Tragedy

• Defined in Aristotle’s Poetics: The purpose of a tragedy is to arouse the emotions of pity and fear and thus to produce in the audience a catharsis of these emotions

Chorus:

• The chorus offers a variety of background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance. In many ancient Greek plays, the chorus expressed to the audience what the main characters could not say, such as their fears or secrets

Parados

• A song sung by a Greek chorus as it first enters the theater. This is used mainly in presenting the information already given. It is named for the corridors at the front of the stage of a Greek theater from which the chorus entered

Choragos:

• The leader of the chorus. He often acts as a stage director and may actually interact with the characters.

Ode:

• An elaborate poem often set to music. The ode generally glorifies an individual or entity at the same time that it recognizes man’s limitations.

Tragic Hero:

• a literary character who makes errors in judgment, usually in his or her actions, that inevitably lead to his or her own demise (death).." An Aristotelian tragic hero must possess specific characteristics, five of which are below:

Characteristics of tragic hero

• Nobility (of a noble birth) This often lead to (Hubris) or false pride.

• Hamartia (translated as flaw or error in judgment). Either a mistake in the character's actions or in his personality that leads to a downfall.

• A reversal of fortune (peripeteia) brought about because of the hero's Hamartia.

• The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions (anagnorisis)

• The audience must feel pity and fear (fear that it could have been them) (catharsis) for the character.

Blind Poet:

• Usually acts as an agent of the gods and hence is a prophet. Technically, the blind poet sees what others don’t see. His presence emphasizes the fact that some of the major characters in the play are blind to reality.

Exodus:

• From the Greek word “departure,” it is the last episode of the play. Generally, it is followed by a concluding speech given by either the chorus or the “blind poet.”