BASIC PROGRAM of LIBERAL EDUCATION FOR ADULTS
Autumn, 2016
Year Two Seminar
COURSE INFORMATION
CODE & SECTION
BASC10201 04
COURSE TITLE
Year Two Seminar
COURSE SCHEDULE
DAYS: Saturday
TIMES: 11:15 am – 12:45 pm
LENGTH OF COURSE
10 WEEKS
September 24- December 10 (no class
10/22, 11/26)
INSTRUCTOR: Nicholas Bellinson
E-MAIL: [email protected]
CLASS LOCATION
Cobb Hall, Third Floor
5811 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
GRAHAM SCHOOL INFORMATION
PHONE: 773.702.1722
WEBSITE: https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu
PREREQUISITES
Year One of the Basic Program
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Students should register before the course begins. In order to earn a certificate, students should attend at least 6
classes of each regular Basic Program course.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Aristotle’s remarks on tragedy are far and away the most influential in the history of Western thought on the topic.
Using the example of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Aristotle articulated important concepts like the unities of time,
space, and action; the tragic emotions of pity (éleos) and fear (phóbos); and the tragic hero’s flaw (hamartía). Yet
twenty-five hundred years of Western drama include many plays – great ones – which violate Aristotle’s precepts. This
course will represent something of the range of tragic artifice by looking first at Oedipus the King and the Poetics, then
at Euripides’ Bacchae and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Special, but not exclusive attention will be paid to
commonalities among the works we read; primarily, we will attempt to understand the works on their own terms.
REQUIRED TEXTS
1. Sophocles, Oedipus the King, in Sophocles I (University of Chicago, ISBN 978-0226311517)
2. Aristotle, Poetics, James Hutton tr. (Norton, ISBN 978-0393952162)
3. Euripides, The Bacchae, in Euripides V (University of Chicago, ISBN 978-0226308982)
4. William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra (Bantam, ISBN 978-0553212891)
THE GRAHAM SCHOOL OF CONTINUING LIBERAL AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES - UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
N.B. While it will be best to work from the same translation of the Greek texts, I give assignments below in terms of
the text’s argument for those who may have different editions. If you are confused about the assignment, feel free
to e-mail me. Any reputable edition of Antony and Cleopatra will do.
WEEKLY READING SCHEDULE
WEEK
Author
TEXT/READING ASSIGNMENT
Week 1
Date: 9/24/16
Sophocles
Oedipus the King (OT) lines 1-462
beginning through Tiresias’s exit
Week 2
Date: 10/1/16
Sophocles
OT 463-863
through Iocaste’s first exit
Week 3
Date: 10/8/16
Sophocles
OT 864-1185
through the exit of messenger, shepherd, and Oedipus
Week 4
Date: 10/15/16
Sophocles
OT 1186-1530
through the end
Week 5
Date: 10/29/16
Aristotle
Poetics 1447a-1454a
through discussion of plot; stop at discussion of character
Week 6
Date: 11/5/16
Aristotle
Poetics 1454a-1462b
through the end
Week 7
Date: 11/12/16
Euripides
Week 8
Date: 11/19/16
Euripides
Bacchae 787-1394
through the end
Week 9
Date: 12/3/16
Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra Acts I-III
Week 10
Date: 12/10/16
Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra Acts IV-V
NO CLASS 10/22/16
Bacchae lines 1-786
through Pentheus’s declaration of war on the Bacchae
NO CLASS 11/26/16
This syllabus is a summary of course objectives and content, not a contract. All information in this syllabus is subject to change,
with sufficient advance notice provided by the instructor.
CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE
As we may be addressing controversial topics in our class discussions, we expect students to be respectful and considerate of
others.
DISABILITY INFORMATION
The Graham School of Professional Studies abides by the Americans with Disabilities Act (see
http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm), with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (see
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/sec504.htm), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (see
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html) and will provide reasonable accommodations to students with
disabilities covered by law. If you have a disability for which you may require accommodations, please contact Gregory
Moorehead, Director of Student Disability Services, at 773.702.7776 or [email protected] in advance of the first
class meeting.
THE GRAHAM SCHOOL OF CONTINUING LIBERAL AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES - UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO