What we’re about
BCE is a literary conversation group where we read together “classic” texts in a broad sense, from before the Christian era, anything loosely before/during the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine I (272–337), his successor and son Constantius II and his nephew, Julian the Apostate, who rejected Christianity and promoted Neoplatonic Hellenism as a philosophy, and the worship of the traditional Roman gods as ritual practice.
BCE expects participants to have read the text and have formulated questions for discussion and have marked a few passages that we can read aloud and discuss. Participants have the same edition in front of them so they can create a common experience.
Examples of texts we can take on: Seneca, Lucan, the epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew book of Genesis, the plays of Aristophanes, Homer’s Odyssey, Ovid, Song of Songs, or the Egyptian Story of Sinuhe.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- 105: Aeschylus: Prometheus BoundLink visible for attendees
Prometheus Bound (Ancient Greek: Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, romanized: Promētheús Desmṓtēs) is an ancient Greek tragedy by Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, a Titan who defies Zeus, and protects and gives fire to mankind, for which he is subjected to the wrath of Zeus and punished (more).
A collection we have used earlier has a translation of Prometheus Bound:
Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm, eds. The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library Classics)
Table of Contents of the whole collection:
- Persians ; The Oresteia: Agamemnon ; The Oresteia: Libation bearers ; The Oresteia: Eumenides ; Prometheus Bound / Aeschylus
- Oedipus the king ; Antigone ; Electra ; Oedipus at Colonus / Sophocles
- Alcestis ; Medea ; Hippolytus ; Electra ; Trojan women ; Helen ; Bacchae / Euripides.
The Greek text, edited by Herbert Weir Smyth, is online on the Perseus Hopper at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0009
- 106: Sophocles: Oedipus RexLink visible for attendees
Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus (Ancient Greek: Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, pronounced [oidípuːs týrannos]), or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles.
Summary: "Prior to the start of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus has become the king of Thebes while unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father, Laius (the previous king), and marry his mother, Jocasta (whom Oedipus took as his queen after solving the riddle of the Sphinx). The action of Sophocles's play concerns Oedipus's search for the murderer of Laius in order to end a plague ravaging Thebes, unaware that the killer he is looking for is none other than himself. At the end of the play, after the truth finally comes to light, Jocasta hangs herself while Oedipus, horrified at his patricide and incest, proceeds to gouge out his own eyes in despair" (more).
In his Poetics, Aristotle refers several times to the play in order to exemplify aspects of the genre.
A collection we have used earlier has a translation of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex:
Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm, eds. The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (Modern Library Classics)
Table of Contents of the whole collection:
- Persians ; The Oresteia: Agamemnon ; The Oresteia: Libation bearers ; The Oresteia: Eumenides ; Prometheus Bound / Aeschylus
- Oedipus the king ; Antigone ; Electra ; Oedipus at Colonus / Sophocles
- Alcestis ; Medea ; Hippolytus ; Electra ; Trojan women ; Helen ; Bacchae / Euripides.
The Greek text, edited by Herbert Weir Smyth, is online on the Perseus Hopper at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0191
- 108: Aristophanes: The FrogsLink visible for attendees
The Frogs (Ancient Greek: Βάτραχοι, romanized: Bátrakhoi; Latin: Ranae, often abbreviated Ran. or Ra.) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in Athens, in 405 BC and received first place.
"The play features the comical journey to the underworld of the god of theater Dionysus, with his slave Xanthias, in order to revive the late tragedian Euripides.
Dionysus is frustrated with tragedy's decline in quality after the playwright's recent passing, and concerned about theatre's future as the city of Athens struggles in the Peloponnesian War.
During the pair's journey through the underworld, the god cravenly and unsuccessfully attempts to evade trouble after masquerading as Heracles, still infamous for his prior kidnapping of the guard-dog Cerberus." (more)
We'll be using the translation included in Frogs and Other Plays (Penguin Classics, 2007), Shomit Dutta (Editor, Introduction).
Shomit Dutta's introduction discusses Aristophanes' life, the cultural context of his work and conventions of Greek comedy. This updated version of David Barrett's translation also includes extensive notes and a preface for each play.
The Greek text, edited by F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, is online on the Perseus Hopper at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0031
