Classics and Musical

TheaterMyth, Poetry and Plays

Brainstorm:How are today’s musicals similar to Roman poetry? How are they different?

SimilaritiesRoman sources Musical Theater• In Latin

•Performed typically

in smaller settings

(such as in odeon)

•Provides myths explicitly

•Performative

•Themes (love, philosophy, mythology

“et cetera, et cetera”)

•Meter and rhythm used

•Characters/personae created

•In English

•Instrumental elements

•Sung

•Create reception and

reinterpretation of myths

and stories

•Performed on big stages

and

little ones

What about Greek and Roman plays?

Warm-up:

Spring Awakening

From what classical source does this song draw inspiration?

The Aeneid!

“All that's known

In history, in science

Overthrown

At school, at home, by blind men

You doubt them

And soon they bark and hound you

Till everything you say is just

Another bad about you

All they say

Is 'Trust in what is written'

Wars are made

And somehow that is wisdom

Thought is suspect

And money is their idol

And nothing is okay unless

It's scripted in their Bible

But I know

There's so much more to find

Just in lookin' through myself

And not at them”

“Still, I know

To trust my own true mind

And to say

'There's a way through this'

On I go

To wonder and to learning

Name the stars

And know their dark returning

I'm calling

To know the world's true yearning

The hunger that a child feels

For everything they're shown

You watch me

Just watch me

I'm calling

And one day all will know

You watch me

Just watch me

I'm calling

I'm calling

And one day all will know”

Forsan et haec

olim meminisse

iuvābit

Aeneas

undergoes a

physical journey

and a

journey of

self-discovery

More Blatant/Obvious

Reception

Pygmalion (Ovid’s Metamorphoses)

Review

Who was Pygmalion?

How did he feel about women?

What was his craft?

What did he make?

How did he react to his creation?

What did he request from Venus?

How did that turn out for him?

My Fair Lady

A musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, which took its inspiration from Ovid’s myth.

An Ordinary Man

‘Quās [Prōpoetidēs

fēminae] quod

Pygmaliōn aevum

agentēs per crīmen

viderat, offēnsus vitiīs,

quae plurima mentī

femineae natura dedit,

sine coniuge et caelebs

vīvēbat.

-Met. X.243-46

Higgin's Training of Eliza

intereā mīrā fēlīciter arte

niveum ebur sculpsit

fōrmamque dedit, quā

formā nulla fēmina nāscī

potest, operisque suī

concepit amorem.

virginis vērae est faciēs

-Met. X.247-50

You Did it–Higgin's marvels at his acheiving craft

I've Grown Accustomed to her Face

Pygmaliōn admīrātur statuam et haurit

pectore simulātī corporis ignēs.

saepe operī admovet manūs temptantēs, an sit

corpus an illud ebur, nec adhūc ebur esse fatetur.

-Met. X. 252-55

On the Street Where You Live

Exclūsus amātor

Paraclausithyron

Without You

Eliza vs. Galatea

Homework

Select a pairing of an ancient source (in English) to a modern musical source from the list below or choose your own. I will

Read the ancient source and watch the modern one; write a paragraph discussing their similarities and differences. Please be

• “I’ll Cover You” from Rent and Catullus 5

• “Another Day” (look specifically at Mimi’s part) from Rent and Horace 1.11

• “The Origin of Love” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Aristophanes’ argument in Plato’s

•“One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story (you may also look at other parts of this musical for comparison) and

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Plautus’ Pseudolus or Miles Gloriosus

Mini Musical Project

(in English). With your selected poem or portion of a poem, create your own modern musical interpretation/reception (one song