IN-PERSON LIMITED TO 10 MASKED People maximum and participation in all 6-IN-PERSON classes is required. ALL ATTENDEES MUST REGISTER.

Aeschylus and Euripides - Two Greek Tragedians With Very Different Worldviews The modern idea associated with the ancient Greek tragedians is that they are, “…nothing but old dead white men”; a reference to Bernard Knox's book of the same title....a notion that carries with it a belief that the three great Greek tragedians of the 5th Century BCE (Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides) offer the audience of today nothing: why? Because these playwrights were all men, believed wholeheartedly in the gods of Homer’s epic poems, were misogynists and have absolutely nothing to offer the world today.

These modern attitudes toward the ancients assumes that all three playwrights were born of the same mold: they were not. In this course we will first read Aeschylus’ trilogy The Oresteia, and then conclude with Euripides’ play Iphigenia at Taurus. Aeschylus was the earliest of the Greek tragedians, and Euripides the last. We shall see through a careful study of these plays just how different each playwright’s worldview was and how very relevant both playwrights are to the problems of today’s world.

We shall meet on every other Wednesday (or close to that, please see schedule) at 4:30 p.m. in the Trustees Room of the

Rockport Public Library on the following dates:

January 18th, 2023; February 1, 2023; February 15, 2023; March 1st, 2023; March 15, 2023; March 22, 2023 and March 29, 2023 (Brenner Room on 3/29/23)

A note on books: It is extremely important that all participants use the same translation of these plays.

The library system has some copies though it is probably best to buy copies from the web. Used copies can be as low as $5.00. The two books are:

1.The Oresteia: Agamemnon, Women at the Graveside, Orestes in Athens by Aeschylus (translation by Oliver Taplin) Liveright Publishing, NY: New York, 2018. ISBN 10:163149466X and ISBN 13:978-1631494666. PLEASE NOTE: Participants should NOT buy the Norton Critical Edition of this translation which goes beyond what they need (in price and text).

2.The University of Chicago Press’ Euripides IV , edited by Grene and Lattimore. (ISBN 0-226-30783-2)

ABOUT THE TEACHER-Linda Medwid earned my BA at State University at Purchase in Philosophy (focusing in ancient philosophy), MA in Mediterranean Archaeology at SUNY-Albany; DA (Doctor of Arts) in Humanistic Studies, combining Classics and Philosophy at SUNY-Albany; She has taught at Siena College, Loudonville, NY - Professor of Classical Studies - 14 years and travelled extensively throughout Greece and Italy and led several Classical Studies student tours to Italy and (Roman) Britain.

She has attended The Aegean Institute, Poros, Greece summer of 1981 (undergraduate work) as well as The American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece, summer of 1985 (graduate work). She has published The Makers of Classical Archaeology: A Reference Work, NY: Prometheus Books, 2000

IN-PERSON LIMITED TO 10 MASKED People maximum and participation in all 6-IN-PERSON classes is required. ALL ATTENDEES MUST REGISTER.