Greek Tragedy
Aristotle’s definition
Aristotle defines tragedy as “the imitation of an action
which is serious, complete, of a certain magnitude,
couched in poetic language. It should be dramatic, with
incidents arousing pity and fear, which bring about a
purgation of these emotions.”
 Pity is aroused in the audience for the character(s), and
we fear lest the same misfortune happen to us.
Purgation/catharsis is a cleansing; a release of
emotions.
 According to Aristotle, “comedy portrays men as worse
than they are and tragedy as better than in actual life.”
 He also notes that Sophocles “drew men as they ought
to be.”
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Tragic Hero
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Characteristics of a tragic hero:
 Undergoes
a morally significant struggle that
ends disastrously.
 Essentially a superior person who is treated
sympathetically (we like him in spite of what
the hero might do)
 His destiny or choice is to go down fighting
rather than submit and thus pluck a moral
victory from a physical defeat.
 Not all good or all bad (very human)
 Has a high, respected position to ignominy or
unhappiness or death.
Tragic flaw (Hamartia)
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Hamartia – some defect in the tragic
character that helps cause his own ruin.
For the Greeks this flaw is hubris
(excessive pride). The flaw may seem to
be jealousy, anger, ambition, etc., but it
will always be because the character
thinks himself too superior in some way.
Because of this hubris, whatever happens
to the tragic hero is not all undeserved.
Classic Moments in the tragic plot:
1.
2.
3.
Reversal of situation (peripety) – good
begins to slide or go bad
Recognition (a.k.a. epiphany) –
discovery of the critical fact – the hero
realizes his own flaw has brought him to
this low point.
Scene of suffering – destructive or
painful action such as a death on the
stage, bodily agony, wounds, etc. (the
suffering and final submission of the
hero)
Greek Playwrights
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3 Tragedians:
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) – expresses weariness and disillusion of war-torn years
at the end of the 5th century. Concern for realism and a determination to expose
social, political, and religious injustices. He believes in the existence of irrational
forces (gods), but he does not deem them worthy of respect (therefore, he was
charged for impiety). “Shows man as he is.” Wrote 90 plays including Medea,
Hippolytus, The Trojan Women, and Electra.
 Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) – earliest writer of Greek tragedy. Wrote about 80
plays – most famous is Oresteia. Plays are deeply patriotic and religious.
Aesychylus added a second actor to plays. Concerned with problems of guilt and
punishment over several generations.
 Sophocles (496-406 B.C.) – not concerned with problems of guilt and
punishment over several generations; he dealt with a specific struggle of a
strong individual against fate. Wrote single plays (rather than trilogies);
Sophocles added a third actor, a fixed chorus size at 15, and used sceneprinting. Wrote 100 plays including Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Philoctetes.
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One Comedy Writer:
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Aristophanes: greatest Greek writer of comedy. Wrote Clouds, Birds, Frogs, and
Lysistrata.
The Greek Theater
2 Main types of drama: tragedy and comedy.
Theatrical events were performed annually at the festival
of Dionysus, which lasted 5 or 6 days: the Dionysis.
Going to the theater was to take part in a religious ritual.
 Competition among writers: Each author submitted 4
plays (tetralogy) to be performed in one day (3 tragedies
– trilogy – and a satyr play.
 Plots were religious and drawn from mythology (dealt
with the relationship between humans and the divine).
Actors wore masks, costumes, and raised shoes.
Audiences were familiar with the stories.
 Knowing the story allowed for dramatic irony (situations
or speeches that have one meaning to the play’s
characters but another for the audience, who knows
more than the character about a given situation).
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Dramatic Unities
Time – 24 hours for the action of the play.
 Place – no change of scenery
 Action – no subplot (an action which
happens elsewhere is told by another
character)
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Structure of Tragedy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Prologue – introductory section that gives the background
(usually expository rather than dramatic)
Parados – entrance of chorus; chorus chants more background to
the story.
Episodes and Stasimon – Action begins with the first episode
(usually 5 episodes) followed by a parados (chorus). The choral
odes are called stasima.
Exodus – the final action of the play. 2 features: messenger
speech and the deus ex machina, in which the deity is brought in
to intervene in the action.
Chorus – there is always a chorus in Greek tragedy. Chorus fulfills
several functions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Members sang, danced and played instruments
Ideal audience – responding to the action as the poet intended.
Modulated the atmosphere and tone (representative of typical
Athenian citizens – conservative but not submissive)
Questions new characters as to origin or purpose
Choral odes showed the passage of time.
Theater and Equipment
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Open air theater. The theater of Dionysus in Athens had more than 17,000
seats.
Theatron – the seats for the audience were arranged like a horseshoe in
rising tiers.
Orchestra – circular area at ground level.
Thymele – an altar in the center of the orchestra to Dionysus on which
sacrifices were made.
Skene – the scene building on the side of the orchestra that had a backdrop
with doors for entrances and exits.
Proscenium – the level area in front of the skene for action of the play.
Technical equipment:
Eccyclema – wheeled platform rolled out of the skene to reveal action that had
taken place indoors (very violent scenes)
 The “machine” – mechanical contrivance to lower gods to the proscenium from
the tope of the skene.
 Devices to imitate lightening and thunder.
 Painted scenery.
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Greek Theater
http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html#Theaters
Additional Reading

From Elements of Literature, 4th course:
 “Greek
Drama: Out of Ritual” pp. 685-687
 “The Myth of Oedipus” pp. 688-689
 “Meet the Writer: Sophocles” p. 738
 “What is a tragic hero?” p. 739
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From Edith Hamilton’s Mythology:
 “The
Royal House of Thebes” pp. 266-280
Antigone by Sophocles
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Summary: (see E. Hamilton’s summary – pp.
273-277)
Major conflict: Individual conscience at odds
with established authority.
Questions for discussion:
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When we know that those in power are morally wrong,
do we break their laws, or do we collaborate with them
by obeying?
How important is doing the right thing? [What is “right”
and what is “wrong”?]
Cast of Characters:
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Antigone – daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta
Ismene – daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta
Creon – king of Thebes, uncle of
Antigone and Ismene, brother of Jocasta
Haimon – Creon’s son, engaged to
Antigone.
Eurydice – Creon’s wife
Teiresias – a blind prophet
Chorus – made up of about fifteen elders
of Thebes
Choragus – leader of the Chorus
A Boy – who leads Teiresias
A Sentry
Guards
Servants
A Messenger
Scene: Before the palace of Creon, king of
Thebes. A central double door and two
side doors. A platform extends the
length of the stage, and from this
platform three steps lead down into the
“orchestra,” or chorus-ground.
Time: Dawn of the day after the repuls of the
Argive army from the assault of Thebes.
Analysis of Structure:
Episodes and odes have strong relationships. Odes should emphasize the same mood
as the episode that precedes it. They also have an underlying theme.
Explain how each ode comments upon the action of the episode which precedes it.
Prologue
Parados
Episode 1
Ode 1
Episode 2
Ode 2
Episode 3
Ode 3
Episode 4
Ode 4
Episode 5
Paean
Exodus
Exodus (last lines)
Example: The prologue contrasts Antigone and Ismene (foil characters) and
mentions the family curse. The Parados comments on this curse by explaining
how the curse has taken their two brothers. (Mood in the Parados shifts from
grief to joy – ironic)
Antigone: Prologue and Parados
Each character represents one side of the argument: individual
conscience vs. established authority. On the left side, list three
reasons why Antigone believes she must bury Polyneices. On the
right side of the diagram, list three arguments Ismene uses to
persuade Antigone that Polyneices must remain unburied.
Antigone
Ismene
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
1. Based on the arguments above, how would you describe each character’s
personality?
2. With which character do you agree more? Why?
Antigone: Scene 1 and Ode 1
Do you sympathize with some characters and how they resolve
internal conflicts, but not with others? Under each name, list an
internal conflict with which that character struggles and write your
reasons for supporting or disagreeing with the character’s
resolution of that conflict.
Antigone
The Sentry
Conflict
Conflict
Your
View
Your
View
Ismene
King Creon
Conflict
Conflict
Your
View
Your
View
Antigone: Scene 2 and Ode 2
Irony is the contrast or discrepancy between expectation and
reality. In verbal irony a speaker says one thing but means the
opposite. In situational irony what actually happens is the opposite
of what is expected or appropriate. Dramatic irony occurs when
the reader or the audience knows something or important that a
character does not know.
Identify examples of irony in this scene.
Type and example (lines that Explanation:
demonstrate the irony):
Dramatic irony:
Verbal irony:
_________:
Antigone: Scene 3 and Ode 3
Figurative language imaginatively describes one thing in terms of
another. For example, Haimon says that his father is “in a public
brawl of justice.” He does not literally mean that Creon and some
person named Justice are trading blows. He uses the word brawl
figuratively, to create a picture of Creon’s actions.
In the chart below, write a sentence or two describing each
character with a figurative comparison.
Character
Antigone
Creon
Haimon
The Choragus
Figurative Description
Give one example of how figurative language is used in Scene 3 to create an
image. Then discuss what the image conveys about a character’s action.
Antigone: Scene 4, Scene 5, Paean, and Exodus
More on Irony. Use the chart below to illustrate the use of irony in
the final scenes. For each line listed, summarize the ironic
contrast. The first one has been completed for you as an example.
Scene and Line
What is said or expected
What is actually true or will
actually happen
Scene 5, line 5
Creon says he always listens
He failed to listen to Haimon and to
public opinion, and he will not listen to
Teiresias either.
Scene 4, lines 51-52
Scene 4, line 57
Scene 4, line 58
Scene 5, line 6
Scene 5, lines 52-53
Scene 5, line 68
Exodus, lines 88-90
How does the use of irony enhance the argument that fate rules the lives of
the characters?
Role of Women
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“Women in most city-states of ancient Greece had
very few rights. They were under the control and
protection of their father, husband, or a male
relative for their entire lives. Women had no role
in politics. Women with any wealth did not work.
They stayed indoors running their households.
The only public job of importance for a woman
was as a religious priestess.”
Marriage:
“Marriages in ancient Greece were arranged by the
parents of the intended bride and groom. A
financial arrangement was made between the
families in the form of a dowry. Girls married
between the ages of fourteen to eighteen, while
typically men married in their twenties or even
thirties. Spartan men continued to live in the
barracks, even after the wedding, until they
reached the age of thirty when they could move
home with their wives.”
Terms to know:
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Loaded Words – words that carry heavy emotional
overtones.
Catalyst – character and/or event that initiates the
transformation of another character and/or event.
(brings about change)
Foil – character who, by contrast, sets off or defines
another.
Kommos - the emotional lyric between actors and
chorus in ancient Greek tragedy.
Tone – the attitude a writer takes towards his
subject.
Aphorism – a short, wise saying.