First-Year Seminar: Women in Greek and Roman Comedy
CLASSICS 117
Comedies in Greece and Rome were written by men and acted by men. The women we meet in these comedies, then, are always filtered through men and tinged with stereotypes accordingly - they are often depicted as 'untrustworthy,' 'sex-crazed,' 'drunkards.' Even a cunning and powerful woman such as Lysistrata (in Aristophanes' comedy of the same name), who leads a coalition of women to deny sex from their husbands until they end the Peloponnesian War, is a product of a man's imagination and was played onstage by a man in a costume. As fun as it is to read Lysistrata as a feminist hero, there are layers of interpretation that beg to be peeled back. In this course, we will peel back those layers and explore the representation of women on the comic stage by reading a selection of comedies featuring women, some in leading roles and some in smaller ones. Note: This course is for first-year, non-transfer students only.
Course Attributes: EN H; FYS; BU Hum; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM
