Classical Drama

Classical Drama originated in the sixth century B.C. It developed a rich tradition in ancient Greece and Rome.

The Greek TheaterThe Greek tragedies were produced as part

of an annual religious festival in Athens.

Each year new plays were presented before the entire populace of the city, and an award given to the playwright who presented the best series of three dramas.

Each playwright would produce three tragedies and a satyr.

Tragedy: a drama that recounts the downfall of a dignified, superior character who is involved in historically or socially significant events.

Satyr: a short, comic interlude. (Pokes fun @ a serious subject.)

Components of the play:

Protagonist/Tragic Hero: this character is in conflict with an opposing character or force, the antagonist.

Tragic Flaw: a defect in the hero that brings about or contributes to his or her downfall. This flaw may be poor judgment, pride, weakness, or an excess of an admirable quality. The tragic hero recognizes his/her flaw and its consequences, but only after it is too late to change the course of events.

Sophocles received the prize often during his long, productive life.

The Theban Plays written by Sophocles

Antigone (441 B.C.)

Oedipus Rex (430 B.C)

Oedipus at Colonus (401 B.C.)

Characteristics of Sophoclean Tragedy:

It is based on events that already took place & are familiar.

The protagonist is a person of noble stature.

The protagonist has a weakness and because of it becomes isolated and suffers a downfall.

Because the protagonist’s fall is not entirely his/her own fault, the audience may end up pitying him/her.

The fallen protagonist gains self-knowledge. He has a deeper insight into himself and understands his weakness.

The audience undergoes catharsis, a purging of emotions, after experiencing pity, fear, shock and other strong feelings. The people go away feeling better.

The drama usually unfolds in one place in a short period of time, usually about a day.

Pride as a Character Flaw:

Pride was considered a grave sin because it placed too much emphasis on individual will, thereby downplaying the will of the state and endangering the community as a whole.

Because pride makes people unwilling to accept wise counsel, they act rashly and make bad decisions. Great pride is referred to as hubris.

The plays were put on beneath the bright skies of Greece, in huge outdoor amphitheaters, somewhat like modern football stadiums cut in half.

Built upon hillsides, they seated as many as 40,000 people at a time.

The stage was a slightly raised platform in the open area upon the ground.

We do not know for certain all the details of the Greek theater. Scholars believe that the stage was backed by a structure with pillars and columns which could represent a palace or the walls of a city.

A long building, called the skene, served as a backdrop of the action and as a dressing room.

A spacious circular floor, the orchestra, was located between the skene and the audience.

All of the actors were men. They wore masks which may have contained built in megaphones to send their voices through the vast theater.

The actors wore elegant robes, huge masks, and often elevated shoes which added to the grandeur of the spectacle.

Sophocles used three actors in his plays; between scenes, they changed costumes and masks when they needed to portray different characters.

The play depended more on the words the actors spoke than on the subtle effects of facial expression or gesture.

The actors’ movements had to be broad and bold. This kind of theater has little relation to the realistic style of drama we expect today.

One aspect of the Greek theater which often confuses modern readers is the chorus. We still find the chorus in our musical comedies, but it is rare in “serious” plays and films.

The Greek chorus was a group of actors (12-15) who moved and sang together as one character. Actually the plays themselves developed from a kind of community sing when bit by bit a chorus grew up that told stories in song and verse.

Role of the Chorus

– Explain the action– Interpret the action in relation to the law of the

state and the law of Olympian gods– Foreshadow the future– Serve as actor in the play– Sing and/or dance

To this an actor was added who carried on a dialogue with the chorus. Then a second actor was added, and a third. With each additional actor, the chorus shrank in size and importance.

Between scenes, the chorus sang and danced to musical accompaniment in the orchestra, giving insights into the message of the play.

The chorus is often considered a kind of ideal spectator, representing the response of ordinary citizens to the tragic events unfolding in the play.

The chorus could also set the mood of the story.

Sometimes the chorus sided with one or another character in the play.

Sometimes it warned a character of impending disaster.

Often the chorus, with its folk truths and its common sense, created a contrast with the loftier passions and thoughts of the hero.

The chorus did NOT mouth directly the ideas of the author.

(Like today’s background music, narrator, or text that identifies time and place.)

View these links for examples of a Chorus in Greek drama.

Purpose of a chorus (Watch one minute)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quLkooLxsO4

Example of a chorus (Watch one minute of each video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFT_w7RTsnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwtxtmJInww

Conventions: standard ways of presenting actionThe Greek tragedy usually followed conventions

requiring unity of time, place, and action. A play took place within a single day’s palace or in the square of the city.

Unity of action meant that the writer concentrated on one story line at a time. There were no subplots or diversions.

Greeks felt that physical horror was so repulsive to see that it ruined the artistic effects of the dramas. Therefore, all violent actions took place off stage. They were reported to he audience by messengers.

The Greek tragic dramatists seldom invented original stories or epics of their people.

Sophocles’ audience knew the outcome of the story before arriving at the theater. The playwrights concentrated on character portrayal, on ideas, and on poetry.

The center of the story was the emotions of the characters.

Glossary of Greek Drama Catharsis: a purification of emotions.

Drama: Literary work with dialogue written in verse and spoken by actors playing characters experiencing conflict and tension. In Greek drama, a play derives its plot from stories from history or mythology.

Dramatic Irony: Failure of a character to see or understand what is obvious to the audience. Oedipus, for example, was unaware early on of what the audience knew: that he was married to his own mother, Jocasta.  

Dionysus: Patron god of Greek drama; god of wine and vegetation. Dionysus was the son of Zeus and one of the most important of the Greek gods. Dionysus died each winter and was reborn each spring, symbolizing renewal and rejuvenation. Festivals of Greek drama were held in his name.

Hybris or Hubris: Great pride. Hybris often is the character flaw in Greek drama.

Ode: Poem sung in a play or a festival. 

Prologue (Prologos) Introduction of a play that provides background material.

Satire In Greek literature, a play or a passage in a play that pokes fun at public figures or the gods.

A Greek theater consisted of the following:  

Skene: Building behind the stage. First used as a dressing area for actors (and sometimes an entrance or exit area for actors), the skene eventually became a background showing appropriate scenery. 

Paraskenia: Extensions or annexes on the sides of the skene. 

Proscenium: Acting area, or stage, in front of the skene.  Orchestra: Ground-level area where the chorus performed. It was in front of the proscenium.   Parados: Passage on the left or right through which the chorus entered the orchestra. 

Thymele: Altar in the center of the orchestra used to make sacrifices to Dionysus. 

Theatron: Tiered seating area built into a hillside in the shape of a horseshoe. 

Machine: Armlike device on the skene that could lower a "god" onto the stage from the heavens. 

Some Words to Know for the Reading:

Thebes: Ancient City of E. Central Greece; NW of Athens

• Oracle of Delphi: A shrine in Delphi where people would consult a representative (priest or priestess) of the god/goddess.

Sphinx: In Greek mythology, the head of a woman, body of a lion, teeth and wings and claws like an eagle; killed all who couldn’t answer her riddle.