Download History of Greek and Latin Theatre

History of Greek and Latin Theatre
PROF. ELISABETTA MATELLI
COURSE AIMS
The aim of the first part of this course, which is divided into two separate modules,
is to teach students an understanding of classical theatre based on an
interdisciplinary approach combining the history of literature with archaeology,
epigraphy, philosophy and dramaturgy. During the second module this method is
applied to the study of selected written works and specific topics, in order to
provide students with more extensive critical skills.
Two modules or 30-hour semesters based on interactive lectures, which students
are strongly advised to attend.
MODULE I
COURSE CONTENT
Basic lines of the history of Greek and Latin Theatre from an historical-literary and
antiquarian viewpoint. Overview of the dramaturgical study method outlined in
Aristotle's Poetics and its specific application to Aeschylus’s Persian tragedies and
Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. Introduction to home reading of translations of
Euripides’s Ione, Menander’s Dyskolos, Plautus’s Amphitryon and Senaca’s
Oedipus.
READING LIST
Ancient texts
ESCHILO, Persiani in Persiani, Sette contro Tebe, edited by G. Ieranò, Milan or 2006 (Oscar
Mondadori);
EURIPIDE, Ione, Introduction, translation and footnotes by S. Mirto, Milan 2009 (BUR);
MENANDRO, Dyscolos (Lo scorbutico), translated by E. Savino. Edited by E. Matelli, Messina 2008
(ed. GBM, opuscoli di Ethos);
SOFOCLE, Edipo re in Edipo re, Edipo a Colono, Antigone, Parallel text edited by Simone Beta,
Turin 2009 (Einaudi);
ARISTOTELE, Poetica, Introduction, translation and footnotes by D. Lanza, Milano, Rizzoli, 1987
(BUR);
PLAUTO, Anfitrione, Bacchidi, Menecmi, Introduction by M. Rubino, translated by V. Faggi, Milan
2001 (Oscar Mondadori);
SENECA, Edipo a cura di G. Paduano. Testo latino a fronte, Milan 1993 (BUR).
Modern texts for modules I:
G. GUIDORIZZI, Introduzione al teatro greco, Mondadori Università, Milan, 2003.
G. CHIARINI-F. MOSETTI CASARETTO, Introduzione al teatro latino, Mondadori Università, Milan,
2004.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The written examination tests are carried out by means of the Blackboard website,
according to a method outlined at lectures. The examination assesses what students have
learned from studying the topics examined at lectures and also their knowledge of the
general lines of Greek and Latin Theatre, as well as assessing their reading of all the works
listed on the syllabus.
MODULE II
COURSE CONTENT
The second module will take a closer look at the following two topics studied
during the first module:
1. Actors and the art of acting in Greek and Latin Theatre (study of selected
iconographic and literary pieces).
2. The ‘tragicomic’ genre in reference to Euripides’s Ione and Plautus’s
Amphitryon.
READING LIST
Handout of written and iconographic texts about actors and the art of acting.
EURIPIDE, Ione, Introduction, translation and footnotes by S. Mirto, Milan 2009 (BUR);
PLAUTO, Anfitrione, Bacchidi, Menecmi, Introduction by M. Rubino, translated by V. Faggi, Milan
2001 (Oscar Mondadori);
E. MATELLI (edited by), Quaderni per la messinscena dello Ione di Euripide, Educatt, Milan, 2012.
With reference to the subject matter of lectures for the first and second modules, the
following are useful for anybody interested in taking a closer look at certain course
topics:
G. MASTROMARCO, Piero Totaro, Storia del teatro greco, Grassina, Le Monnier Università,
Florence, 2008.
H.C. BALDRY, I Greci a teatro, 1972- 2007, Laterza, Bari (original title: The Greek Tragic Theatre,
London 1971)
V. DI BENEDETTO-E. MEDDA, La tragedia sulla scena, La tragedia in quanto spettacolo teatrale,
Einaudi, Turin, 1997.
M. DI MARCO, La tragedia greca. Forma, gioco scenico, tecniche drammatiche, Carocci, Rome,
2000.
A. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE, Le Feste Drammatiche di Atene, Second edition revised by J. Gould, D.M.
Lewis, translated by A. Blasina, Bibliographical addition by A. Blasina and N. Narsi, 1996
(Firenze: La Nuova Italia; original title: The Dramatic Festivals of Athens, Oxford 1969)
PLAUTO, Molière, Kleist, Giraudoux, Anfitrione. Variazioni sul mito, edited by Lucia Pasetti,
Marsilio, Venice, 2007.
G. CHIARINI, La Recita. Plauto, la farsa, la festa, Pàtron, Bologna, 1983.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
The written examination tests are carried out by means of the Blackboard website,
according to the method outlined at lectures.
TEACHING METHOD
The course also includes supplementary study activities outlined at lectures and posted
on the Blackboard website.
Students are strongly advised to attend lectures; all students, regardless of whether they
were or were not able to attend lectures, will sit the same examination
Please note the thematic link with
1. The Ancient Dramaturgy Workshop (first semester), which will provide an
introduction to a method for staging Plautus’s Amphitryon with the aid of a professional
actor
2. The course on Classical Rhetoric (a first semester module) analysing selected topics
that rhetoric has in common with theatrical poetics.
NOTES
Students are invited to sign up to the blackboard webpage, providing a valid e-mail
address, in order to receive course material and information.
There will be 15 hours of exercises on Aristotle's Poetics for module one, which counts
as an integral part of the course.
There will be exercises on the general lines of Greek and Latin Theatre in relation to
module I, designed for students who did not attend a classical high school or who want to be
supervised in their home study on these topics.
Students must have passed the examination for module I (during the same examination
session or at an earlier date) before sitting examination for module II.
First-level degree theses will be allocated after passing the examination with a mark of
at least 27. The second-level degree theses will be allocated after passing both examination
modules with an average mark of at least 27. There will be methodological exercises that
thesis writers are required to attend.
Further information can be found on the lecturer's webpage at
http://docenti.unicatt.it/web/searchByName.do?language=ENG or on the Faculty notice
board.