As long as there have been families, there has been family drama.
Sour marriages, domineering fathers, cheating husbands, evil stepmothers, feuding siblings — these themes can be found in some of the earliest Greco-Roman literature. In fact, many of this era’s most famous stories revolve around family conflict and misery.
And it’s these texts that Erik Gunderson explores in his course, Unhappy Families. By studying famous plays, poems and court transcripts, students are gaining a deeper understanding of Greco-Roman texts with a focus on female roles and the broader implications of family unhappiness in society.
“You can engage with themes that are important within the ancient world but also have a modern resonance that would be of interest to anybody,” says Gunderson, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Classics. “For the students, it’s an interesting topic. For me, it's interesting to teach the classical world via these topics.”
Gunderson picked several juicy tales such as Hesiod’s Theogony. Composed around 700 BCE, the poem describes the origins and genealogies of Greek gods. The poem also includes the narrative of a recurring cycle of generational conflict where fathers try to destroy or imprison their children in order to maintain power.
He also chose Aristophanes’ comedic play Lysistrata. First staged in 411 BCE in Athens, the play is the account of Lysistrata's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city states by persuading women of the warring cities to engage in a sex strike, forcing the men to negotiate peace.
And for overall family nastiness, it’s hard to beat Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King. This Greek tragedy follows King Oedipus of Thebes, who, in attempting to avoid a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother, unwittingly fulfills it.
For Lynn Crosby, the course has been a fascinating introduction to classics, and as a mature student and mother, she found the stories offer layered meanings.
“Perhaps because of my age and the fact that I’m a parent of two young adults, I find the generational conflicts to be quite interesting,” says the Woodsworth College member.
Crosby has especially enjoyed reading Aristophanes’ comedy The Clouds — a comedic play written around 423 BCE that follows Strepsiades, an Athenian who fears poverty owing to his efforts to fund the extravagant lifestyle of his son, Pheidippides.
“I admit I was laughing about Strepsiades’ ‘in my day’ rants,” she says. “I suddenly had the distressing thought that this might be how I sounded to my kids every time I went on about cursive writing and how the world is going straight downhill since it’s not being taught.”
Belle Siena, a first-year student planning on majoring in philosophy, and a member of University College, had never taken a classics course before Gunderson’s.
“The family conflicts that interest me the most are those of abandonment,” says Siena. “In ancient Greece many of the men were praised for leaving their families, choosing to fight and contribute to their legacy.
“I find it fascinating that a history of violence was considered more of a legacy than their own children, whom they left at home often for decades at a time. The prioritization of violence left these families broken and filled with resentment and yet the literature frames the fathers as heroes rather than cowardly for leaving their families, often leading to their sons to act in a similar fashion.”
In addition to the ancient plays and poems, Gunderson has also included transcripts from real court cases where families fought bitterly over money, estates or property. “The court cases have a real theatrical sensibility to them,” he says.
For example, the class is reading transcripts from court given by Isaeus who lived in the early 4th century BCE and functioned as a professional speechwriter in Athens — the equivalent of a lawyer. He specialized in legal cases around property and inheritance.
Gunderson’s students are also studying a speech by Lysias called On the Murder of Eratosthenes. This is a famous 4th-century BCE speech written by Lysias, where a man named Euphiletos defends himself against charges of murder. Euphiletos admits to killing a man, but claimed it was justifiable because he caught him committing adultery with his wife in his own home.
The speech argues that under Athenian law, husbands are allowed to kill a seducer caught in the act, framing the action as defending civic order rather than personal vengeance.
Through all of the course’s materials were written more than 2,000 years ago, the themes still resonate.
“I definitely think the material connects with issues of today,” says Crosby. “I see similarities in the political and power structures at play — surely everything in the U.S. right now smacks of Greek tragedy. Also, the poor treatment of women, their predetermined roles and their lack of identity, the disrespect or disregard for their feelings, and the patriarchal attitudes towards them remind me very much of issues still at play today.”
“Family tension is something that has not changed much over the generations,” says Siena. “In the readings we see conflict from jealousy, resentment, selfishness much like familial conflicts in modern day. The issue of fathers abandoning their children is still a prevalent issue today, as is the objectification of women seen throughout the readings. While the readings tend to be more obvious with their maltreatment of women, the themes are the same: sexualizing them, contributing their value to their ability to have children, silencing them, etc.”
Gunderson hopes that Crosby, Siena and the rest of his students take away a greater appreciation and interest in ancient Greek texts, regardless of whether or not they continue to pursue classics studies.
As well, he also hopes that the course sparks new insights into their own family experiences and perhaps offers a new way of looking at family issues and dynamics.
“If nothing else, I hope they walk away just happier in their own personal lives,” says Gunderson. “I hope they walk away thinking, ‘Well, things could be a lot worse.’
“Of course, some might be plotting murder,” he jokes.