WOMEN OF GREEK DRAMA
Event Details
Antigone, Medea, Clytemnestra, Phaedra, Electra—some of the most memorable female characters in drama might first have appeared on stage before an audience of only men (with the roles played by men, as well). We are not sure whether women were even allowed to attend theatre performances in 5th-century Athens. We do know, at least, that these fascinating characters were created in a place and time where women had little place in public life.
It’s remarkable, then, that the playwrights who brought them to life gave a voice to such noble, intelligent, passionate—and above all, strong—women who were keenly aware of the constraints placed on them by the society in which they lived. Whether in doing so the writers were portraying what they admired, what they desired, or what they feared, is much less clear.
In the six weeks of this study we will read six of the finest Classical-age Greek dramas from Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—the latter, especially, showed a keen interest in the lives of women: Aeschylus’ Agamemnon; Sophocles’ Antigone and Electra; and three plays by Euripides, the Medea, Hippolytus and Bacchae.
SALON DETAILS
- Facilitated by Mark Cwik
- Friday evenings 7:00 pm – 9:15 pm
- Six-meeting study, 11 June to 16 July 2021
- Online discussions using Zoom meeting interface. Zoom is free for participants, instructions will be sent upon registration.
- £200 for six-week study, includes notes and questions for preparation.
- Recommended edition: The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; edited by Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm; ISBN-13: 978-0812983098
