Sophocles & Greek Drama
Types of Greek Drama
The ancient Greeks took their
entertainment very seriously and
used drama as a way of investigating
the world they lived in, and what it
meant to be human.
The three genres of drama were
comedy, satyr plays, and most
important of all, tragedy.
Comedy, Satyr Plays, and Tragedy
Comedy: The first comedies were
mainly satirical and mocked men in
power for their vanity and
foolishness.
Satyr Plays: These short plays were
performed between the acts of
tragedies and made fun of the plight
of the tragedy’s characters.
Tragedy: Tragedy dealt with the big
themes of love, loss, pride, the
abuse of power and the fraught
relationships between men and gods.
Typically the main protagonist of a
tragedy commits some terrible crime
without realizing how foolish and
arrogant he has been. Then, as he
slowly realizes his error, the world
crumbles around him. Sophocles was
one of the great playwrights of
tragedy.
The Origin of Greek Drama
Greek drama evolved from religious
festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of
wine and the changing seasons.
Tragedy was the favorite type of Greek
drama.
The first Greek actor was Thespis who
astounded audiences by pretending to be
the person he was playing. It is from his
name where we get the word “thespian”.
Sophocles
Sophocles was born into a rich family; his
father got him the best tutors. These
tutors included a famous musician who
helped him acquire the skill he would use
later in composing the music and words
for the choruses in his tragedies.
Sophocles was a very prominent figure of
his time. He often ended up being elected
for political positions he didn’t particularly
want!
He wrote a whopping 123 plays, but
only seven tragedies survive to
present day.
Sophocles and 2 other playwrights
would present plays each year at the
festival of Dionysus. Out of these
competitions that Sophocles took
part in, he won 1st place 18 times!
He changed the world of drama by
adding a third speaking voice,
scenery, and increasing the number
of people in the chorus.
Oedipus the King
Although Oedipus the King was
written almost 2500 years ago, you
should recognize some of the themes
and conflicts that we encounter still
today: political struggle, moral vs.
legal responsibility, suicide, revenge,
punishment, divided loyalties,
shame, guilt, love and death.
This play won 2nd place at one of the
drama festivals earlier mentioned.
The play is set in the city of Thebes.
The tragedy contains one of the most
famous riddles ever devised (the
riddle of the Sphinx).
What goes on four legs in the
morning, two in the afternoon, and
three in the evening?
This play is part of a trilogy.
What is a tragedy?
What is a tragedy?
What are some examples of real-life
tragedies?
What make these events tragic- and
not just sad?
Was someone at fault?
What are some famous tragedies in
literature?
Loyalty
How much loyalty do you owe your
family?
Your friends?
Your nation?
What sorts of “debts” do people rack up?
Which debts do you think it is important to
pay back?
What should you do when your loyalties
are “divided”- say between loyalty to your
parents and loyalty to your friends?
Leadership
What makes a good leader?
Which three qualities do you think
are the most important?
What weaknesses do many leaders
commonly have?
DOL
our Social Studies teacher asked us who have her
as a teacher to write reports on the south she
said it was to be an emphasis on african
americans
capitalization (adjective)
reduction (redundancy, unnecessary words)
proper nouns (geographical region, ethnic group)
Our social studies teacher asked us to write
reports on the South with an emphasis on African
Americans.