Greek Drama/Tragedy

  1. Origin of tragedy
  2. Originated in the city of Athens, Greece
  3. Reached peak in 5th century B.C. and have had a lasting impact on Western drama and culture
  4. Grew out of ancient religious festivals in honor of Greek god Dionysus (Roman god Bacchus) in approximately 7th century B.C.
  5. Son of Zeus and a mortal woman
  6. God of wine and fertility in nature; also god of the common people
  7. Thought to liberate worshippers from personal troubles
  8. Worshipped with ceremonies not compatible with Greek tradition
  9. Improvisational beginnings
  10. Rapid movements of the hands and body
  11. Hysterical screaming
  12. Went against teachings of popular god – Apollo, the god of restraint – teachings of “Nothing too much” and “Know Thyself”
  13. Often worship of Dionysus was forbidden
  14. More women worshippers than men
  15. Suffering god
  16. Underwent death and resurrection
  17. Religious ceremony mirrored this

1.Lamenting mirrored god’s death

2.Rejoicing with wild dancing and singing mirrored god’s resurrection

3.Often involved animal sacrifices

  1. After service, worshippers left with peace of mind – served as social safety valve
  2. Worship consisted of dithyrambs – hymns and prayers sung in honor of the god
  3. Sung while dancing around an alter
  4. Accompanied by a flute
  5. Performed by fifty men in goat skins

1. Later evolved into chorus

2. Goats were sacred animals of the gods

3. Goats were later awarded as prizes in tragedy festivals

4. Represented satyrs – woodland companions of Dionysus

5. Word “tragoidia” Greek word meaning “goat-song”

d. As time passed, dithyrambs changed

1. Became poetic in form

2. Expanded to include stories of other gods, past leaders and

heroes

3. Arion – first man to write dithyrambs in poetic form

4. Leader of chorus (choragus) filled intervals between recitations

about gods or heroes

  1. Sixth century B.C. Peistratus, ruler of Athens, gave official recognition to tragedy and festivals were instituted
  2. Thespis – “Father of Drama” (6th century B.C.)
  3. Introduced first actor – “hypocrites” (answerer) – and thus dialogue
  4. Actors always men
  5. Performed between dance of chorus
  6. Would take several roles
  7. Conversed with leader of chorus
  8. Aeschylus (535 – 426 B.C.)
  9. Added a second actor
  10. Drama was born
  11. Possibility of conflict
  12. Reduced chorus to 12 members
  13. Wrote tragedies on unified theme
  14. Sophocles (496 -406 B.C.)
  15. Prominent citizen of Athens
  16. Generally considered the greatest of ancient Greek playwrights
  17. Known for musical, poetic, and dramatic talents
  18. Career spanned 62 years
  19. At age of 17 – leader of chorus
  20. At age of 28 – won prize and defeated leading playwright of day
  21. Wrote 120+ plays
  22. Won 1st prize 24 times – 72 plays
  23. Never won less than 2nd prize (7 times)
  24. Names of nearly 100 plays known today
  25. Seven complete plays survive today
  26. Added third actor
  27. Fixed number of chorus members at 15
  28. Introduced painted scenery
  29. Made each play of trilogy separate in nature
  30. Wrote Oedipus (430 B.C.), Oedipus at Colonus (405 B.C.) and

Antigone (440 B.C.)

  1. Plays always contain moral lesson – usually a caution against pride and

religious indifference

  1. Tragedy festivals
  2. Reached height in 5th century B.C.
  3. Presented in honor of god Dionysus
  4. City Dionysia – most important festival
  5. Held in March/April
  6. Plays produced by the government
  7. Structure of 6 days of festival
  8. Day one – grand procession
  1. Statue of Dionysus carried to the theater
  2. Herald would announce the competing plays
  3. Days two and three

1. Five dithyrambs presented by men

2. Five dithyrambs presented by boys

c. Days four through six

1. Drama contests

2. Each of three playwrights presented plays

a. Three tragedies

b. One satyr play -ridicule gods or heroes – provided relief

from intensity of tragedies

c. At height of festivals – comedy also added

4. Playwrights chosen at competitions earlier in year

5. Actors also chosen by government

D. Attendance was mandatory

1. Viewed as religious obligation

2. Part of entertainment

3. As many as 17, 000 spectators

4. Public businesses suspended and prisoners released on bail

5. Citizens often required to participate – either as choir or responding to

lines written for them

E. Admission originally free

1. Later charge required because of disputes over seats

2. Government provided funds for those who could not pay

F. Playwrights had many responsibilities

1. Wrote plays

2. Composed music

3. Directed plays

4. Supervised rehearsals

5. Acted in plays

G. Playwrights were assigned actors, musicians, chorus, etc. by government

H. Cost of production paid for by wealthy citizens

1. Considered honor

2. Considered public service

3. Required as special tax on wealthy

4. Sponsors shared honors with winning playwrights

I. Prizes given – wreaths, bull, goat, etc.

J. Elaborate precautions taken to prevent corruption in process

K. Ten to twenty judges chosen by government

III. Structure of Theater

  1. Theatron – seeing place where audience sat
  2. Orchestra – circular dancing place where the actors and chorus performed
  3. Thymele – alter of Dionysus in center of orchestra
  4. Skene – building used as dressing room
  5. Proskenion – façade of skene building which served as backdrop
  6. Parados – entrance to the theater used by chorus
  7. Exodus – exit to the theater used by chorus
  1. Other devices of the theater
  1. Eccyclema – stage mechanism consisting of a low platform that rolled on wheels or revolved on an axis and could be pushed on stage to reveal an interior or offstage scene
  2. Periaktoi – revolving triangular prism made of wood, bearing on each side a different pictured scene
  3. Deus ex machina – a god lowered by a stage machinery to resolve a plot or extricate a protagonist from a difficult situation
  1. Men and women were segregated in the theater

IV. Actors and Acting

A. Hypocrites (answerer)

1. Never more than three – changed characters

2. All male performers – played females also

B. Costumes and masks

1. Long, flowing robes

a. Colored symbolically

b. Often padded to add stature

2. High boots, often with raised soles

3. Larger than life masks which sat on shoulders

a. Made of linen, wood, cork

b. Human and animal hair used

c. Exaggerated features – large eyes, open mouth

d. Used to inspire awe in audience by appearing lager than mortals

e. Could hide actor’s face from gods as impersonated them

f. Acted as megaphone to amplify voice

g. Also identified age, gender and rank of character

h. Called a “persona”

i. Gave identification but no emotion – this was shown through

voice and gestures

4. Props carried to help identify roles (ex. – King and scepter)

5. Choir masks much simpler

V. Chorus – functions as a character; made up of elders who express the opinions of the

general public

  1. Center of Greek tragedy
  1. Gives background information and establishes mood
  2. Introduces and questions new characters
  3. Points out significance of events
  4. Acts as ideal spectator – reacts to events the way playwright hoped audience would
  5. Gives advice to character
  6. Covers a passage of time
  7. Serves as a transition between scenes
  8. Identifies themes
  9. Entertains
  10. Provides tension release
  1. Conventions

A. Unities

1. Time

2. Place

3. Action

B. Techniques

1. Stichomythia – individual lines of verse/dialogue are assigned to

alternate speakers; provides contrast in lengthy speeches

  1. Strophe – chorus moves in unison in stately manner left to right on

stage while chanting (comment or question)

  1. Antistrophe – chorus moves in unison in stately manner right to left on

stage while chanting (counter-comment or answer)

4. Epode – third part – chants in middle of orchestra

5. In media res – in the middle of the action

C. Messenger

1. Tells news happening offstage

2. Reports acts of violence

D. No violence on stage

E. Action always outdoors

F. Continuous presence of chorus on stage

G. Limitations of theater

1. No intermission

2. No lighting, no curtain

3. Myths known to audience – playwright had to rely on

dramatic irony to add suspense

  1. Structure of tragedy
  1. Prologue – opening scene – background of story is established – usually

through a single actor

B. Parados – entrance of chorus while chanting

C. Episodes – counterpart of Acts – 4-8 in tragedy – known as scenes in our

translation

D. Stasimon – choral ode at end of each episode – originally a poem written to be

sung – serves to separate scenes since no curtains were present; provides the chorus’ response to the preceding scene

E. Paean – a choral hymn in praise of a god – in Antigone, praise to Dionysus, in

whose honor the Greeks presented their plays

E. Exodus – ceremonial exit of the chorus and actors at the end of the tragedy

VIII. Definition of tragedy

A. Defined by Aristotle in book entitled Poetics in 335 B.C.

B. Told to arouse emotions of pity (hero not an evil man – punishment too great)

and fear (possibility of error in ourselves) in audience

C. Produces catharsis (cleansing) in audience – they come away with a new

understanding of gods and man

D. Tells story of downfall or catastrophe of a tragic hero, a basically good and

noble man who tempts fate because of a tragic flaw (hamartia) (a good quality carried to the extreme) in his or her character

E. Most common tragic flaw – overbearing pride (hubris)

F. Breaks law of god or man

G. Tragic hero brings upon himself extraordinary amounts of sorrow and

suffering

H. Has a reversal of fortune (peripateia)

I. Has a moment of awareness (anagnorisis)

J. Usually dies in the end

K. In the end of the play, order is restored

IX. Basic concepts of Greek culture

A. Believed every person’s life ruled by predetermined fate; a natural force set in

motion by gods and one that could not be altered

  1. Believed every person’s fate held in store a personal allotment of unavoidable

misery

  1. Believed man possessed a certain freedom of will and action and could live

out his life (fate) with dignity, bringing upon himself no more than his

allotted share of grief

D. Believed man was inferior to gods because mortal and fallible

E. Believed man was to be punished if defied the gods