126-025 Iphigenia, Penthesilea, Medea

Note

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

37.5 points of Second/Third Year subjects.

Semester

Subject Description

This subject focuses upon three mythical heroines with archetypal qualities which have proved to be of enduring fascination for modern writers. Goethe used his re-working of Euripides' version of the myth of Iphigenia as a vehicle to explore the situation of women subject to patriarchal authority and in search of a measure of autonomy. The tragedy of Medea, who kills her own children as an act of vengeance on her husband, receives very different treatment from Franz Grillparzer and Hans Henny Jahnn. Penthesilea, the Amazon queen who kills her beloved Achilles on the field of battle is reworked by Kleist into one of the most memorable and enigmatic figures in modern German literature. Students who complete the subject should have a familiarity with the Ancient Greek myths and dramas which the German authors reworked; have a critical understanding of the issues of female identity raised by the modern reworkings of ancient myths.