Name: ______Per: ______

Greek Theater NOTES

  1. Early History: Religious festivals honoring ______, the Greek god of wine and fertility, were held several times a year. Over the centuries, these harvest dances developed into the ______,a religious ritual performed by a chorus of men wearing masks.
  2. 6th Century B.C.: The celebrations became an annual festival held in Athens at a large outdoor amphitheater. ______changed into literary compositions on ______, and choruses began competing for prizes (a bull or a goat). Thespis created the first ______: one of the chorus members stepped away from the others to play the part of the hero or god. He wore a mask and entered into dialogue with the chorus. Aeschylus added another actor; Sophocles used three actors on stage. The chorus remained, but the audience became more interested in the actors and their ______and ______.
  3. 5th Century B.C. (______of Greek drama):
  4. The festival was a four-day extravaganza held in March, encompassing three contests:
  5. Dithyramb: Ten 50-member choruses competed
  6. Tragedy: three playwrights submitted 3 tragic plays and one satyr play (lighter subjects).
  7. Comedy: Five playwrights submitted plays.
  8. Prize for the best playwrights was a laurel of ivy.
  9. Playwrights wrote, directed, and acted in their own plays.
  10. Outstanding playwrights:
  11. Aeschylus- Prometheus Bound (______)
  12. Sophocles- Oedipus Rex, Antigone (______)
  13. Euripedes- Medea (______)
  14. Aristophanes- The Frogs, The Clouds (______)
  15. Structure of Theater
  16. The first theaters were just hillsides with a few wooden benches for the important spectators (______).
  17. The______was paved with stones, and was where the actors and chorus performed.
  18. An altar for Dionysis, called the ______, was in the center of the orchestra. Greek plays took on deep religious significance.
  19. The ______, a rectangular building made of wood, provided changing rooms for actors and prop storage.
  20. Theater design continued to evolve and the wooden ______was replaced by a permanent stone building with a façade called a ______. This provided background for the action of the play.
  21. The ______was the entrance used by the Chorus.
  22. Actors and costuming
  23. All characters were ______: They played several roles in the play and changed character by changing masks and costumes
  24. Gestures and voice quality were often ______and ______in Greek drama so people in the back row could see.
  25. Actors wore ______of linen, cork, or wood. These masks had large mouth openings so actors could be heard.
  26. The masks of comedy and tragedy familiar to us today were the common expressions of ______or ______used in the play.
  1. Chorus
  2. 12-15 members in the chorus
  3. Sang, danced, and played music during interludes between dialogues
  4. Technical functions: filled in background of the play to clarify plot; announced ______and ______of characters; foreshadowed events in the action
  5. Dramatic function: chorus embodied ______and often admonished characters against breaking these ______.
  6. ______: leader of the chorus
  7. Messenger
  8. Violence almost always occurred ______, and audiences were not allowed to see violent acts.
  9. A messenger would appear after the event and ______in gory detail ______.

Conventions

  1. Unities
  2. ______- Simple Plot: the play should have one overpowering action that moves the play forward (no subplots)
  3. ______- Single Day: only actions that could logically have taken place in 24 hours.
  4. ______- One Scene Throughout: action or events being described were limited to one locale.
  5. Limitations of Theater
  6. Continuous presence of the ______.
  7. No ______; continuous flow of action and choral odes
  8. No ______or ______.
  9. Lighting was ______and very few ______.
  10. Deus ex machina Endings:
  11. “______from the ______”
  12. A device used at the end where the gods ______or ______the plot.
  13. Often very artificial

Important Terms:

Tragedy: An imitation of a serious action, which will arouse pity and fear in the viewer

Tragic Hero: A character, usually of high birth, neither totally good nor totally evil, whose downfall is brought about by some weakness or error in judgment

Hamartia: A tragic flaw, weakness of character or error in judgment, which causes the downfall of the hero

Hubris: Arrogance or excessive pride which causes the hero’s transgression against the gods; usually the tragic flaw

Anagnorisis: Recognition or discovery on the part of the hero; change from ignorance to knowledge

Peripeteia: Reversal of fortune. Reversal of circumstances or turning point

Nemesis: Fate that cannot be escaped

Catharsis: Purgation of emotions of pity and fear, which leaves the viewer both relaxed and elated

Arete: the pursuit of excellence and virtue; literally “that which is good”