科 號
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組別
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學分
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3
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人數限制
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30
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科目中文名稱
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亞里斯多德詩學與古希臘悲劇
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教室
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科目英文名稱
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Aristotle's Poetics and Greek Tragedy
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任
課 教 師
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吳建亨
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上
課 時 間
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102（下）週四789
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Aristotle’s Poetics and Greek Tragedy
Instructor: Chien-heng Wu
Thursdays 3:30 pm – 6:20 pm
Office Hours: TBD
Course Description
Aristotle’s Poetics is generally regarded as the founding text of literary criticism. It is the first known attempt to understand and evaluate poetry through a systematic analysis of its formal elements; as such, it marks a significant departure from previous attempts that see poetry as the art of divine inspiration. In this course, we will explore the key ideas elabor-ated in Aristotle’s important treatise on poetry, particularly his understanding of poetry as an essentially mimetic, or imitative, art and his formal definition of tragedy as the imitation of an action. In addition to Aristotle’s account of tragedy, we will also introduce students to alternative theories from Hegel and Nietzsche for whom the tragic effect is achieved less through a human error than the conflict between two irreconcilable orders or forces. Alongside these important theses on tragedy, the majority of the course will be devoted to reading and discussing works from three major Greek playwrights, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Students are encouraged to analyze these texts and express whether the emotional effects they experience from reading tragedies conform to or deviate from the standard set by Aristotle and others.
Required Texts
Aristotle. Poetics (Trans. Malcolm Heath)
Aeschylus. The Oresteia (Trans. Robert Fagles)
Euripides. Medea and Other Plays (Trans. Philip Vallacott)
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology.
Euripides. Medea and Other Plays (Trans. Philip Vallacott)
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology.
Nietzsche. The Birth of Tragedy (Trans. Walter Kaufmann)
Sophocles. The Theban Plays (Trans. Robert Fagles)
Sophocles. The Theban Plays (Trans. Robert Fagles)
Course Grading
1. Attendance and Participation: 30%
2. Presentation: 10%
3. Midterm Exam: 20%
4. Final Performance: 40%
5. 10% Bonus: To be Announced in Class
- For oral presentation, select a topic of your own choosing; offer both a summary and a critical evaluation of the selected topic. Please keep your presentation within 20 minutes.
Schedule
Week 01 (2/20) General Introduction and Class Policy
Week 02 (2/27) The Mythological Background of Attic Tragedy (I)
(a) The Quest of the Golden Fleece (Medea)
(b) The House of Atreus (Agamemnon)
(a) The Quest of the Golden Fleece (Medea)
(b) The House of Atreus (Agamemnon)
Week 03 (3/06) The Mythological Background of Attic Tragedy (II)
(a) The Legend of Oedipus (Oediups the King)
(b) The Theban War and its Aftermath (Antigone)
(a) The Legend of Oedipus (Oediups the King)
(b) The Theban War and its Aftermath (Antigone)
Week 04 (3/13) Aristotle’s Poetics (I); BBC Radio 4 In Our Times: Aristotle’s Poetics
Week 05 (3/20) Guest Lecture
Week 06 (3/27) 當代傳奇劇場《樓蘭女》
Week 07 (4/03) No Class
Week 08 (4/10) Midterm Exam
Week 09 (4/17) Aristotle’s Poetics (II)
Week 10 (4/24) Aeschylus, Agamemnon (I)
Week 11 (5/01) Aeschylus, Agamemnon (II)
Week 12 (5/08) Sophocles, Oedipus the King (I)
Week 13 (5/15) Sophocles, Oedipus the King (II)
Week 13 (5/17) Drama Festival (a whole day event)
Week 14 (5/22) Guest Lecture on Antigone
Week 15 (5/29) Euripides, Medea (I)
Week 16 (6/05) Euripides, Medea (II)
Week 17 (6/12) Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy:
(a) the Apollinian and Dionysian duality
(b) the birth of tragedy and its demise
(c) Nietzsche’s critique of Euripides and his admiration for Aeschylus
Week 18 (6/19) No Class
