Antigone
A Greek Tragedy by Sophocles
The etymology of the word
"tragedy" is "tragos"+"ode",
which means the hymn of
goats.
Tragoi (the goats) were the
priests of god Dionysus.
The formation of tragedy
was the synthesis of lyrical
and epic poetry combined
with ritual dancing.
Greek Theater came out of
festivals that were given to
honor the Greek God Dionysus
Developed over several hundred years.
Eventually, it evolved into modern theater (over
thousands of years)
Sophocles introduced a number of changes to the
theater
The God: Dionysus
• God of Fertility and Wine
• Some Athenians worshiped
him. They were the cult of
Dionysus.
– Drank wine
– Ate raw flesh
• The Dionysiac ceremonies were
simple at the beginning
– little by little became more complex and
were accompanied by flute, and drums.
Dithyramb
• A special kind of lyric choric poetry
• Dithyramb is an hymn to god Dionysus
song accompanied by flute
• At first in dithyrambous, there were no
actors
• The leader of the the dithyramb was the
EXCHARON
Chorus
• The chorus was considered to be the mouthpiece of
society (in its humble form) and morality and
suffered along with the heroes.
• After Sophocles, the chorus had 15 members and
stood in a circle
Thespis
• Greek poet who reputedly
originated Greek tragedy
• Modified the dithyramb
(which had been, in effect,
exchanges between the
leader and the chorus) by
introducing an actor separate
from the chorus.
• This actor was called the
hypocrit or “responder.” Thus
there developed a spoken
dialogue.
Architecture of Ancient
Greek Theater
• Greek theatre buildings
were called a theatron
('seeing place')
• The theatres were large,
open-air structures
constructed on the
slopes of hills.
The centerpiece of the theatre was the orchestra, or
"dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area.
Site of the choral performances, the religious rites,
and, possibly, the acting. An altar was located in the
middle of the orchestra; in Athens, the altar was
dedicated to Dionysus.
SKENE-Behind the orchestra
used as a "backstage" area where
actors could change their costumes
and mask, Sophocles first started
painting scenery to the façade of the
skene.
Paraskenia
Ancient Greek Masks
•
The use of masks in ancient greek theater draw their origin from the
ancient dionysiac cult.
•
The members of the chorus wore masks, usually similar to each other
but completely different from the leading actors
•
Because the number of actors varied from one to three, they had to put
on different masks, in order to play more roles.
•
The actors were all men. The mask was therefore necessary to let them
play the female roles.
Tragedy
• A drama or literary work in which the main
character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme
sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic
flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with
unfavorable circumstances.
Sophocles
•
•
•
•
Greek dramatist. Together with
Euripides and Aeschylus, he is
considered one of the greatest
dramatists of ancient Greece. His
surviving plays include Ajax, Oedipus
Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at
Colonus
A man of wealth, charm, and genius,
Sophocles was given posts of
responsibility in peace and in war by
the Athenians. He was a general and
a priest; after his death he was
worshiped as a hero
he composed about 123 dramas),
winning first place about 20 times
and never falling lower than second
A definitive innovator in the drama,
he added a third actor—thereby
tremendously increasing the
dramatic possibilities of the
medium—increased the size of the
chorus, abandoned the trilogy of
plays for the self-contained tragedy,
and introduced scene painting.
Antigone
• a tragedy written in
442 BC by
Sophocles
• chronologically the
third of the three
Theban plays but
was written first
– Oedipus the King
– Oedipus at Colonus
– Antigone
• After Oedipus is
exiled, he leaves the
ruling rights of Thebes
to his two sons,
Eteocles and
Polynices who must
take it in turns to rule.
• Eteocles rules first but
the two becomes
enemies after Eteocles
refues to give up the
throne, and
Polynieces is exiled.
• At the beginning of
the play, both brothers
are dead, apparently
slain by the other's
hand.
• The current
ruler, Creon, has
made a decree:
Since Polynices
fought against
Thebes, he shall
not be buried.
Meanwhile,
Eteocles is to be
buried with full
military honors.
• Antigone, the daughter
of Oedipus and the
sister of the dead
brothers, believes this
proclamation to be
against the gods'
orders.
• She confides her plan
to bury Polynices
herself to her sister
Ismene. The more timid
of the two, Ismene
refuses to take part out
of fear, but agrees with
her motive.
Why study Antigone?
• Ancient Greek Drama is the basis for all
modern drama and film
• The story gives many important clues to the
Ancient Greek culture and character
• Tragedies still contain the basic elements that
they originated with
Film Versions of Antigone
• Antigone (1964)
Directed by Yorgos Javellas,
Sophocles’ play about the
daughter of King Oedipus caught
in a moral dilemma about
whether to obey the laws of the
state or to follow her conscience
is brought to the screen with
Irene Papas performing the title
role. English subtitles
• Antigone (1974)
Directed by Gerald Freedman,
this screen adaptation of
Sophocles’ play stars Genevieve
Bujold, Stacy Keach, and Fritz
Weaver.
• Antigone (1984)
Don Taylor directed this made
for TV adaptation of Sophocles’
play