Greek Drama

Religious Festivals In honor of Dionysus – god of wine, food,

fertility Dionysia--city where festival was held in the

spring Festival lasted for 4 days; ended with

awards given to best plays. Competitive dances, songs and choral

hymns performed to honor the gods, esp. Dionysus

Choric storytelling evolves into re-enactments of legends of Greek culture

Greek Drama The Ancient Greeks took their

“entertainment” very seriously and used drama as a way of investigating the world they lived in, and what it meant to be human.

Greek Drama Wealthy citizens would sponsor

plays by paying a tax called the choregia.

Many hoped the success of the play they sponsored would provide them with a way into politics.

Greek Drama The three genres of drama were

comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

Comedy Mainly satirical and mocked men

in power for their vanity and foolishness.

Tragedy Themes -- love, loss, pride, the abuse of

power and the fraught relationships between men and gods.

Main protagonist commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him.

The three great playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Tragedy Aristotle argued that tragedy

cleansed the heart through pity and terror, purging us of our petty concerns and worries by making us aware that there can be nobility in suffering. He called this experience 'catharsis'.

Satyr Plays Short plays performed between

the acts of tragedies that made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters. The satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat figures and actors in these plays wore large phalluses for comic effect.

Thespis Father of Drama/First Actor astounded audiences by leaping

on to the back of a wooden cart and reciting poetry as if he was the characters whose lines he was reading

“Thespian”

First PlaywrightsAeschylus introduced a second actor, creating DIALOGUESophocles introduced a third actor, as seen in Oedipus Rex, which allows for dramatic complexity.

Structure of the Theater

Classic Greek Theatre Theatron

Seeing place where audience sat. Held up to 20,000 people.

Orchestra Circular dancing

place where actors and chorus performed

Thymele Altar to Dionysus,

center of orchestra

Classic Greek Theatre Skene

Building used as dressing room

Proskenion Façade of the skene

building which served as backdrop

Parados Entrance to the

theatre used by chorus audience

Actors & Acting A play could have many characters

but had to be divided among three actors

Unlimited number of extras or mutes. Stage could have a dozen or more soldiers or village maidens without violating the rule of “three”

All roles were played by men

Costumes & Masks Long flowing robes

Symbolically colored

High boots, often with raised soles

Larger than life masks Made of linen,

wood, and/or cork Exaggerated

features

Masks—Persona Male vs. female Young vs. old Grief stricken vs.

hopeful The “open

mouth” on the mask increased the resonance of the actor’s voice

Serve as a barometer of popular opinion

Add beauty (theatrical effectiveness) through song dance

Give background information Divide action & offer reflections on

events Questions, advises, expresses opinions

—usually through chorus leader

Function of the Chorus

Conventions Unities1. Action—simple

plot2. Time—a single

day3. Place—one

scene throughout the entire playTemple at Delphi

Conventions Messenger Tells news

happening away from the scene

Reports acts of violence not allowed to be seen

Limitations Continuous

presence of the chorus

No intermissions: continuous flow of action and choral odes

No lighting or curtains

Tragic Hero Tragic Flaw—Hubris

Excessive Pride; arrogance Fatal errors in judgment which

contributes to the downfall Tragic Realization

Accepts responsibility for the outcome Perceives before the fall how he/she

has contributed to his/her own destruction

Irony The awareness—by the author,

character, or reader—of a contrast or an incongruity between appearance and reality

Verbal Irony Words that appear to mean one

thing really mean the opposite

Irony Dramatic irony

What appears true to a character is not what the audience or reader knows to be true

Situational Irony What appears likely to happen is not

what actually happens

Paradox A statement or a situation that at

first seems impossible or self-contradictory but that may actually be true, either in fact or in the figurative sense.

Deus ex machina 'dA-&s-"eks-'mä-ki-n& Function: noun Etymology: New Latin, a god from a machine, translation

of Greek theos ek mEchanEsDate: 1697

1 : a god introduced by means of a crane in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome

2 : a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

Archetype A basic model from which copies

are made; a prototype An original pattern