Goals

• To attend and enjoy the performance of a modern translation of an over-the-top ancient Roman literary work retelling a mythological story
• To explore how the performance brings out the resonances of the ancient myth and literary work
• To write a brief report on your findings, explaining them clearly

Dates, if you undertake this assignment

• Wednesday, 10/23, 3:00 PM: attend the Department of Classical Studies' performance of Seneca's Thyestes in Sky Tea Room
  You are also very welcome to attend and enjoy the performance, but not submit the written report! Participation credit to all attendees
• Thursday, 10/31, 10:00 AM: submit your 2-3 page typed report at the start of our class meeting
  Positive-only Paper credit to Report writers

Assessment and Criteria for the different levels of extra credit

• A small bonus in your Participation component will be granted to all attendees. You will need to speak with me at the performance and personally confirm that you are there: I will be participating in the performance, so I'll definitely be on view; but only after the shouting dies down will I be able to check you off the list, so be sure to see me at the end, before you leave. There will be cider and something to nibble on after, so hanging around briefly will have other compensations as well.
• Report writers will have your report-grades averaged in (at the proration of 25% of a regular paper) to your Paper components if and only if the report-grade improves your Paper average. Reports will be assessed on quality of content (insight, evidence, and argumentation), and correctness of format (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, typing); flawless format will not redeem flawed content, but too many flaws in format will make excellently insightful evidence and argumentation look less good than it deserves. Reports should address the following points:
  • Identify what section or aspect of the performance you're going to explore (event, character, theme), and what it corresponds to in the myth of Atreus and Thyestes (see relevant articles in Tripp; of course this story is also part of the background to Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy, which we will be studying for three sessions starting the day after the performance). This point should be covered very briefly, just enough to orient the report.
  • Explain concisely what the performance did with the item you're focusing on: how did the performance make it strike you as interesting and important? What significance does it have for understanding classical mythology, and how do you know? Support your interpretation with relevant evidence and clear arguments.
  • Compare and contrast the performance's handling of your item with the way the corresponding item is handled in Tripp's summary and/or Aeschylus's Oresteia plays. What significance does your item bear in myth apart from Seneca, the ancient author of this version of the story? What has the performance made different? Does it change the significance of the item in any way? Explain and show how, supporting your interpretations with relevant evidence and clear arguments.

Revised 16 October 2002 by jlong1@orion.it.luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/depts/classics/