How to Read Ancient Greek Tragedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

📚 Read the Great Books with Hardcore Literature:   / hardcoreliterature   ———————————— 0:00 why do we love tragedies? 2:00 all plays lead to Ancient Greece 4:00 how do you read a play? 6:00 theatre’s relationship to Homer 8:00 evolution of Classical Athens 10:00 war trauma in ancient times 12:00 what was ancient theatre like? 14:00 theatre as powerful civic event 16:00 what was the City Dionysia? 18:00 Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy 19:00 Apollonian-Dionysian duality 20:00 Frazer’s The Golden Bough 21:00 harvest religious fertility rituals 23:00 the social utility of theatre 25:00 ancient theatre’s spirit of agon 27:00 Aeschylus as father of drama 28:00 the function of the chorus 30:00 how the first actors were born 32:00 tragic heroes as masks of Dionysus 34:00 healing, redeeming power of art 36:00 tragedy trilogy competition 38:00 competition at the great festival 40:00 the playwrighting of Aeschylus 42:00 lamenting literature’s lost plays 44:00 how do you read the Oresteia? 45:00 visit the theatre of your mind 46:00 practical advice for reading plays 47:00 Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides 48:00 the tragedies of Aeschylus 49:00 the tragedies of Sophocles 51:00 the tragedies of Euripides 53:00 read the comedy of Aristophanes 55:00 agon of Aeschylus vs Euripides 57:00 talent unfolds itself in fighting 58:00 Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence 59:00 what is Freud’s Oedipal Complex? 1:01:00 how are great artists influenced? 1:03:00 the road of trials for great writers 1:05:00 how to identify a strong writer 1:07:00 clash of titans in great literature 1:09:00 how Homer influenced everyone 1:11:00 Plato’s Socrates banished Homer 1:13:00 how to be like the ancient audience 1:14:00 influence of Homer on Aeschylus 1:16:00 what is the story of the Oresteia? 1:17:00 appreciating the play Agamemnon 1:19:00 favourite translation of Aeschylus 1:20:00 how tragedy arose from the epic 1:22:00 what is the substance of tragedy? 1:23:00 analysing Aristotle’s Poetics 1:25:00 character is a function of story 1:27:00 mimesis teaches us how to live 1:29:00 how tragedy heals our trauma 1:30:00 comedy vs tragedy vs epic 1:31:00 idea of the classical unities 1:32:00 Aristotle’s formula for tragedy 1:34:00 tragedy must have magnitude 1:36:00 fear, pity and change in fortune 1:38:00 pride always goeth before a fall 1:39:00 Oedipus Rex of Sophocles 1:40:00 anagnorisis, ignorance, insight 1:41:00 power of suffering in tragedy 1:42:00 what is Oedipus Rex about? 1:44:00 appreciating Euripides’ Medea 1:46:00 was Euripides a feminist? 1:48:00 sympathy, suffering, catharsis 1:50:00 greek tragedy book club lectures