On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the ways in which works present the key ideas of ancient Greece and/or Rome.
Detailed example 1
Sophocles’ Antigone
- Students start by engaging in explicit learning of the socio-historical context of Antigone’s production. They can learn about key figures such as Pericles and the roles of women in 5th century Athens. Different students could be assigned different aspects of the socio-historical context to research, using the different aspects of socio-historical context as outlined in the Terms used in this study in the VCE Classical Studies Study Design.
- Read the text together in class and establish an annotating key and plan. Students should annotate for ideas, techniques and references to socio-historical context. It can be useful to have a copy of the prescribed work with extra wide margins so that students can fit in all of their annotations.
- As the play is read in class, students complete a range of formative comprehension and analysis tasks, such as mind maps, character maps and short questions.
- a. Elements of classical reception could be added over the course of the study, such as by watching clips of the National Theatre of Great Britain’s production of Antigone. A series of short YouTube clips include scenes from the play, with the actors and director discussing their interpretations of the play and the decisions they have made in its adaptation. Students can discuss the reasons why Antigone has been one of the most frequently adapted Greek tragedy and, if time allows, seek out further versions for analysis.
- b. An alternative or additional way to add classical reception to the study is to examine artworks related to the play. The depictions of character and action could be compared to Sophocles’ version. For example:
- After reading the scene where the Sentry reports the burial of Polyneices, students compare two artworks depicting Antigone with the body: Antigone Giving Burial to Polynices by Sébastien Louis Guillaume Norblin de la Gourdaine and Antigone and Polynices by Lytras Nikephoros. Students compare the depictions of Antigone and her actions and consider the attitudes towards these expressed through the scene and the paintings.
- Having finished reading to the point where Antigone’s death is report, students write a paragraph analysing Antigone by Frederic Leighton, and suggesting how it confirms or departs from Sophocles’ depiction of her character.
- Students complete a summative task such as an essay, an extended response or a series of analysis questions on the play.
Detailed example 2
Herodotus, The Histories and Snyder’s 300 − The Battle of Thermopylae
Students study Book 7 of Herodotus’ Histories and then compare it to Zach Snyder’s film 300.
- Read the following sections of Herodotus’ The Histories:1.1-5, 7.53-61, 7. 174-187 and 7.201-225. It is recommended that students read the 2003 Penguin edition (listed in the resources) with an introduction by John Marincola, and that they read pages ix-xiii of the Introduction to this edition.
- When reading Book 1.1-5 the class can discuss and/or write on the following questions:
- Given that Herodotus is writing history, what do you notice about Herodotus’s writing style? Is it the same as history writing in the 21st century?
- What appears to be the reasons for Herodotus recording his Histories?
- What do you think are going to be major themes in Herodotus’ Histories?
- What does Herodotus say is the reason for the Persian Wars? What is the effect of his reasoning on the audience?
- When reading Book 7.53-61 the class can discuss and/or write on the following questions:
- How are the Persians characterised by Herodotus? What was the likely effect of this on the classical (fifth century Athenian) audience? Consider their values, how they look, and their culture.
- According to Herodotus, what are the origins of the name "Persians"?
- What is odd about this origin story?
- When reading Book 7. 174-187 the class can discuss and/or write on the following questions:
- What is the Greek plan?
- How many men are in the Persian forces? How does this characterise the Persians?
- What is the effect of Herodotus including information about the “attendants” of the army? (7.187)?
- When reading Book 7.201-225 the class can discuss and/or write on the following questions:
- How big does Herodotus say the Greek forces are?
- How are Leonidas and the Spartans and Xerxes characterised?
- Why don't the Persians expect resistance? How does this characterise them and the Greeks?
- What is the role of the Delphic oracle?
- Who wins this battle?
- After Leonidas dies, Herodotus states that they (Spartans and Leonidas) "deserve to be remembered". How is this significant? Why should they be remembered?
- Watch Zack Snyder’s film, 300.
- In groups, students compare key scenes from the film to Herodotus’s account of the same events. Students create a table of similarities and differences between the text and the film.
- In a class discussion, explore the extent to which the message of the works differ.
- Students create a piece of writing exploring how Snyder has used and adapted Herodotus’ work.
- Students create a piece of writing exploring how Snyder has used and adapted Herodotus’s work.
Resources
Classical works
[Works to be studied in Units 3 and 4 are not to be used for this area of study.]
Sections or whole works from:
A tragedy by Aeschylus
A comedy by Aristophanes
Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul
A selection of Catullus’s poetry
Cicero, In Defence of the Republic, Selected Political Speeches or Selected Works
A tragedy by Euripides
Herodotus, The Histories [edition used in detailed example: Edited by John Marincola, Penguin, 2003)
Juvenal, Satires
Horace, Odes
Livy, The Rise of Rome
Ovid, Metamorphoses or Poems of Exile
Petronius, The Satyricon
Plato, The Last Days of Socrates
Plutarch, Parallel Lives
Sallust, Catiline's War, The Jugurthine War, Histories
Seneca, The Satirycon
A tragedy by Sophocles
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars
Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
A selection of Greek vases
A selection of Roman mosaics or frescoes
A selection of Roman or Greek sculptures
Online classical works
Perseus Digital Library
The Internet Classics Archive
Classical reception works
300 by Frank Miller (graphic novel, 1998) and/or 300 directed by Zach Snyder (film, 2006)
Antigone by Frederic Leighton (artwork, 1882)
Antigone and Polynices by Lytras Nikephoros (artwork, 1865)
Antigone giving burial to her brother Polynices by Sébastien Louis Guillaume Norblin de la Gourdaine (artwork, 1825)
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (video game, 2018)
The Banquet of Cleopatra by Tiepolo (artwork, 1744)
Cleopatra directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (film, 1963)
Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott (film, 2000)
The Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross (film, 2012)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (book, 2008)
David by Michelangelo (artwork, 1501–04)
Spartacus directed by Stanley Kubrick (film, 1960)
National Theatre: Antigone [available on YouTube]
The monuments of Washington DC (find images online)
The architecture of the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne