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Introduction to Greek Drama
A Brief Overview
Some Terms DRAMA- from the Greek word dran, meaning
“to do” or “to perform” PLAY- A dramatic work designed to be
presented on a stage (or in a television studio) and performed by actors and actresses.
ACTS- The main divisions of a play are called acts. Playwrights frequently employ acts to accommodate changes in time, Setting, characters on stage, or mood.
SCENES A sub-division of an act in a play. A scene changes when the location of the action changes or when a new character enters.
Why do we still study Greek drama?
The Greeks were perhaps the first to introduce profound, universal and timeless concerns about what it means to be human in a world that frequently runs counter to our desires and our aspirations.
And, in watching the action on the stage, we can, just like the Greeks, learn more about ourselves and our humanity.
DionysusClassical Greek drama developed from
the religious festivals that paid homage to Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.
While all characters in the plays honored the gods, it was the chorus that would offer the most formal and lengthy prayers to Dionysus and the others.
Tragedy Tragedy originates from concerns with and questions
about human existence; the somberness and suffering of tragedy was born from human experiences.
The Greeks had observed that human life is characterized by differences, conflict, sorrow and the unexpected, which inevitably lead to some degree of pain and suffering.
By staging tragedies, Greek playwrights endeavored to show that human beings must persevere because in spite of terrifying possibilities or consequences resulting from tragedies, there is a moral order to the universe in which all tings do work together eventually for good.
More on Tragedy Tragedy is attributed by disaster. In a way, also,
tragedy is a protest; it is a cry of terror or complaint or rage or anguish to and against whoever or whatever is responsible for the tragedy—for suffering and death.
As each tragedy unfolds before the audience, revealing something about life, the audience begins to understand the characters and humans--themselves.
These limitations are due in part to weakness, in part to the power of God and nature (the Greeks would refer to their gods), and above all, to the mysterious workings of fate—that which inevitably happens.
