This course will focus on plays by Shakespeare set in the world of ancient Rome or Greece, and look at the way Shakespeare uses ancient history and the legacy of the classical past for his own purposes. The Roman plays present protagonists driven by ambition and the desire to emulate heroes from the annals of Roman history or from classical mythology. Troilus and Cressida, on the other hand, is Shakespeare's satirical take on precisely these classical heroes. What is of particular interest is the way Shakespeare debates issues and explores tensions in his own period in plays set in the classical world.

The plays we will be looking at are Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.

To gain credit regular attendance is mandatory. More than two unexcused absences disqualify students from gaining credit.

MA students will be able to take an exam and gain marks for the course, in addition to gaining credit points for attendance. The course is part of MA Module 3 (Eng. Lit. I: 1500-1780).

On successful completion of the course, students will have acquired familiarity with Shakespeare's main classical plays. They will have gained an insight into the way Shakespeare's work was shaped by the early modern engagement with the classical past, and into his own response to this legacy.

The recommended edition of the plays are the paperback versions of The Norton Shakespeare: Tragedies and Comedies, ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al., 3rd. edition (New York: Norton, 2016). Alternatively, editions of the individual plays are recommended in the following series:

The Arden Shakespeare

The Oxford Shakespeare: Oxford World´s Classics

The New Cambridge Shakespeare

The Royal Shakespeare Company Shakespeare

The New Penguin Shakespeare

All texts are available at Librophoros.