This unit focuses on the great age of Greek theatre and of the world's earliest surviving plays, the fifth century BC in Athens, which encompassed the careers of the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the best work of the ribald comedian Aristophanes. It considers what can be known of the origins of drama, the organisation of the dramatic festivals, and the actual performances of these timeless plays, then goes on to study a selection of works from all the extant playwrights. The unit examines the connections between these plays and the events and the ideology, private and public, of fifth-century Athenian history. -- Course Website
Prerequisites: any Level 2 CLAN unit