Sophocles
Born 496 B.C. and died after
413 B.C.
Wrote Antigone in 441 B.C.
Lived near Athens--priest,
state treasurer and committee
advisor for the city
Defeated Aeschylus(the
reigning playwright) in the City
Dionysia Dramatic Festival.
Wrote over 120 tragedies with
only 7 surviving
Plays consisted of moral
lessons cautioning against
pride and religious
indifference
Added a third actor to
Aeschylus’ original two
Introduced painted sets and
stage scenery
Expanded the size of the
chorus from 12 to 15
Sophocles’ Theban Plays
3 tragedies about King Oedipus and
his family
Wrote these plays over a 40 year
span
Antigone —3rd part written 1st and
performed in 442 B.C.
Oedipus Rex —1st part of the story
written 12 years later
Oedipus at Colonus —2nd part of the
story written the last year of his life
Ancient Greek Plays
Founding Greek Playwrights
Thespis
transformed hymns into songs telling
the story of a hero or god
one person would step forward and
play the part of the hero or god
he is immortalized in our word
thespian, referring in actors and
actresses
Aeschylus
playwright who added a second actor,
thus adding the possibility of conflict
and creating drama as we know it
Greek drama grew out of
ancient religious rituals
honoring Dionysus—god of
wine and fertility
6th century B.C. —Dionysian
celebrations became an
annual festival held in
Athens
3 playwrights competed for
prizes in tragedy and
comedy
Plays were presented in 3
days:
Tragedies—heroic characters
and unhappy endings, with
serious treatments of religious
and mythic questions
Satyrs—comic and even lewd
treatments of the same themes
as tragedies
Comedies—ordinary people with
happy endings
3 male actors played all of the
characters, and a chorus of 15
men performed the singing
and dancing.
Actors wore masks hiding the
actor’s facial expressions and
amplified their voices.
Play performances were held
in an outdoor amphitheatre
where audiences sat on a
hillside or on stone benches
placed around the stage.
Plays were usually staged during
the festival of Dionysus, the god
of growth and wine, which took
place at planting time in March.
Crowds of 15,000 people
regularly attended the
performances, and even
criminals were released from
prison in order to see the plays.
Attendance at these dramas was
perceived to be a civic duty, in
part because the plays often
addressed important social and
political issues.
Audience Seating
Stage where the actors
performed
Side stage where the chorus danced from left to right
Stage for the scenery
Theatron
The seating for the audience of the
Greek theater.
Skene
A long building serving as the dressing
room and backdrop for the action.
Orchestra
The stage of the Greek theater.
Tragedy
Aristotle, the Greek
philosopher, was the first to
define tragedy:
Arouses pity and fear in the
audience so that they may be
purged, or cleansed, of these
unsettling emotions
Catharsis
Emotional purging
A strangely pleasurable sense of
emotional release we experience
after watching a great tragedy
For some reason, we usually feel
exhilarated, not depressed, after a
tragedy
According to Aristotle, we can
only feel pity and fear after a
tragedy if there is a tragic hero or
heroine.
Tragic Hero/Heroine
Born into nobility
Have a potential for greatness
Responsible for their own fate
Doomed to make a serious
error in judgment
Tragic flaw (hamartia) leads to
downfall
Too much pride (hubris) often
leads to downfall
The Hero’s Tragic Flaw
Downfall is caused by tragic flaw
— a fundamental character
weakness, such as pride, ambition,
or jealousy
Hero comes to recognize his or her
own error and to accept his or her
tragic consequences
The real hero does not curse fate
or the gods but is humbled and
enlightened by the tragedy
The Audience
Feels the hero’s punishment
exceeds the crime, that the hero
gets more than he or she deserves
Feels pity because the hero is a
suffering human being who is
flawed like them
Feels fear because the hero is
better than they are, and still he or
she fails. What hope can there be
for them?
The Greek Afterlife
and Burial Rites
Every human being went to an
underworld called Hades after
death
One’s reputation followed one
there; if one lived less than
honorably on Earth, the dead would
know of the person’s dishonor for
eternity.
In Hades, spirits were free to move
around and could enjoy the
company of other deceased
relatives.
The dead were dressed in
white and then buried with
offerings of food and
personal possessions.
If funeral rites were not
performed, the spirit of the
dead person hovered at the
gates of Hades, but was not
allowed in.
Terminology
Dramatic Structure - Tragedy
INCITING INCIDENT—SOMETHING HAPPENS TO BEGIN THE ACTION
OF THE PLAY
EXPOSITION—BACKGROUND INFORMATION
RISING ACTION—STORY BUILDS AND GETS MORE EXCITING
COMPLICATION—SIGNALS THE BEGINNING OF THE MAIN CONFLICT
CLIMAX—MOMENT OF GREATEST TENSION
REVERSAL—CHANGE OF THE HERO’S STATE OF AFFAIRS
FALLING ACTION—THE FALLOUT RESULTING FROM THE REVERSAL
OF FORTUNES
CATASTROPHE—EVENT THAT OCCURS IN WHICH THE
PROTAGONIST IS WORSE OFF THAN THE BEGINNING OF THE PLAY
MOMENT OF LAST SUSPENSE—THE FINAL OUTCOME OF THE
CONFLICT IS IN DOUBT
Chorus
A group of twelve to fifteen men who
commented on the play’s action and
themes. They wore large masks and
elegant robes in order to add to the
magnificence of the play. Between scenes
they sang and danced to the music of the
orchestra. Typically, the chorus
communicated the values and beliefs
central to Athenian society.
Choragus
The leader of the chorus—often participated
in the dialogue of the play.
Prologue
An opening to a story that establishes
the setting and gives background details
Parodos
The first entrance of the chorus into the
orchestra and the choral ode that they
sing and dance as they enter (which is
usually the first choral song of the
drama). The parodos usually follows the
play's prologue.
Ode
A song chanted by the chorus
Paean
A hymn that is an appeal to the gods for
assistance.
Exodos
The last episode in the play. It is
followed by a final speech made by the
choragus and addressed directly to the
audience.
The Curse
Oedipus and his family -cursed by the gods because
they try to escape fate
Oedipus’ parents -- attempt
to control destiny by getting
rid of their son, Oedipus
Oedipus -- tries to control his
own destiny by leaving
Corinth to escape his fate