.
One fine day we will meet at the library to make the acquaintance of L’Année Philologique. Work on the project a little each week: it will be better for it and you will be less anxious at the end. A term project as the name implies is not done in a day or two at the end of the semester.
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