Sophocles and Troy

The goal of this course is to familiarize students with two ‘Trojan’ plays by Sophocles, his Ajax and Philoctetes, and to situate both within the very volatile period of Athenian political and cultural history to which they belonged. We will be exploring the dramas from a variety of angles, philological, cultural, political, ethical, rhetorical, and religious among them while considering the rich literary, mythological, and visual traditions from which both emerge (comparative primary readings will include portions of Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, Euripides, Sophocles’ Ichneutai, and Thucydides). In addition to close readings of both texts, students will become acquainted with the relevant epic and lyric accounts on which the dramatists draw and will also consider the rich iconography surrounding the central protagonists. Beyond highlighting important commonalities and differences between these two plays, one considered ‘early’, the other ‘late’, the class will also discuss issues of staging, dramaturgy, dance and song, and we will pay particular attention to the different modalities of voice and of chorality (informed by its lyric background) within each text. While the focus will always be on the primary texts, through the assigned secondary reading students will also be introduced to a variety of different critical approaches and methodologies: among them we will be using ideas drawn from the ‘new materialism’, anthropology, the current fields of ‘sound studies’ and animal vocalism, genre-mixing, and dance theory. The innovative nature of Sophoclean music will also be highlighted, and students will be encouraged to explore the two plays’ reception and changing fortunes in a variety of media down to the present day.