What will I be studying?
All texts read in this course are in English translation, and this course requires no prior knowledge of ancient history, literature, or languages.
Unit 1: Greek Literature
Theatre is one of the most enduring products of ancient Greek culture. The city-state of Athens, famous as one of the first societies to call itself a democracy, was also one of Greece’s main centres of the dramatic arts. Tragic poets produced plays that drew on ancient myths to tell emotionally powerful and intellectually-challenging stories, while Athenian comedy skewered the pompous and powerful in plays that were pointed as they were hilarious. Tragedies and comedies were rooted in, and often responded to, the concerns of ancient Athens; at the same time, they raise questions and touch on themes that still resonate with us nearly two and a half thousand years later.
In this unit, we will explore the world of ancient Greek theatre. We will read, in English translation, plays by the extant playwrights of the fifth century BCE, a time regarded as the golden age of Greek drama. Playwrights discussed include Aeschylus with his grand themes and majestic language; Sophocles, regarded by some as the most perfect of ancient dramatists; Euripides, the radical innovator who challenged the expectations of his audience; and the comic playwright Aristophanes, whose vicious and often bawdy humour was the scourge of arrogance and hypocrisy in Athens. In reading their works, we will consider these not only as poetic texts but also as performance pieces, thinking about the ways in which the words on the page would have come alive in the great Theatre of Dionysus in Athens. We will discuss both the ways in which these dramas are responding to their ancient context, and how their characters, themes, and ideas still challenge and inspire us today.
Unit 2: Latin Literature
More than a thousand years after the poet’s death, Virgil is chosen by Dante Alighieri as his pilgrim’s guide through hell and purgatory in his Christian epic poem, the Divine Comedy (14th century CE). What is so special about Virgil, and what is so special about his own epic, the Aeneid (1st century BCE)? This unit considers the role played by Virgil’s Aeneid within the epic tradition, how the poem has been interpreted and how it sets itself up for re-interpretation. In English translation, students will read not only this most famous poem, but other lesser-known works of Latin epic including Lucan’s Civil War and Statius Thebaid (both 1st century CE), as well as Saint Augustine’s reflections on epic and epic-like narrative in the Confessions.
The unit will consider questions which still concern authors today: How does a work of literature declare itself monumental? How does one work draw from another without becoming derivative? To what degree do readers’ interpretations depend on their own society, rather than that in which a work of literature was composed? How different are the challenges faced by mythological epic (like the Thebaid) and historic epic (like the Civil War), and where does the Aeneid fit in such a scheme? What is the role of the gods in these epics, and is that role constant from the 1st centuries BCE and CE? How does Augustine in his Confessions interiorize Latin epic into his prose masterpiece? These are just some of the questions to be addressed in this course, which will focus on close reading of these masterpieces of world literature, setting them in their historic context, and pointing to their immense influence on subsequent traditions.
Unit 3: Athenian Democracy in the Age of Empire
Late sixth-century Athens saw the creation of democracy. Not only did Athenians produce a constitutional form widely considered today the only form of government commanding legitimacy, but the cultural products of the democracy - Attic drama, philosophy, art and architecture - are still admired as some of the highest achievements of western civilization. But how did that democracy come about? What defined its particular instantiation at Athens? And what difference did it make to that democracy that just two decades after its inception, victory over Persian forces at sea led to Athenian leadership of a naval alliance of other Greeks that soon transformed into an empire? How did Athens' democracy shape that leadership role in the decades to follow, and how in turn did that evolving leadership role impact upon the workings of Athenian democracy? Such are the questions this unit will raise and begin to answer.
Please note that the units detailed above will not necessarily be run in this order.
What can I go on to do?
Students who have completed a Certificate may be able to progress to FHEQ level 5 provision within the Institute of Continuing Education at the discretion of the Academic Director.
Credit awarded by the Institute can be transferred into the degree programmes of some other higher education providers. However, the amount of credit which can be transferred into degree programmes varies from institution to institution and is always at the discretion of the receiving institution.
