| Unit name | Comedy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLAS12370 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Liveley |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Can we take the comedy of ancient Greece and Rome seriously? Can we trace the roots of Bart Simpson's comedic family tree back to the comedy slaves of Aristophanes and Plautus? In this unit we will examine the full range of comic, satiric, and invective discourse in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome - from graffiti and oratorical insults, through Old and New Comedy, to the comic novel - to discover how laughter functioned in antiquity both as subversive political critique and conservative social commentary.
