RELIGON AND THEATRE WERE CONNECTED
FOR THE GREEKS, THEATRE CELEBRATED THE
GOD DIONYSUS
Dionysus was the son of Zeus and a mortal, raised
by satyrs (goat men), he was killed and
dismembered and then resurrected as a god, he is
linked to fertility, wine, and revelry(having a good
time).
THESPIS
•
1st Actor
•
Performed in the earliest known
theatrical contest in Athens
•
The term THESPIAN comes from his
name (To be an actor or to be involved
in theatre in any way, then you are
one)
INTERNATIONAL THESPIAN SOCIETY
(Honors Program in High School)
*BEFORE THESPIS there was just the
chorus – he made it so that an actor would
stand apart from the Chorus
TRAGEDY
COMES from two Greek Words
TRAGOS (meaning “goat”) and ODE (meaning “song”)
--Dionysius always hung out with satyrs (or goat men) – so the name is
honor of his favorite “people”
FESTIVAL OF DIONYSUS
•
Created to worship Dionysus
•
In Athens, Greece twice a year
•
Three finalists would compete for best play
WRITING ASSIGNMENT - *WRITE UNDER YOUR
NOTES ABOUT THE FESTIVAL OF DIONYSUS
IF you were a Greek god, and the people of Athens created a festival for
you, what activities would they do and what type of food would they eat?
Write 3 sentences describing your festival
**Be prepared to share, Ms. K will use the popsicle sticks to pick one person at
random.
STRUCTURE OF A GREEK TRAGEDY
1. Prologue – summary of events that occurred before.
2. Parodos – entrance of chorus – introduce the chorus, gives information
about what has happened, and sets the mood of the play.
3. Episodes – 3 to 6 with choral interludes in between each one, develop
the main action
4. Exodus – Concluding scene, included the departure of all the characters
and chorus
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: *UNDER YOUR NOTES
ABOUT THE PARTS OF A GREEK TRAGEDY
*Using what we just learned about what a Prologue you will write
your own based on the following story : *Remember the Prologue is usually a
monologue or a scene between just a few people –know who/whom is speaking this
monologue and why it is important to them*
This is the story of one courageous rug, who went on an adventure
through the wash after being pooped on by the family dog.
***Be prepared to share – Ms. K will pick two people using the popsicle sticks.
• Scenes of death and physical violence almost always
happened off stage, they would bring in a cart with the
bodies or reveal the bodies after it happened.
• Actors were not full time actors, they performed for the
festivals and that was it.
• Emphasis for acting was on the voice, vocal beauty was
very important to the Greeks.
• All of the actors and chorus members wore masks, which
increased the emphasis of using body and voice to perform.
GREEK TRAGEDY – GREEK GODS
*WRITE DOWN THE ANSWERS AS WE GO OVER THEM
1. Name a few Greek Gods
2. Why does each Greek God have a different area that they control?
Why?
3. Why did the Ancient Greeks believe that they were just puppets for
the gods’ will?
4. How do you think this affected their everyday life?
**NOW LETS MEET AGAMEMNON and his FAMILY – and learn more
about their story and how they angered the gods
AGAMEMNON
ATREUS _______________________________________________THYESTES
AGAMEMNON______________________________MENELAUS
m. CLYTEMNESTRA
m. HELEN
_______________________
IPHIGENIA
ORESTES
Chain of Crimes:
1. Thyestes seduced Areus’ wife.
2. Atreus killed Thyestes young children and gave him them as meat to eat.
3. Helen left her husband Menelaus for Paris, prince of Troy, which caused the
whole war with the Trojans.
4. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to promote the Trojan War.
At the end of AGAMEMNON---- Clytemnestra and her lover
murder Agamemnon
In the next play – Orestes kills his mother and her lover and
breaks the blood curse on his family