Antigone Pre-reading Notes

Test Date: _____________________

Mrs. DavidsonEnglish 5

Apollo, The Sphinx, and Dionysus

• Apollo:

• The Sphinx:

• Dionysus:

Oracles, Curses, and Fate

• Oracles: Jocasta and Laius:

• Greek concept of a curse:

• Greek concept of Fate:Jocasta and Laius:

The Origin of Tragedy

• Religion

• Plays

• Chorus

• Audience

Greek Playwrights

• Thespis (6th Century B.C.)

• Aeschylus (525-426 B.C.)

• Sophocles (496 – 406 B.C.)

• Euripedes (486 – 406 B.C.)

Typical Greek Theater Plan

A Theatron D SkeneB Orchestra E ProskenionC Thymele

F Parados

Structure of Greek Theater

• Theatron – the “seeing place”• Orchestra – circular dancing place for

performance• Thymele – altar• Skene – building used as dressing room• Proskenion – façade used as backdrop• Parodos – entrance used by chorus

Actors and Acting• Hypocrites (hypocrite)– Actors– Musical Accompaniment– Dance

• Chorus• Mood

– Costumes and Masks• Robes• Boots• Masks

– Three characters• Protagonist• Deuteragonist• Tritagonist

Aristotle and Theatric Conventions

• “Poetics” (circa 350 B.C.)

• Catharsis – the function of tragedy

• Tragic Hero – a flawed character

• Other Conventions – – Messenger– Chorus– Intermission– Curtains– Lighting effects

The “Three Unities”• Unity of Action

• Unity of Time

• Unity of Place

The Structure of Plays

• Dialogue– Episodes– Strophes– Antistrophe

• Order– Prologue– Parados– Alternating

• Kommos• Exodus (Epilogue)

Episodic Structure of a Greek Tragedy