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TRANSCRIPT
Theatron: literally, the “watching place”
Orchestra: literally, the “dancing place”
Skene: “scene,” or backdrop
Daylight
Class issues
Women
Comfort
Sound effects
The modern word “theater” comes from the Greek word theatron meaning "seeing place"
Challenges:
Size
Distance from
audience
Holding
interest
Behind
orchestra
Served as
backdrop,
house
Decorative in
later years
Holds mechane
Parodos: passageways (pl.paradoi)
Ekkykleme: “the thing that rolls” the small wagon platform, was wheeled in
to show a corpse to the audience.
All killing had to occur off stage and be
reported to the audience by the chorus or
a messenger.
Mechane: crane used for special effect
What was the
mechane?
Staging was accomplished simply with the use of pinakes, or scenery painted on boards and placed against the skene.
Also periaktois, triangular prisms, that could be revolved for scenery changes.
Properties were also used.
Drums were sounded for thunder.
…In an amphitheatre
…With a chorus who described most of the action.
…With masks
• The theater of ancient Greece, flourished
between c. 550 and c. 220 BCE.
• The city-state of Athens, was it’s centre.
• It was part of a festival called the
Dionysia, which honored the god
Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and
revelry with 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 sacrificial rituals)
The chorus was trained and costumed at state expense through a choregos (a wealthy citizen) who chose this job as his way of paying taxes and raising his standing in the community.
Members of the chorus
were chosen from the
general population.
Chorus members were
unpaid volunteers
doing their civic duty.
The rehearsal period
for a chorus was likely
four months or more.
• DRAMA: a literary composition written
to be performed by actors
• central character called a tragic
protagonist or hero suffers some
serious misfortune
• the misfortune is logically connected
with the hero's actions.
The modern word “drama” comes from the Greek word dran meaning "to do” The Greeks understood the
role of action in plays.
Comedy Tragedy Satyr Comedy and tragedy were the
most popular types of plays in ancient Greece. Hence, the modern popularity of the comedy and tragedy masks to symbolize theatre.
The word “comedy” comes from the Greek word “komos” which means “band of revelers.”
These were short plays performed between the acts of tragedies. They made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.
The satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat servants of Dionysus.
They served the function of comic relief.
The Satyr and the Satyr plays spawned the modern word “satire”.
used a chorus
The choric dithyrambs (choral
songs) were originally about the
death and resurrection of Dionysus
(the god of wine and revelry).
Chorus reflects what the
audience is thinking▪ “color commentary”
▪ Provides background and spectacle
The first function of the chorus was
as narrator (telling stories, providing
information).
to bridge the gap between the audience and the
players by making responses and asking
questions
to intensify the emotion and establish a lyric
mood through rhythmic chanting and dance
to maintain a sense of ceremony and ritual
The chorus could punctuate the action of a play with bursts of song and dance, which enlarged the dramatic action and relieved tension.
Instruments used to accompany choric songs and dances included flutes, lyres, horns, drums, and bells.
The „Parados‟ (chorus entrance) marks the beginning of the play, and the exodus (its exit) the ending.
Singing
Dancing
Strophe (1 section of a lyric
poem in a Greek drama)
Antistrophe (answer)
As the number of actors increasedfrom one to three, the size of the chorus, which originally numbered 50, was reduced.
12-15 men
The Chorus could play the worshipers of a God, or as in Oedipus, the villagers and Theban elders (town leaders).
The modern word
“thespian” (actor) comes
from the name Thespis,
the first actor credited
with separating from the
chorus to hold a call and
response with them.
Choruses did not rehearse in the theatres, they probably rehearsed in a closed room so that the spectators would not see the drama before the performance.
Early dramatists (Aeschylus and probably Sophocles and Euripides) taught their own choruses.
Consisted of standard Greek attire
Chiton: a sleeveless tunic belted below the breast
the himation: draped around the right shoulder
the chlamys, or short cloak, worn over the left shoulder
elaborately embroidered patterns
Masks were used.
If playing a female role, the male actor in want of a female appearance worethe prosternida before the chest and the progastrida before the belly
3 Actors, all menElaborate gestures, “over-acting”Women were not
allowed to participate.
to masks bring the characters' face closer to the
audience.
to enable an actor to play in several different
roles.
to help the audience to distinguish sex, age, and
social status, in addition to revealing a change
in a particular character’s emotions and
appearance.
a mask—called a “persona”
Masks contained “megaphone” to amplify their
voices
Another adaptation that the Greeks'
developed for their theatre masks
were special mouths that acted like
megaphones to amplify their voice for
everyone in the huge theatre to hear.
Actors wore masks with exaggerated facial features
and expressions to make it easy for all viewers to identify
a particular character because theatres were very large.
Greek actors originally started wearing
masks that were very human like that just
covered part of the face
Eventually with the increase in theatre size
the mask changed as well
The mask then began to cover the whole
head and resembled legends from Greek
mythology not humans
usually made by the people that who wore them in the play
from consisted of cloth, leather, and wood with animal hair and painted or died different colors with flowers and other plants attached to them.
Famous actors in bigger plays may have had jewels and other ornate items placed on their masks
AeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesMenander
Medea is a princess from Colchis. She marries Jason, who is on a quest for the Golden Fleece. Medea betrays her father and murders her brother for her love of Jason. Medea has magical powers. Jason takes Medea back to his homeland Iolcus. They are rejected for fear of Medea’s power and move to Corinth, where they have children.
Jason takes another wife, the king of Corinth’s daughter Glauce. Medea, betrayed, sends a bewitched gown to Princess Glauce, Jason’s new bride, it kills her and her father. Jason returns to find Medea has killed their sons. Medea leaves with the bodies of her children in a dragon led chariot. Jason, a shadow of a man, no longer protected by Hera, dies when a timber from the Argo crushes him in his sleep.
Son of wealthy Athenian merchant
Lived during golden age of Athens Center of democracy
Important figure in society Becomes cultural
spokesperson Noted playwright Wrote primarily tragedies Witnessed decline of
Athens
495 B.C.E. :Born in Colonus, in Attica
441: Writes Antigone 431-404:
Peloponnesian War (Athens v. Sparta)
429: Writes Oedipus Rex
406: Sophocles dies
Oedipus:1. “Aye, 'tis no secret. Apollo once foretold That I
should mate with mine own mother, and shedWith my own hands the blood of my own sire.Hence Corinth was for many a year to me. Ahome distant; and I trove abroad, But missedthe sweetest sight, my parents' face. ”
Jocasta:2. “An oracle Once came to Laius, I will not say
'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but fromHis ministers, declaring he was doomed toperish by the hand of his own son, A child thatshould be born to him by me.
Delphic Oracle, prophecy
Corinth and Thebes Sphinx riddle Self-punishment Children: Eteocles,
Polyneices, Ismene, Antigone
• Sphinx's riddle: "What is the creature that walks on four legs inthe morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?"
• To this Oedipus answered "Man”.
• Oedipus's name means "swollen foot”. His ankles were pinnedas a baby. Here is the baby of which the Sphinx speaks, crawlingon four feet.
• Oedipus the adult man, standing on his own two feet.
• Oedipus will leave Thebes an old blind man, using a cane.
• Oedipus himself proves to be that same man, an embodimentof the Sphinx's riddle.
• Oedipus is solver of the Sphinx's riddle, and the answer.
1. The play begins years after Oedipus is given the throne of Thebes.
2. The chorus of Thebans cries out to Oedipus for salvation from the plague sent by the gods in response to Laius' murder.
3. The blind prophet, Teiresias, is called to aid Oedipus in his search; He warns Oedipus not to follow through with the investigation.
4. Oedipus accuses him of being the murderer, even though Teiresias is blind and aged.
5. Oedipus promises to exile the man responsible for it.
6. Oedipus accuses Teiresias of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him.
7. Oedipus calls for one of Laius' former servants, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king to avoid being the one to reveal the truth.
1. A messenger from Corinth also
arrives to inform Oedipus of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes is his real father.
2. The messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted and his real parentage is unknown.
3. In the subsequent discussions Jocastaguesses the truth and runs away.
4. Oedipus is stubborn5. A 2nd messenger arrives and reveals
that Jocasta has hanged herself 6. Oedipus, upon discovering her body,
blinds himself with the golden brooches on her dress.
7. The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and leaving in exile, as he promised would be the fate of Laius' murderer.
1. Story revolves around two differentunsuccessful attempts to change the courseof fate:
1. Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus at birth and2. Oedipus's flight from Corinth later on.
2. Jocasta kills her son only to find himmarried to her.
3. Oedipus leaves Corinth only to find that hehas carried out the oracle's words.
Oedipus counts on his own abilitynot the gods.The irony is, of course, that theoracles and Oedipus's reasoning leadto the same outcome.Oedipus is a thinker. His intelligenceis what makes him great, yet it is alsowhat makes him tragic.Marriage to Jocasta and rulingThebes was the prize for riddingThebes of the Sphinx. Oedipus'sintelligence, a trait that brings himcloser to the gods, is what causes himto commit the most terrible of all sins.
In killing the Sphinx, Oedipus is the city'ssavior, but in killing Laius (and marryingJocasta), he is cause of the plague that hasstruck the city at the play's opening.Sight here means two different things.Oedipus is blessed with perception. But heis blind to the truth, for all he seeks it.Oedipus is human and we recognize thisin his agonizing reaction to his sin. Watching this, the audience is moved toboth pity and fear: pity for this brokenman, and fear that his tragedy could beour own. Watching this tragedy gives usthe audience a sense of purging. This is thecatharsis which Aristotle spoke of.
The Six Aspects of Tragedy
1. PLOT
2. CHARACTER
3. SPECTACLE
4. SONG
5. DICTION
6. THOUGHT
From Aristotle’s Poetics
*
1. PLOT: Plot is the way the incidents are presented to the audience
• Must be “whole” –beginning/ middle and end• Incentive moment- begins cause and effect• Climax• resolution
• Must be complete and have “unity of action”• No “deus ex machina”• No “episodic plots”
• Plot can be simple or complex• Catastrophe (cata/strophe): change in fortune• Perepetia: a reversal• Anagnorisis: recognition
Plot Diagram/
Freytag’s Pyramid
2. CHARACTER• Personal motivations connected to cause/ effect aspect of
plot• Protagonist should be renowned and prosperous change
from good to bad• Hubris – arrogance, overconfidence• Hamartia: a tragic flaw
• Characters should have the following qualities:• Good or fine• Fitness of character• True to life• Consistency• Necessary or probable• Idealized/ ennobled
1. He must be a man who is superior to the average man insome way.
1. Oedipus is smart he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx'sriddle.
2. Must evoke both pity and fear, must be a character with amixture of good and evil. Oedipus is a hero with a violentstreak, clever man, but is blind to the truth.
3. Hamartia, often translated as "tragic flaw" but reallymeans "error in judgement.”
4. Dramatic irony The audience knows the outcome of thestory already, but the hero does not, making his actionsseem ignorant or inappropriate in the face of what is tocome.
3. THOUGHT• Reference to theme
4. DICTION• Word choice is proper and appropriate• Emphasis on style and use of literary devices (metaphor)
5. SONG• Musical element of the play• Use of the chorus
6. SPECTACLE* Production for effect
DionysiaSophoclesOedipus RexCast of
characters
Set in Thebes (a city in ancient Greece) Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta Antigone’s brothers, Eteokles and
Polyneces, took opposite sides in a war Eteokles and Polyneces killed each other in
battle Antigone’s uncle, Kreon, became king of
Thebes
Antigone• Antigone, had the
better judgment, and Ismene with all the
good intentions.
• They were both two extraordinary women that went through a lot together despite
their differences.
Eteocles and Polyneices
The princes who had refused to share their
inheritance shared death instead