Ancient Theatre
History
Theatre 1
Ms. Moss
Fall 2011
Ancient Drama Time Frame
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5000 BCE to 300 CE
Pre-Greek Period
(5000 BCE to 600 BCE)
History of drama dates back to start of mankind:
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Hunters pantomimed adventures
First storytellers told tales in chants
First organized groups pantomimed the hunt, war, and love dances
Mask appeared- first actors became god or animal
Man’s attempt to imitate nature developed into formal, religious
song and dance ceremonies:
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Worship specific gods and rulers
Celebrate the hunt and war
Man begins acting out his wishes for:
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Nature
Rain
Good harvests
Sunshine
Earliest record of theatrical performance dates back about 4000
years to Egypt:
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Three-day event that included actual battles and elaborate ceremonies about the
murder, dismemberment, and resurrection of Osiris (god of the lower world).
Prehistoric Theatre:
War Dance
Osiris- Egyptian
God of the
Underworld
Early Greek Period
(600 BCE-500 BCE)
Drama as we know it developed during this period when religious
hymns developed to sing praises to gods:
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Dithyrambs (hymns) sung to Dionysus (god of wine and fertility):
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In honor of his death, a group of chanters, called the chorus, would dance around
an alter which a goat was sacrificed on.
Chant was called “tragos” (goat-song)= tragedy
Komos=comedy
Ceremonies in honor of Dionysus evolved into large contests:
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First contest was won by Thespis: First to step away from chorus and engage in
dialogue between chorus and himself- first actor (Thespian). Also credited with
introducing mask in Greek plays.
Dramatic contests part of festival lasting five to six days:
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Most famous festival was City Dionysia:
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*First day: games (similar to carnival).
*Second and Third: poetry contests.
*Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth: different playwright would present four plays each day:
first three were part of a trilogy (related in theme and characters) and fourth was a
satyr play (comedy).
City Dionysia
Dionysus
Performance of the
dithyramb (550-500 BCE)
Continued…
Theatre existed only for men: both as performers and
audience: women not permitted to attend until about 400
BCE.
Audiences large: some theatres could hold over 17,000.
Chorus:
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Main part of early Greek theatre
Purpose: to narrate, explain, comment on action, and also
engage in dialogue with actors.
Originally about fifty performers in chorus.
Number and responsibilities decreased as actors took over
larger roles.
Greek Period
(500 BCE-100 BCE)
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Tragedies clash between Gods and
ambitions of man: showed man’s efforts to
change fate were useless.
Continued…
Important People & Concepts…
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Aeschylus:
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Father of tragedy
Added second actor
Reduced chorus to twelve.
Wrote only existing trilogy- man (Agamemnon) returns from
war and is killed by his wife and her lover: children take
revenge by killing mother: trial of one of the children.
Sophocles:
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Considered greatest Greek tragedy writer
Added third actor
Oedipus Rex: kills father, marries mother, gouges out eyes.
Adds scenery and action.
Antigone
Aeschylus
Painting of
Agamemnon
Sophocles
Oedipus
Rex
Antigone
Continued…
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Euripides:
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Aristophanes:
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Separates action from chorus
More concerned with human relationships.
Medea: woman’s husband cheats on her: to get revenge,
she sacrifices her two sons.
Main author of Greek comedy.
Masks used to show emotions
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(where masks of comedy and tragedy come from)
Euripides
Medea
Aristophanes
Roman Period
(100 BCE to 300 CE)
Theatre becomes hedonistic (vulgar):
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Gladiator contests
Slaughter of humans (Christians and lions)
Audiences only wanted to see vulgar performances:
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Moral decay of Rome=rise of Christian church=fall of Rome during Dark Ages.
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Plautus, Terence, Seneca: Major playwrights
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Plautus:
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Comedy
Terence:
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Known more for the way he presented characters
Seneca:
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Slaves used as actors until first Century
Plays presented along with circuses
Playwrights paid by acting companies
Senecan tragedy: gory tragedy. Violence takes place off stage. Too traumatic to
show on stage. Deaths are described in detail.
After the fall of Rome, only wandering minstrels (dancing and
juggling) kept drama alive.
Roman Amphitheatre
Plautus
Terrence
Seneca
Questions to Ponder…
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Because of the moral decay which led to
the fall of the Roman Empire, where do you
expect theatre to go in the future?
How has ancient theatre impacted the
theatrical traditions of today?