Greek Drama - WiredProf.com · 10/9/2012 7 Types of Greek Drama Satyr plays A satyr is a half-man, half-beast who always has an erect phallus Characters are not psychologically developed

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Greek DramaAn Introduction and OverviewDarren Chiang-SchultheissEnglish 102: Intro to Literature

Fullerton College

Beginnings Who: Thespis is said to

have been the first actor and the term thespian is taken from his name.

When: Western drama began to develop in the 6th

century B.C. to worship the Greek god Dionysus.

Were: Greece Why: Celebration of the

Festival of Dionysus

Where and how were the dramas performed?

…In an amphitheatre

…With a chorus who described most of the action.

…With masks

…With all the fighting and movement going on off stage.

….With tragedy first, then comedy later.

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Theater of Dionysus

Theater of Dionysus

The Stage

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The StageThree Main Portions of Greek Theatre:

Skene – Portion of stage where actors performed (included 1-3 doors in and out)

Orchestra –“Dancing Place” where chorus sang to the audience

Theatron – Seating for audience

The Stage

The Stage

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The Stage Greek plays were performed during religious

ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry (altars generally on stage)

Banks would shut down for days, people would travel from all around to see the drama competitions—even prisoners were temporarily released to see the plays

Tragedy means “goat song” (relates to Dionysian rituals)

Evolution of Greek Drama Thespis wrote the first drama in 534 BC He was also the first actor

this created the AGON--dramatic confrontation (struggle)

Aeschylus added a second actor, thus furthering the AGON (protagonist, antagonist)

Sophocles added a third actor Comedy uses 4 actors

Dionysus Son of Zeus and Semele (a mortal) and was

killed torn apart and then resurrected

Hence, Dionysus was closely associated with the cycle of nature The god of wine and wine miracles

The god of wild nature

The god of ecstatic possession

The god of the dance

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Festival of Dionysus

Celebration of harvest and honoring of Dionysus Tragic festival--political in nature, allowed for

people to gather together Contest for tragedy established in 534 BC 3 playwrights each brought with them 3 tragedies

and 1 satyr play to be performed Promising playwrights would ask the king to give them

a chorus The plays were performed by the general public, not by

acting companies

Dionysian Masks

Major Greek Dramatists

Aeschylus 525 - 456 B.C.E. 7 of 90 plays survive:

Oresteia Trilogy

Sophocles 496 - 406 B.C.E. 7 of 125 plays survive:

Antigone

Oedipus

Euripides 484-406 B.C.E. 17 or 92 plays survive:

Medea

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Aeschylus Father of tragedy

Reduced the size of the chorus

Expanded the number of actors from 1 to 2

Oresteia is the only surviving trilogy

Sophocles Wrote the dramatic

irony piece, Oedipus Rex

His conflicts focused on his characters’ questioning fate and the will of the gods

Euripides More interested in

people’s lives than in religious views

He became a master of pathos, the term that describes human sorrow and compassion

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Types of Greek Drama Satyr plays A satyr is a half-man, half-beast who always has

an erect phallus Characters are not psychologically developed Similar to slapstick comedy Light and funny to contrast tragedies

Greek Comedy Shows the lives of the lower social classes

Nature of humor is vulgar, lewd, indecent, cheap, and showy

OLD COMEDY of Aristophanes ( The Birds) concentrated on buffoonery and farce

NEW COMEDY of Menander was a comedy of social manners and foibles

Greek Tragedy Themes: complications, revenge, resentment

Lack of emphasis on personality

Characteristics: Fate

Fortune

Circumstances

Intervening gods

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Aristotle as Drama CriticAristotle (384-322 B.C)• Tragic hero: person of nobility who is at

the mercy of his fate, comes close to death, best quality usually leads to his downfall

• Catharsis: purging or purifying of the emotions of pity and fear

• Protagonist: central character (tragic hero) responsible for evoking the catharsis

• Anagnorisis: recognition of truth

• Peripeteia: moment when tragic hero’s fortunes is reversed

Aristotle’s Poetics Tragedy must be complete, and whole, and have a

certain magnitude; it must have a beginning, a middle , and an end.

The tragic poet describes what is “capable of happening according to the rule of probability or necessity.”

“Historians (and scientists) speak of what has happened, the poet of the kind of thing that canhappen. Hence also poetry is a more philosophical and serious business than history; for poetry speaks more of universals, history of particulars.

Aristotle’s Poetics Unities

Time: takes place during single daylight period (1 diurnal)

Place: Performance must take place in one location

Action: Mimetic In theatre, the object of imitation is people in action who

are either better than the average (tragedy) or worse than then average (comedy)

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Aristotle’s Poetics

6 Elements(ranked)

1. Plot2. Character3. Language4. Thought5. Music6. Spectacle

Key Terms

• Mimesis (imitation)• Catharsis (purification)• Hamartia (tragic flaw

such as hubris)• Anagnorisis (self-

recognition)• Peripeteia (change of

fortune)• Pity and fear

Mount Olympus…

…Where the

Olympians

lived.

Who are the Olympians?

Zeus

King of gods

Heaven

Storms

Thunder

lightning

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Poseidon

Zeus’s brother

King of the sea

Earthquakes

Horses

Hades

Brother to Zeus and Poseidon

King of the Underworld (Tartarus)

Husband of Persphone

Ares God of war

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Hephaestus

God of fire

Craftspeople

Metalworkers

Artisans

Apollo

God of the sun

Music

Poetry

Fine arts

Medicine

Hermes

Messenger to the gods

Trade

Commerce

Travelers

Thieves & scoundrels

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Dionysus

God of Wine

Partying (Revelry)

Hera

Queen of gods

Women

Marriage

Childbirth

Demeter

Goddess of Harvest

Agriculture

Fertility

Fruitfulness

Mom to Persephone

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Hestia

Goddess of Hearth

Home

Community

Athena

Goddess of wisdom

Practical arts

War

Aphrodite

Goddess of love and beauty

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Artemis

Goddess of hunting and the moon.