Theatron: literally, the “watching place”

Orchestra: literally, the “dancing place”

Skene: “scene,” or backdrop

Daylight

Class issues

Women

Comfort

Sound effects

The modern word “theater” comes from the Greek word theatron meaning "seeing place"

Challenges:

Size

Distance from

audience

Holding

interest

Behind

orchestra

Served as

backdrop,

house

Decorative in

later years

Holds mechane

Parodos: passageways (pl.paradoi)

Ekkykleme: “the thing that rolls” the small wagon platform, was wheeled in

to show a corpse to the audience.

All killing had to occur off stage and be

reported to the audience by the chorus or

a messenger.

Mechane: crane used for special effect

What was the

mechane?

Staging was accomplished simply with the use of pinakes, or scenery painted on boards and placed against the skene.

Also periaktois, triangular prisms, that could be revolved for scenery changes.

Properties were also used.

Drums were sounded for thunder.

…In an amphitheatre

…With a chorus who described most of the action.

…With masks

• The theater of ancient Greece, flourished

between c. 550 and c. 220 BCE.

• The city-state of Athens, was it’s centre.

• It was part of a festival called the

Dionysia, which honored the god

Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and

revelry with altars generally on stage.

• Banks would shut down for days, people

would travel from all around to see the

drama competitions—even prisoners were

temporarily released to see the plays

• Tragedy means “goat song” (relates to

Dionysian sacrificial rituals)

The chorus was trained and costumed at state expense through a choregos (a wealthy citizen) who chose this job as his way of paying taxes and raising his standing in the community.

Members of the chorus

were chosen from the

general population.

Chorus members were

unpaid volunteers

doing their civic duty.

The rehearsal period

for a chorus was likely

four months or more.

• DRAMA: a literary composition written

to be performed by actors

• central character called a tragic

protagonist or hero suffers some

serious misfortune

• the misfortune is logically connected

with the hero's actions.

The modern word “drama” comes from the Greek word dran meaning "to do” The Greeks understood the

role of action in plays.

Comedy Tragedy Satyr Comedy and tragedy were the

most popular types of plays in ancient Greece. Hence, the modern popularity of the comedy and tragedy masks to symbolize theatre.

The word “comedy” comes from the Greek word “komos” which means “band of revelers.”

These were short plays performed between the acts of tragedies. They made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.

The satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat servants of Dionysus.

They served the function of comic relief.

The Satyr and the Satyr plays spawned the modern word “satire”.

used a chorus

The choric dithyrambs (choral

songs) were originally about the

death and resurrection of Dionysus

(the god of wine and revelry).

Chorus reflects what the

audience is thinking▪ “color commentary”

▪ Provides background and spectacle

The first function of the chorus was

as narrator (telling stories, providing

information).

to bridge the gap between the audience and the

players by making responses and asking

questions

to intensify the emotion and establish a lyric

mood through rhythmic chanting and dance

to maintain a sense of ceremony and ritual

The chorus could punctuate the action of a play with bursts of song and dance, which enlarged the dramatic action and relieved tension.

Instruments used to accompany choric songs and dances included flutes, lyres, horns, drums, and bells.

The „Parados‟ (chorus entrance) marks the beginning of the play, and the exodus (its exit) the ending.

Singing

Dancing

Strophe (1 section of a lyric

poem in a Greek drama)

Antistrophe (answer)

As the number of actors increasedfrom one to three, the size of the chorus, which originally numbered 50, was reduced.

12-15 men

The Chorus could play the worshipers of a God, or as in Oedipus, the villagers and Theban elders (town leaders).

The modern word

“thespian” (actor) comes

from the name Thespis,

the first actor credited

with separating from the

chorus to hold a call and

response with them.

Choruses did not rehearse in the theatres, they probably rehearsed in a closed room so that the spectators would not see the drama before the performance.

Early dramatists (Aeschylus and probably Sophocles and Euripides) taught their own choruses.

Consisted of standard Greek attire

Chiton: a sleeveless tunic belted below the breast

the himation: draped around the right shoulder

the chlamys, or short cloak, worn over the left shoulder

elaborately embroidered patterns

Masks were used.

If playing a female role, the male actor in want of a female appearance worethe prosternida before the chest and the progastrida before the belly

3 Actors, all menElaborate gestures, “over-acting”Women were not

allowed to participate.

to masks bring the characters' face closer to the

audience.

to enable an actor to play in several different

roles.

to help the audience to distinguish sex, age, and

social status, in addition to revealing a change

in a particular character’s emotions and

appearance.

a mask—called a “persona”

Masks contained “megaphone” to amplify their

voices

Another adaptation that the Greeks'

developed for their theatre masks

were special mouths that acted like

megaphones to amplify their voice for

everyone in the huge theatre to hear.

Actors wore masks with exaggerated facial features

and expressions to make it easy for all viewers to identify

a particular character because theatres were very large.

Greek actors originally started wearing

masks that were very human like that just

covered part of the face

Eventually with the increase in theatre size

the mask changed as well

The mask then began to cover the whole

head and resembled legends from Greek

mythology not humans

usually made by the people that who wore them in the play

from consisted of cloth, leather, and wood with animal hair and painted or died different colors with flowers and other plants attached to them.

Famous actors in bigger plays may have had jewels and other ornate items placed on their masks

AeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesMenander

Medea is a princess from Colchis. She marries Jason, who is on a quest for the Golden Fleece. Medea betrays her father and murders her brother for her love of Jason. Medea has magical powers. Jason takes Medea back to his homeland Iolcus. They are rejected for fear of Medea’s power and move to Corinth, where they have children.

Jason takes another wife, the king of Corinth’s daughter Glauce. Medea, betrayed, sends a bewitched gown to Princess Glauce, Jason’s new bride, it kills her and her father. Jason returns to find Medea has killed their sons. Medea leaves with the bodies of her children in a dragon led chariot. Jason, a shadow of a man, no longer protected by Hera, dies when a timber from the Argo crushes him in his sleep.

Son of wealthy Athenian merchant

Lived during golden age of Athens Center of democracy

Important figure in society Becomes cultural

spokesperson Noted playwright Wrote primarily tragedies Witnessed decline of

Athens

495 B.C.E. :Born in Colonus, in Attica

441: Writes Antigone 431-404:

Peloponnesian War (Athens v. Sparta)

429: Writes Oedipus Rex

406: Sophocles dies

Oedipus:1. “Aye, 'tis no secret. Apollo once foretold That I

should mate with mine own mother, and shedWith my own hands the blood of my own sire.Hence Corinth was for many a year to me. Ahome distant; and I trove abroad, But missedthe sweetest sight, my parents' face. ”

Jocasta:2. “An oracle Once came to Laius, I will not say

'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but fromHis ministers, declaring he was doomed toperish by the hand of his own son, A child thatshould be born to him by me.

Delphic Oracle, prophecy

Corinth and Thebes Sphinx riddle Self-punishment Children: Eteocles,

Polyneices, Ismene, Antigone

• Sphinx's riddle: "What is the creature that walks on four legs inthe morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?"

• To this Oedipus answered "Man”.

• Oedipus's name means "swollen foot”. His ankles were pinnedas a baby. Here is the baby of which the Sphinx speaks, crawlingon four feet.

• Oedipus the adult man, standing on his own two feet.

• Oedipus will leave Thebes an old blind man, using a cane.

• Oedipus himself proves to be that same man, an embodimentof the Sphinx's riddle.

• Oedipus is solver of the Sphinx's riddle, and the answer.

1. The play begins years after Oedipus is given the throne of Thebes.

2. The chorus of Thebans cries out to Oedipus for salvation from the plague sent by the gods in response to Laius' murder.

3. The blind prophet, Teiresias, is called to aid Oedipus in his search; He warns Oedipus not to follow through with the investigation.

4. Oedipus accuses him of being the murderer, even though Teiresias is blind and aged.

5. Oedipus promises to exile the man responsible for it.

6. Oedipus accuses Teiresias of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him.

7. Oedipus calls for one of Laius' former servants, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king to avoid being the one to reveal the truth.

1. A messenger from Corinth also

arrives to inform Oedipus of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes is his real father.

2. The messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted and his real parentage is unknown.

3. In the subsequent discussions Jocastaguesses the truth and runs away.

4. Oedipus is stubborn5. A 2nd messenger arrives and reveals

that Jocasta has hanged herself 6. Oedipus, upon discovering her body,

blinds himself with the golden brooches on her dress.

7. The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and leaving in exile, as he promised would be the fate of Laius' murderer.

1. Story revolves around two differentunsuccessful attempts to change the courseof fate:

1. Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus at birth and2. Oedipus's flight from Corinth later on.

2. Jocasta kills her son only to find himmarried to her.

3. Oedipus leaves Corinth only to find that hehas carried out the oracle's words.

Oedipus counts on his own abilitynot the gods.The irony is, of course, that theoracles and Oedipus's reasoning leadto the same outcome.Oedipus is a thinker. His intelligenceis what makes him great, yet it is alsowhat makes him tragic.Marriage to Jocasta and rulingThebes was the prize for riddingThebes of the Sphinx. Oedipus'sintelligence, a trait that brings himcloser to the gods, is what causes himto commit the most terrible of all sins.

In killing the Sphinx, Oedipus is the city'ssavior, but in killing Laius (and marryingJocasta), he is cause of the plague that hasstruck the city at the play's opening.Sight here means two different things.Oedipus is blessed with perception. But heis blind to the truth, for all he seeks it.Oedipus is human and we recognize thisin his agonizing reaction to his sin. Watching this, the audience is moved toboth pity and fear: pity for this brokenman, and fear that his tragedy could beour own. Watching this tragedy gives usthe audience a sense of purging. This is thecatharsis which Aristotle spoke of.

The Six Aspects of Tragedy

1. PLOT

2. CHARACTER

3. SPECTACLE

4. SONG

5. DICTION

6. THOUGHT

From Aristotle’s Poetics

*

1. PLOT: Plot is the way the incidents are presented to the audience

• Must be “whole” –beginning/ middle and end• Incentive moment- begins cause and effect• Climax• resolution

• Must be complete and have “unity of action”• No “deus ex machina”• No “episodic plots”

• Plot can be simple or complex• Catastrophe (cata/strophe): change in fortune• Perepetia: a reversal• Anagnorisis: recognition

Plot Diagram/

Freytag’s Pyramid

2. CHARACTER• Personal motivations connected to cause/ effect aspect of

plot• Protagonist should be renowned and prosperous change

from good to bad• Hubris – arrogance, overconfidence• Hamartia: a tragic flaw

• Characters should have the following qualities:• Good or fine• Fitness of character• True to life• Consistency• Necessary or probable• Idealized/ ennobled

1. He must be a man who is superior to the average man insome way.

1. Oedipus is smart he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx'sriddle.

2. Must evoke both pity and fear, must be a character with amixture of good and evil. Oedipus is a hero with a violentstreak, clever man, but is blind to the truth.

3. Hamartia, often translated as "tragic flaw" but reallymeans "error in judgement.”

4. Dramatic irony The audience knows the outcome of thestory already, but the hero does not, making his actionsseem ignorant or inappropriate in the face of what is tocome.

3. THOUGHT• Reference to theme

4. DICTION• Word choice is proper and appropriate• Emphasis on style and use of literary devices (metaphor)

5. SONG• Musical element of the play• Use of the chorus

6. SPECTACLE* Production for effect

DionysiaSophoclesOedipus RexCast of

characters

Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece) Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and

Jocasta Antigone’s brothers, Eteokles and

Polyneces, took opposite sides in a war Eteokles and Polyneces killed each other in

battle Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, became king of

Thebes

Antigone• Antigone, had the

better judgment, and Ismene with all the

good intentions.

• They were both two extraordinary women that went through a lot together despite

their differences.

Eteocles and Polyneices

The princes who had refused to share their

inheritance shared death instead