Week 1: Introduction / ancient tragic theory
Section outline
-
The video clips for this week will introduce the module and briefly present Aristotle's Poetics.
Before Week 2, please read the following extracts:
Adrian Poole, Tragedy: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005): Introduction and Chapter 1 'Who Needs It?' (pp. 15–33)
Paul Hammond, The Strangeness of Tragedy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009): Prologue and Chapter 1 'The Work of Tragedy' (pp.1–39)
Aristotle, Poetics, trans. Malcolm Heath (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1996): Introduction (by the translator) and Chapters 4 and 7.1-7.2
All these texts are available as e-books via the reading list.
If you haven't already done so, please start to acquire the set texts. Apart from Aristotle's Poetics, the prescribed editions aren't freely available online; but second-hand copies will be readily available via abebooks or alibris. If at all possible, you should read Seamus Heaney's The Burial at Thebes before the lecture on Thursday of Week 2.
-
In this folder you'll find five clips, which you should watch in order. The related slides are provided separately, for convenience, in the Week 1 area.
-
A brief glossary that you may find useful. It's based on the Greek terms, which you're likely to come across in your secondary reading.
-
