CLAS 25
Performance and Place in Ancient Greece Winter 2020

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Class Details

Ancient Greek literature displays a keen awareness of the links between performance and place. Whether referring to the locations of their own performance or conjuring up images of other sites and scenes, Greek songs and speeches demand that we pay attention to setting. This course, therefore, takes an experiential and contextual approach to the study of ancient Greek literature and performance culture. The course will include foundational reading in performance theory, as well as select readings from Greek poetry, drama, and oratory. The core work, however, will occur in Greece, as we visit sites like the Athenian Acropolis, the theater and sanctuary at Epidaurus, and the Temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina. Each student will be responsible for introducing the class to a specific site, using primary and secondary sources to describe the layout of the space and the kinds of performance events (choral dance, athletic competition, religious ritual, forensic oratory) that took place within it. As a group, we will discuss different approaches to the reconstruction of historical performance events and consider how literary texts of various genres navigate the representation of landscape and architecture. While we will primarily focus on Classical Athens, a brief turn to Greek oratory under imperial Roman rule (the “Second Sophistic”) will give us an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which the enduring cultural significance of the city of Athens in later antiquity served as a resource for writers and performers who represent themselves already as belated heirs of an earlier, classical period. This course will encourage us to consider the complex significance of studying ancient authors, performers, and audiences across an unbridgeable gap in time, even as we aim to close the gap in space, in order to explore how physical sites function as archives of memory, practice, and performance that can enrich and nuance our understanding of ancient literature and culture.
The Class: Format: travel
Limit: 12
Grading: pass/fail only
Requirements/Evaluation: two reports (one on a site, one on a text) to be researched before departure and delivered in Greece, plus an additional reflective assignment upon return
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: preference will be given to Classics majors and intending Classics majors, and to those with demonstrated interest in the ancient world who have not previously travelled abroad
Materials/Lab Fee: $400
Attributes: TRVL Winter Study Travel Course

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