Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre and Religion

• Greeks worshipped several gods• Zeus

• King of the gods

• Hera

• Goddess of marriage

• Aries

• God of War

• Dionysus

• God of wine, fertility and revelry

Religious Festivals

• City of Dionysia• Honoring Dionysus

• Festival that ran several days

• Full of plays

• Dithyramic plays and choruses

• Dithramb = long hymn sung by fifty men called The Chorus

Thespis

• First actor to step away from chorus.

• Greek word for actor = hypokrite

• Is the reason modern actors are called thespians

Playwrights

• Majority of plays written about Greek myths

• Myth=story or legend• Examples:

• Orpheus & Eurydice

• The Illiad & The Odyssey

• Hercules

Aeschylus (c. 525-456 B.C.E)

• Often considered the founder of Greek drama

• Introduced the second actor• All plays before had only one actor

• Example: Thespis

• Reduced the number in The Chorus from fifty to twelve• Making it more manageable

Sophocles (c. 496-406 B.C.E)

• Noted for superb plot construction• Introduces characters and information skillfully

• Builds swiftly to climax

• Exploration of character and focus on individual also characteristic of his plays• Examples:

• King Oedipus

• Antigone

Euripedes (c. 480-406 B.C.E)

• Considered the most “modern” of Greek playwrights

• Characters behaved as people do in everyday life• Realism was not considered appropriate for tragedy

• Criticized for weak plots

• Example of one of his plays:• Medea

Aristotle and his Poetics

Aristotle (c. 384-322 B.C.E)

• First critic of Greek tragedies

• According to Aristotle, all tragedies had six elements-- The Poetics

• Said tragedy produced the emotions of pity and fear known as catharsis• Audiences felt pity for the suffering of the hero and feared that

the same fate might befall them as well.

The Poetics (c. 335 B.C.E)

• Plot• The arrangement of

dramatic incidents

• Characters• The people represented in

the play

• Theme• The ideas explored in the

play

• Language• The dialogue and poetry

• Music

• Spectacle• Scenery and other visual

Satyr Plays

• Comical plays involving a chorus of satyrs• Mythological half-goat, half-man creatures

• Parodied the tragic heroes and their tales

The Greek Theatre Building

• The Theatron• Literally, “the viewing place”

• Where the audience sat

• The Orchestra• The playing area for the actors

• The Skene• Scene building

Costuming

• Masks• Major element of Greek

costuming

• All performers wore masks

• Covered entire head, including hair

• Helped audiences identify characters

• Allowed actors to play mulitple

• Clothing• Tragic characters wore very

ornate tunics and short or long cloaks

• Comical characters work clothing based on everyday clothing

• Often cut tight to create humorous effect by emphasizing certain physical features.