LIT104 CM - The Tragedies of Sophocles

Sophocles is regarded as the greatest of the Greek tragedians, in part because he could evoke such powerful tragic figures–Oedipus, Ajax, Antigone, Heracles, Philoctetes. Based on the plays that have come down to us we will follow the arc of his career, comparing him with his great model, Aeschylus, and his chief rival, Euripides. The plays will be our window onto Athenian culture and the Dionysian festival for which they were written. They will lead us to consider the “paradox of tragedy”–that we derive the most intense aesthetic pleasure from seeing the worst things happen to the best people.

Offered: Occasionally

Credit: 1

Course Number: LIT 104 CM