Middlebury

FYSE1154A-F22

Euripides and Athens

Euripides and Athens
Was the tragic genius of Euripides (480?-406 BC) corrupted by the atheistic rationalism of the sophists and the philosophy of Socrates (470-399 BC), as their Athenian contemporary, the comic poet Aristophanes, alleged? Nietzsche makes that view the basis of his attack on Socrates in The Birth of Tragedy (1872). Or, was Euripides in fact "the most tragic of the poets," as Aristotle argued in his Poetics, written during the half century after Euripides' death in 406 BC? In this course we discuss twelve of Euripides' extant plays in the context of 5th c. BC Greek political and intellectual history, with the help of Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and some modern critics. 3 hrs. sem.
Course Reference Number (CRN):
93007
Subject Code:
FYSE
Course Number:
1154
Section Identifier:
A

Course

FYSE 1154

All Sections in Fall 2022

Fall 2022

FYSE1154A-F22 Seminar (Witkin)