The 2019-2020 Brock Talks in the St Catharines Library begin on Wednesday, September 25 with a lecture by Adam Rappold, “Ancient Drama and the Modern Citizen.” The talk will take place in the Mills Room of the St Catharines Public Library (Central Branch). Free admission – all are welcome!
Abstract: Perhaps the greatest difficulty of Democracy, ancient or modern, is that it requires ordinary people to make impactful decisions — often between unpalatable options. This talk examines a number of familiar Greek tragedies to demonstrate that the ancient Athenians attempted to solve this problem through theatre: creating a low stakes, experiential education wherein individual audiences members were allowed to listen to the clashing arguments of towering figures and ultimately choose between options which were at once both morally repellent and righteous. This focus on ambiguity, choice, and education further demonstrates the relevance of tragedy to contemporary society and government.
