28951 - History of Performing Arts in the Ancient World (1) (LM)

Course contents

The course aims to provide an overview - problematic and non-manualistic - of the main themes related to the study of ancient theater, with special regard to Attic tragedy and comedy and their interpretations, adaptations and modern and contemporary staging. However, a precise theatrical text will be used as reference. The text chosen for this academic year is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.
During the lessons we will make use of Italian translations of the texts; references to the original texts will be introduced in such a way as to guarantee a clear understanding even for those who do not know ancient Greek.

 

Main topics of the course:

1) General introduction to ancient theater as a social, cultural and literary phenomenon, with particular attention to the political context and to the historical and historical-literary premises of its main genres, between Greece and Rome; critical analysis of the main clichés relating to the origins and development of ancient drama, with special regard to Attic tragedy.

2) Some guidelines on the reception of ancient theater in the modern and contemporary age.

3) Contexts and methods of production, performance, reception: who paid for ancient performances? How much did they cost? Who benefited from the staging? How much does the reality of ancient theater resemble our idealized vision of the phenomenon?

4) Reading of exemplary ancient passages in the light of their original context of production, performance and reception, in comparison with staging and contemporary adaptations. Our principal text will be Sophocles’ Oedipus rex.

All the texts treated in class and any other didactic material (slides, images, videos) will be made available online.

Readings/Bibliography

1) For attending students, the class notes and all the documents online (texts, slides, etc.) are the basis for the final exam.

Required readings:

2) The reading of either a general introduction to Greek theater or of two shorter general introductions (one to Attic tragedy and the other to comedy) is mandatory; you can therefore choose between:

2a) M. Di Marco (a c. di), Storia del teatro greco, Roma, Carocci, 2020, which is enough and covers both areas; as for the volume, the following sections will be prepared: pp. 27-227, pp. 243-318 pp. 27-227, pp. 243-318, pp. 439-460;

or

2b) two books among the following, one for tragedy and the other for comedy, chosen by the student: G. Ieranò, La tragedia greca: origini, storia, rinascite, Roma, Salerno, 2010; A. Rodighiero, La tragedia greca, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013; B. Zimmermann, La commedia greca: dalle origini all'età ellenistica, ed. it. a c. di Sotera Fornaro, Roma, Carocci, 2016; G. Mastromarco, P. Totaro, B. Zimmermann (a c. di), La commedia attica antica: forme e contenuti, Lecce, Pensa, 2017. For English-speaking students, alternative readings are possible: please, write to me for further suggestions.

For students of classical or archaeological studies, required readings include A. Pickard-Cambridge, Le feste drammatiche di Atene, trad. it., Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1996, pp. 79-244 e 361-382 (also in original edition); or five between the scientific papers at your disposal at "Virtuale.unibo.it" (at the end of the course).

3) One of the following books: V. Di Benedetto-E. Medda, La tragedia sulla scena. La tragedia greca in quanto spettacolo teatrale, Torino, Einaudi, 2002; G. Guastella (a c. di), Le rinascite della tragedia. Origini classiche e tradizioni europee, Roma, Carocci, 2006.

Students of classical or archaeological studies are required to read at least three passages in their original language, to be chosen among the following: Soph. OT 1-57, 78-150, 404-462, 543-615, 771-835, 1002-1085, 1234-1306, 1478-1530.

Further bibliographic information (for completely optional in-depth studies) will be provided in class.

For non-attending students

Those who have not attended and do not have any lecture notes will have to prepare:

- the volume mentioned in 2a);

- both volumes cited in 3;

- Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in the following edition (including introduction, commentary notes and appendices): Sofocle, Edipo re, a c. di F. Condello, Milano, Rusconi, 2009 and subsequent reprints.

For non-attending classicists, the additional obligations reserved for attending classicists apply, with some obvious additions: you will read the entire volume A. Pickard-Cambridge, Le feste drammatiche di Atene, trad. it., Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1996; or eight of the specialized articles will be chosen and made available among the online teaching materials. The three texts in their original language mentioned above will also be prepared.

Teaching methods

Lectures in class; seminars and discussion of the texts analyzed in class.

Assessment methods

A viva voce examination of the average duration of thirty minutes.

The single steps of the examination are usually:

 1. development of a topic chosen by the student; 2. discussion on some themes of the course; 3. discussion on the readings chosen by the student.

For non-attending students the readings are the basis for the examination.

Students are expected to have an ability to identify links among the issues being dealt with in the texts and, if possible, to provide a personal critical re-reading of them. Students are thus expected to show more than merely mnemonic repetition of information obtained from lessons or personal readings - although a solid base of concrete, historical and literary data is considered an indispensable prerequisite.

During the course - ideally towards the middle and two thirds of the course, as well as in the final lesson - simulations of the exam interviews will be provided, also as intermediate assessment tests.

Assessment guidelines:
Failing grades: lack of basic knowledge;

Passing grades: possession of basic knowledge;

positive grades: literary proficiency at an intermediate level; mostly correct interpretation of the texts, yet inaccurate and lacking autonomy;

Excellent grades: literary proficiency at an upper-mid level; correct interpretation of the texts which is also performed with a high degree of autonomy and precision.

Teaching tools

Particular attention will be paid to the concrete ways of staging and enjoying ancient dramas, with frequent use of images and audio-video files useful to complete textual bibliographical references.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Condello