Classical Theatre

Code:

LEI014

Acronym:

TC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Classical Studies

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Portuguese and Romance Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Literature and Interart Studies

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LEI	41	Study plan	2	-	6	41	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

To draw a panoramic view of ancient theatre, Greek and Roman, and its context;
To present the ancient theatre as a show intended to be presented on stage and to know its performative dimension;
To draw a panoramiv view of the influence of ancient theatre until the present.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the semester, students should be able to:
Have a broad and solid panoramic view of Greek and Roman theatre and its context;
Autonomously deepen their research on ancient theatre and its reception;
Know the fundamental chatacteristics of ancien tragedy ans comedy and how each genre has evolved;
Identify the authors of ancient drama and place them in the context of Greek and Roman literature;
Recognize the performative dimension of ancient theatre and critically analyse these works in this wider artistic dimension;
Produce a critical discourse on the works studied and on some of the more influential ionterpretations dedicated to them over time;
Recognize Greek and Roman theatre as matrix, explicit or subliminal, of European theatre.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Greek theatre.
1.1. Birth.
1.2. Dionysiac Festivals: civic, religious and cultural context.
1.3. Greek drama: tragedy, comedy, satyr play.
1.4. Theatre as performance.
1.4.1. Audience.
1.4.2. Actors and Chorus.
1.4.3. Masks and props.
1.4.4. Space and movement.
1.5. In search of the tragic: the many faces of tragedy.
1.5.1. Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides: permanence and evolution of a genre.
1.6. Comedy and tragedy: a shared space.
1.6.1. Between laughter and the education of the polis: Aristophanes' comedy.
1.6.2. Domestic space in New Comedy: Menander.
2. Roman theatre.
2.1. Theatrical performance in Rome.
2.1.1. Audience.
2.1.2. Actors.
2.1.3. Space, props, movement.
2.2. The comedy of Palutus and Terence.
2.3. Seneca's tragedy.
3. Ancient theatre over time: reception, appropriation, reinvention, reaction.

Mandatory literature

Castiajo, Isabel; O teatro grego em contexto de representação, Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, 2012
Frangoulidis, S.; Harrison, S.J.; Manuwald, S. (eds.); Roman Drama and its Context, De Gruyter, 2016
Hall, Edith; Greek Tragedy. Suffering under the Sun, Oxford University Press, 2010
Harrison, G.W.M.; Liapis, V. (eds.); Performance in Greek and Roman Theatre, Brill, 2013
McDonald, M; Walton, J.M. (eds.); The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 2007
Mueller, Melissa; Objects as Actors. Props and the Poetics of Performance in Greek Tragedy, The University of Chicago Press, 2016
Petrides, A.K.; Menander. New Comedy and the Visual, Cambridge University Press, 2004
Raeburn, David; Greek Tragedies as Plays for Performance, Wiley - Blackwell, 2017
Serra, José Pedro; Pensar o trágico, Abysmo, 2020
Silva, Maria de Fátima Sousa e; Crítica de teatro na comédia antiga, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1997
Swift, Laura; Greek Tragedy. Themes and Contexts, Bloomsbury, 2016

Teaching methods and learning activities

Presential.
Theoritical exposition of the syllabus contents.
Analysis and interpretation, on class, of some selected works, with open participation of all students (sometimes with previous preparation, sometimes without).

keywords

Humanities > Literature > European literature

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	40,00
Prova oral	20,00
Teste	40,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	121,00
Frequência das aulas	41,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Attending 75% of classes, unless established otherwise by law.

Calculation formula of final grade

Written test and/or exam: 80% (40% + 40%). Oral presentation /oral exam: 20%

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Students with special status may take a written exam on the additional dates provided for this purpose. This exam may include a subsequent oral exam (mandatory if students have not attended classes throughout the semester).
Students in this situation should contact the professor in advance to prepare their assessment process in due time.

Classification improvement

Only the written evaluation can be improved by an exam.