Greek Tragedy
Greek Tragedy A survey of selected tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, exploring the relation between tragedy and political freedom and empire in fifth century B.C. Athens. The course examines the tragic poets' use of traditional Greek myths to question not only the wisdom of contemporary Athenian imperialism but also traditional Greek views on relations between the sexes; between the family and the city; between man's presumed dignity and his belief in gods. Mythical and historical background is supplied through additional readings from Homer and Thucydides. The course asks how the tragedians managed to raise publicly, in the most solemn religious settings, the kind of questions for which Socrates was later put to death. The course culminates in a reading of Aristotle's Poetics.
Greek Tragedy A survey of selected tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, exploring the relation between tragedy and political freedom and empire in fifth century B.C. Athens. The course examines the tragic poets' use of traditional Greek myths to question not only the wisdom of contemporary Athenian imperialism but also traditional Greek views on relations between the sexes; between the family and the city; between man's presumed dignity and his belief in gods. Mythical and historical background is supplied through additional readings from Homer and Thucydides. The course asks how …Read more
The class is very lecture heavy but in the lectures he seems to go off topic but honestly everything he says is calculated to help you understand the complex topics of the material. It's a lot of reading but I didn't read a single book and just paid attention to the lectures and you get everything you need. He's a little monotone but he really cares about the topics you're learning about and the questions he poses are really fun and thought provoking.
The class is very lecture heavy but in the lectures he seems to go off topic but honestly everything he says is calculated to help you understand the complex topics of the material. It's a lot of reading but I didn't read a single book and just paid attention to the lectures and you get everything you need. He's a little monotone but …Read more
The course material is interesting if you have an interest in classics or in greek mythology. The class is fast paced in the sense that we cover a lot of material, but the lectures themselves are a little hard to sit through. Witkin is very passionate about the subject and is pretty accommodating, but he tends to jump from subject to subject in his explanations and can be extremely monotone
The course material is interesting if you have an interest in classics or in greek mythology. The class is fast paced in the sense that we cover a lot of material, but the lectures themselves are a little hard to sit through. Witkin is very passionate about the subject and is pretty accommodating, but he tends to jump from subject to …Read more
This is a fine class. Within very obviously loves Greek Tragedy, but lectures are definitely all over the place and a little dry. There are 2 exams and 2 papers, 5-6 pages. If you really like Greek Tragedy I suppose I'd recommend, but there are more interesting classes out there.
This class is great if you genuinely care about the topic. Marc Witkin is very passionate about the topic and is very accessible if you have questions or need help with anything. If you put in the work you will be successful in the class.
I really did not enjoy this class. The readings were confusing and the teaching style (lecture -based) did not help with clarifying the material. Maybe I just did not understand the material but overall it was very confusing and hard to navigate.
This Greek Tragedy course was exceptional thanks to Professor Witkin being accommodating, knowledgeable, and a fair grader. His expertise in the subject matter was evident and teaching style made the material understandable. Only downside is purchasing all the books needed to read throughout the semester. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested.
The material in this class was very interesting. There is a reading every week of a Greek Play, but that is the only work required outside of class. We had 2 5 page papers, a midterm, and a final. The papers are graded fairly easy as long as you support your work. Witkin can be a little all over the place in his lectures, but overall he is very passionate and incredibly well educated on Greek Tragedy. I would recommend the class to anyone looking for a Lit/EUR/CW that does not take too much work other than showing up.
The material in this class was very interesting. There is a reading every week of a Greek Play, but that is the only work required outside of class. We had 2 5 page papers, a midterm, and a final. The papers are graded fairly easy as long as you support your work. Witkin can be a little all over the place in his lectures, but overall …Read more
Professor Witkin was contradictory in that he had very high standards, but was an incredibly easy grader; i.e. you'd get your paper back with red ink all over it and he'd spend an hour verbally destroying it when you met with him about it, but you'd still walk out with an A (or a B if you really screwed up). He insists on using blue books for the midterm and final so expect hand cramps. Yes, he goes all over the place in lectures and sometimes it gets nonsensical. He also is not the most open to outside perspectives which automatically labels as "wrong," which can make participation scary. Just read and regurgitate his handouts and you'll be fine.
Professor Witkin was contradictory in that he had very high standards, but was an incredibly easy grader; i.e. you'd get your paper back with red ink all over it and he'd spend an hour verbally destroying it when you met with him about it, but you'd still walk out with an A (or a B if you really screwed up). He insists on using blue …Read more