This course examines Greek and Roman tragic literature as windows into both ancient and modern conversations about what it means to be human. These texts have been claimed, contested, and reimagined by readers across time and cultures - sometimes as tools of colonialism and cultural dominance, other times as vehicles for resistance and cultural reclamation.

Our investigation challenges traditional interpretations by:

• Examining how Greek and Roman authors grappled with questions of identity, power, and justice
• Exploring how these works have been interpreted and transformed by diverse global communities
• Recognizing both the elite and marginalized voices within classical literature
• Questioning assumed universality while finding points of cross-cultural dialogue
• Considering how different cultural traditions might approach similar human experiences

The readings will examine not only how these ancient authors understood their world, but also how different communities today - from postcolonial writers to feminist scholars to non-Western artists - have engaged with, challenged, and reimagined these works.

Every reader brings their own cultural background and lived experience to these texts. You'll be encouraged to develop your own critical relationship with these works - whether that means finding unexpected connections to your own traditions, challenging problematic aspects of these texts, or both.