Old Western Culture

A Christian Approach to the Great Books

Year 1: The Greeks

Unit 

Drama and Lyric

The Tragedies, Comedies, and Minor Poems

Student Workbook

Please Note: This workbook may be periodically updated, expanded, or revised.

Download the latest revision at www.RomanRoadsMedia.com/materials.

ABOUT ROMAN ROADS MEDIA

Roman Roads Media combines its technical expertise with the experience of
established authorities in the eld of classical education to create quality video
resources tailored to the homeschooler. Just as the rst century roads of the
Roman Empire were the physical means by which the early church spread
the gospel far and wide, so Roman Roads Media uses todays technology to
bring timeless truth, goodness, and beauty into your home. By combining clear
instruction with visual aids and examples, we help inspire in your children a
lifelong love of learning. As homeschool graduates themselves, our producers
know the value of excellent educational tools, and strive to ensure that Roman
Roads materials are of the highest caliber.

ABOUT OLD WESTERN CULTURE

Old Western Culture: A Christian Approach to the Great Books is an
integrated literature and solcial studies course designed to give
students an overview of Western culture by studying the great
books from a Christian perspective. The video series consists of four
courses, designed to be completed over four years:
Year 1: The Greeks
Unit 1: The EpicsThe Poems of Homer
Unit 2: Drama and LyricThe Tragedies, Comedies, and Minor Poems
Unit 3: The HistoriesHerodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon
Unit 4: The PhilosophersAristotle and Plato
Year 2: The Romans
Unit 1: The Roman Epic The Aeneid, Ovid, and Lucretius
Unit 2: The Historians Livy, Tacitus, Salust, Julius Caesar, Plutarch, and Cicero
Unit 3: Early Christianity Clementine, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Eusebius
Unit 4: Post-Nicene Christianity Athanasius, Augustine, and Boethius
Year 3: Christendom
Unit 1: Early Medieval St. Benedict, Bede, Charlemagne, and Alfred the Great
Unit 2: The Defense of the Faith Anselm, Geffrey of Monmoth, The Golden Legend
Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Dante and Aquinas
Unit 4: The Reformation Erasmus, Calvin, Cranmer, Spencer, and Chaucer
Year 4: The Moderns
Unit 1: Early British Poetry Metaphysical Poets, Milton, Shakespeare, and Bunyan
Unit 2: The Rise of Enlightenment Bacon, Descartes, Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, Burke, & de Toqueville
Unit 3: Later British Poetry Neo-Classical Poetry, Victorian Poetry, and Romantic Poetry
Unit 4: The Novels Austen, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Hugo
Published by Roman Roads Media
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Workbook for Old Western Culture: Drama and Lyric
Copyright 2013 by Roman Roads Media, LLC
Cover Design: Rachel Rosales
Copy Editing and Interior Layout: Valerie Anne Bost
All rights reserved.

Table of
Contents
Introduction and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Lesson 1: Background: The Development of Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Lesson 2: Background: The Period, the Poets, and the Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Lesson 3: Aeschylus Oresteia: Agamemnon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

Lesson 4: Aeschylus Oresteia: The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Lesson 5: Sophocles Oedipus the King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Lesson 6: Sophocles Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Lesson 7: Euripides Medea and The Trojan Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

Lesson 8: Aristophanes The Frogs and The Clouds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

Lesson 9: Lyric Poetry: Sappho, Pindar, and Theocritus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Lesson 10: Lyric Poetry: Hesiod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Lesson 11: Lesser Epics: Quintus of Smyrnas The Fall of Troy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Lesson 12: Lesser Epics: Apollonius of Rhodes The Argonautica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Old Western Culture Year 1: The Greeks Unit 2: Drama and Lyric

Introduction
and Overview

f you could take only ten books to a deserted island on which you were to be marooned for the
rest of your life, what would they be? As Mortimer Adler says, this is no gamewe are all in
precisely that position. We are simply unable to read all the books there are; therefore, we had better
choose well. Some books exercise our minds by their rigor and move our spirits by their beauty with
every reading. Some books help us communicate with our culture because they have been a common
element in education for centuries. Some books aid our understanding of the physical world by a
clear exposition of careful observations by powerful minds. But only a very few books do any of these
things well. And as C. S. Lewis says, old books give us a radically different perspective on life and our
assumptions, and no modern books can do this at all, no matter how good they are.
As Christians, we understand that ours
is a historical faith, one that originated,
developed, and grew in certain times at
certain places. To study and understand
the long stream of history and thought and
to comprehend our place in that stream is
to increase our appreciation of our cultural
inheritance, our ability to use wisely and
build faithfully upon that inheritance, and
our ability to understand and respond to
Gods work in history.

A Reading of Homer, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1885

The conclusion we may draw from all of this is that the old books are best, and the best of the old
books are the best of all. That is why we read the great books. Join us in Old Western Culture as we
explore the best of the old books from a Christian perspective!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Dani and Wes Callihan

Wesley Callihan grew up on a farm in Idaho and earned a

bachelors in history from the University of Idaho in 1983. He
has taught at Logos School, the University of Idaho, and New St.
Andrews College (all in Moscow, Idaho) and at Veritas Academy
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has written curriculum for a
number of Christian Schools, including several members of the
Association of Classical and Christian Schools. Veritas Press has
published his great books study guides for homeschoolers. Mr.
Callihan speaks regularly at conferences for classical Christian
educators in home and private schools and teaches summer
intensive Latin courses. He has written columns and short ction
for Credenda/Agenda and Antithesis, and contributed to the
book Classical Education and the Home School, published by

Canon Press. In 1997 Mr. Callihan launched

Schola Classical Tutorials, a program of live
internet courses in the great books and the classical
languages, as another ongoing contribution to the
growing classical Christian education movement.
Wes and his wife, Dani, have six children, four of
them married, and six grandchildren. Wes and Dani
and the two remaining kids live near Wess parents
in an old farmhouse in northern Idaho, where they
all use the cold winters as an excuse to read and the
hot summers as another excuse to read.
The Callihan Clan

HOW TO USE THIS COURSE

Old Western Culture: A Christian Approach to the Great Books is a four-year course of study designed for
grades 9 through 12. Each year of Old Western Culture is a double-credit literature and social studies
curriculum presented in four units that may also be used individually as one-quarter electives, or to
complement another course of study.
Roman Roads Media has provided two sample course schedules (see page 5) that you may use as-is
or adapt for your familys needs. We expect the average student to spend one to three hours per day
on this course, including watching the lectures, completing the assigned readings, and then answering
the workbook questions. Students should complete each lessons assigned reading and then answer
the reading questions before watching the video lecture. The video questions should be answered after
watching the lecture. An answer key at the back of the booklet will help parents ensure that students
have grasped the key elements of the lessons.

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

Old Western Culture embraces an ad fontes approach to reading the great books, that is, we encourage a
return to the original texts as much as possible, rather than relying on textbooks that consist primarily
of abridgments and excerpts. The original works are the textbook, and Mr. Callihans lectures and
commentary are the exposition.
The Roman Roads Reader for Drama and LyricThis unit contains assignments from many different
authors, some of whose works have only survived in fragment form. Because the cost of purchasing
all of these smaller works adds up very quickly, Roman Roads Media has published a companion text
that contains seven of the ten authors covered. The Reader retails for $22a savings of more than $50
compared to the cost of purchasing all of the books independently.
Additional TextsThe works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Aristophanes are not included in The
Roman Roads Reader. Families have several options for acquiring these texts:
1. Use copies that you already own. While these copies may not be the recommended
translation, any translation will do. Mr. Callihan frequently emphasizes the benet of
referencing multiple translations.

Old Western Culture Year 1: The Greeks Unit 2: Drama and Lyric

2. Purchase the recommended translations. You will nd links to the recommended translations
under the books tab of the Old Western Culture: The Greeks page at www.romanraodsmedia.com
3. Use the Original Source Texts digital option. This option is FREE! If you are shopping on a
budget and enjoy using a tablet or e-reader (such as the Amazon Kindle), this option provides a
highly cost effective solution. You can download digital ebook versions of every single reading
assigned in Drama & Lyric at www.romanroadsmedia.com/materials.

A NOTE ABOUT SPELLING

You may notice a lot of variation in the spelling of the Greek proper nouns. Most of these variations
are the result of different transliterations based on either the Latin or the Greek spellings. For example,
most of the painting titles reference names transliterated from Latin, while the student workbook uses
Richmond Lattimores transliterations, which are based on the Greek spellings. An example would be
Achilleus, whose name we may be more used to seeing spelled Achilles. While this may throw you off
the rst time you hear it, most of the names are similar enough that you will readily recognize who is
being referenced. Both variations are acceptable and students are free to use whichever they prefer.

TERM PAPER
Writing a term paper at the end of each quarter of Old Western Culture is a good way for the student to
internalize what he or she has learned over the term. The lists of discussion topics at the end of each
lesson in the student workbook is a good place to look for paper topics. Students should also feel free
to come up with their own original topics as long as they are based on the terms lectures or reading.
We recommend a paper length of 7501,200 words.

THE EXAM
Visit www.romanroadsmedia.com/materials to download the most recent nal exams. Two options,
Exam A and Exam B, are provided. The exams are similar in style and difculty, but the content
varies. Students who score lower than 90 percent on Exam A should take Exam B two days later to
help reinforce subject mastery.

AGE LEVEL
In Old Western Culture students will encounter mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality,
detailed battle descriptions (mostly in actual reading), and nudity in classical painting and sculpture.
We recommend the series for ages fourteen and above, but of course parents will want to consider the
maturity levels of their children and decide whether Old Western Culture will be appropriate.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
A list of additional resources is kept up to date at www.romanroadsmedia.com/materials.

SCHEDULE OPTIONS
We have designed Old Western Culture to accommodate either a traditional nine-week term (for a 36-
week school year) or a fast-track seven-week term. The primary difference between the two schedules
will be felt in the intensity of the reading load. The nine-week schedule provides a balanced workload
distribution. The seven-week schedule is recommended only for advanced readers.

Nine-Week Schedule
Color Key: Watch Lectures Answer Workbook Questions Read Texts Complete Additional Assignments

Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Lecture 1
Video Questions

Lecture 2
Video Questions

Agamemnon

Agamemnon

Reading Questions

Lecture 3
Video Questions

Libation Bearers

Reading Questions

The Eumenides

Reading Questions

Lecture 4
Video Questions

Oedipus the King

Reading Questions

Lecture 5
Video Questions

Oedipus at Colonus

Reading Questions

Antigone

Reading Questions

Lecture 6
Video Questions

The Trojan Women

Reading Questions

Medea

Reading Questions

Lecture 7
Video Questions

The Frogs

Reading Questionss

The Clouds

Reading Questions

Lecture 8
Video Questions

Sappho, Pindar, and

Theocritus
Reading Questions

Lecture 9
Video Questions

Works and Days

Reading Questions

Lecture 10
Video Questions

The Fall of Troy

Reading Questions

Lecture 11
Video Questions

The Argonautica

The Argonautica

Reading Questions

Lecture 12
Video Questions
Paper: Draft Due

Exam A

Exam B (if score on

Exam A is below 90%)

Friday

Paper: Final Due

Seven-Week Schedule
Color Key: Watch Lectures Answer Workbook Questions Read Texts Complete Additional Assignments

Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Lecture 1
Video Questions

Lecture 3
Video Questions

Libation Bearers
Eumenides

Reading Questions

Lecture 4
Video Questions

Oedipus the King

Reading Questions

Lecture 5
Video Questions

Oedipus at Colonus
Antigone

Reading Questions

Lecture 6
Video Questions

The Trojan Women

Medea
Reading Questions

Lecture 7
Video Questions

The Frogs
The Clouds

Reading Questions

Lecture 8
Video Questions

Sappho, Pindar, and

Theocritus
Reading Questions

Lecture 9
Video Questions

Works and Days

Reading Questions

Lecture 10
Video Questions

The Fall of Troy

Reading Questions

Lecture 11
Video Questions

The Argonautica

Reading Questions

Lecture 12
Video Questions

Paper: Draft Due

Exam B (if score on

Exam A is below 90%)

Paper: Final Due

Exam A

Lecture 2
Video Questions

Agamemnon
Reading Questions

Old Western Culture Year 1: The Greeks Unit 2: Drama and Lyric

Lesson 1: Background of Greek Drama

The Development of Theater
READING
No reading for this lesson. Don't get lazy!

LECTURE
Watch Lecture 1, and then answer the following study questions.

1. Where do modern scholars generally believe drama originated?

_________________________
_________________________
2. What are the two main types of Greek drama?

_________________________
_________________________
3. What is the cirular at staging area at the base of the theater called?

_________________________
_________________________
4. What is the Greeek name for the long shallow building that forms the backdrop of the stage?

_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

5. What is the origin of our modern term obscene? What did it mean in the context of Greek
drama? Why did the early Greek playwrights believe this was important?

_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
6. What role does the chorus play in early Greek drama?

_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
7. What is the origin of our modern word episode?

_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
8. Name three of the most famous Greek tragedians and one comedian.

_________________________
_________________________

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Based on the Greek theory that certain things in drama should only occur off screen (refer back to
the etymology of the word obscene) what would the Greeks think of our modern dramas today?

EXTRA CREDIT
Sketch an image of the traditional design for a Greek theater. Include the hemisphere of audience
seats, the orchestra in front, the scena behind.

Answer Key

41

Old Western Culture Year 1: The Greeks Unit 2: Drama and Lyric

Lesson 1
Background of Greek Drama: Development of Theater
1. Modern scholars generally believe that drama originated in religious rites and ceremonies to the
god Dionysus.
2. The two main types of Greek drama are tragedy and comedy.
3. The circular at staging area at the base of the theater is called the orchestra.
4. The long shallow building that forms the backdrop of the stage is called the skn, the same
Greek word behind the Septuagents translation for tent or tabernacle.
5. Our modern word obscene comes from the Greek ob-skn, meaning off scene, in reference
to content that might be important to the story, but should not be shown publicly. The early
Greek playwrights believed that training yourself to see violence without the ability to take action
required you to supress the natural instinct to respond, and was therefore corrosive to the soul.
6. In early Greek drama the chorus, as a group, serves as the primary actor in each play, giving
background to the plot as interpreting the goings-on for the audience.
7. In Greek drama, the epis-ode was the bit of action that might take place between odes, i.e.,
between songs. In Greek drama, ode was necessary to interpret episode.
8. Three of the most famous Greek tragedians are Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. One of the
most famous Greek comedians is Aristiphanes.

Lesson 2
Background of Greek Drama: The Period, the Poets, and the Presentation
1. The Golden age of Greece was the fth century BC, primarily in Athens.
2. The two major fth-century events that shaped Athenian culture and inuenced Greek thought
were the Persian Wars (490 and 480 BC) and the Peloponnesian War (43104 BC).
3. The Greeks send Pheidippides back to Athens to warn them that the defeated Persian army has set
sail to attempt an attack on the city before the Greek forces can return and defend it. His run from
Marathon to Athens is the distance of a marathon race today.
4. Xerxes and his army of 1.7 million cross the Hellespont in the Second Persian War by lashing
together hundreds of ships side by side and buiding a wooden and dirt road across them.
5. Leonidas led the Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae.
6. The Athenian navy was familiar with the waters of Salamis Bay and commanded smaller, more
maneuverable triremes that allowed them to outmaneuver the heavier and clumsier Persian eet.

42