Dionysus Mosaic, 4th century BC                   Dionysus, late 6th century, BC      "Bacchus" Michelangelo (1497)

PREPARATION FOR TODAY'S CLASS

1. Reading: BACCHAE-Euripides.pdf

2. Be prepared to discuss the following questions:

*Who are the main characters of the drama?

*What are the main events in the drama?

*What roles do the main characters play in the main events of the drama?

*Is there a moral to the drama? 

*What did you learn from the drama?

*What is the role of tragedy?

3. Prepare brief explanations of ANY TWO of the following set of terms and concepts:

-the relationship between gods and men

-attitudes of women and men

-sacrifice as ritual and as metaphor

-pollution/purification

-divinity/human suffering

-madness

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AFTERNOON/EVENING

Writing Fri. 8/17

Introduction to analysis. Students explicate a passage from the drama in writing. TAs stress the concept of the rhetoric of the passage. What does a character seem to want? What do they do/say to get it? What sense do we get of the character based on what the say and do? How do their words give us a sense of who they are/who they think they are?

Preparation for the next day

Read selections from GENESIS and GILGAMESH.