Greek Theater

Euripides (480-406 B.C.E.)

Historical Background

• Golden Age of Greece (594 – 338 B.C.E.) – beginnings of democracy, defeat of Persia gave Greek city-states independence

• Play festival emerged from religious celebrations of Dionysus (god of wine and intoxication)

• Plays were entered in contests – judges gave awards for best actor and playwright

• At first, only tragedies – comedies added later

Participants of Greek Drama• All actors and playwrights were men• Wore large, lightweight masks (quick changes,

character easy to see, funnel-shaped mouths [megaphones])

• Chorus: approx. 50 men, chanting lines & songs, would speak directly to audience, functioned as narrator

• 534 B.C.E.: First play where “actor” stepped from chorus and spoke lines by himself (Thespis – thespian)

• By 471 B.C.E., three actors standard

Example of Greek Mask

Greek Theaters• Would hold 14,000 to 17,000 people• Orchestra: flat circular area in center where

acting took place• Aeorema: a crane could “fly in” a God to

intervene in a play (deus ex machina: “god in the machine”)

• Ekeclema: wheeled platform where dead characters were revealed. Murder, suicide, and graphic violence always happened offstage.

• Skene: painted backdrop (scene/scenery)

Greek Theater at Epidaurus

Famous Greek Playwrights

• Sophocles (tragedy: Oedipus Rex, Antigone)

• Euripides (tragedy: Medea)

• Aristophanes (comedy: Lysistrata)

Aristotle: Poetics• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.): Greek

philosopher, thinker

• Profound influence on Western science, logic, philosophy, and drama

• Poetics concerned with “correct” poetry (includes drama)

Key concepts of Poetics• Catharsis: the emotional, overwhelming

feeling from watching a tragedy• Tragedy has superior characters, comedy

has inferior characters• Aristotle believed proper tragedy should

have only one important plot and a short timeframe; plays with one setting were the norm in Greek theater.