TAPS 12N: To Die For: Antigone and Political Dissent
Meet the Instructor | General Education Requirements
Course Description
This seminar focuses on Sophocles' great tragedy, Antigone. We approach the play from three perspectives: the character Antigone as an archetype of political dissent; the story of her struggle in relation to modern approaches to social change; and the individual moral question of what is worth dying for.
In addition to Sophocles' play, we will study modern dramatic and filmed versions of the Antigone story, including works by Bertolt Brecht (Nazi Germany), Jean Anouilh (occupied France), Athol Fugard (apartheid South Africa), Tom Paulin (Northern Ireland during the "troubles"), Margarethe von Trotta (Europe during the "red brigades"), Janus Glowacki (Antigone and homelessness), and A. R. Gurney (U.S. college protests).
We then will consider Antigone as a touchstone for understanding workers' struggles in the United States (documentary films by Barbara Kopple), and political resistance in Guatemala (readings by Rigoberta Menchu and Jennifer Harbury). Short excerpts on the ethical importance of political dissent will help us understand how an ancient text like Antigone can illuminate contemporary issues such as the status of women, environmental sustainability, economic and social justice, and resistance to illegitimate political authority.
General Education Requirements
Meet the Instructor
Rush Rehm
Rush Rehm, professor of drama and classics, works extensively in the area of Greek tragedy. His books include Aeschylus' Oresteia: A Theatre Version; Greek Tragic Theatre; Marriage to Death: The Conflation of Wedding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy; The Play of Space: Spatial Transformation in Greek Tragedy; and Radical Theatre: Greek Tragedy and the Modern World. He teaches courses on dramatic literature of various periods, as well as teaching acting and directing to drama students.
