Greek Tragedy
PURPOSE OF GREEK DRAMA
• Dramas presented by the state at annual
religious festivals.
• Plays were supposed to be presented for the
purpose of ethical and moral improvement of the
spectators and to ensure the spiritual survival of
the community.
• Winners of prizes were selected by ten citizens
chosen by lots for the duty.
MECHANICS OF GREEK DRAMA
• Actors were all male. They wore masks.
• Scenes of the drama were always outdoors; indoor actions
were reported by messengers.
• There was no violence on stage
• There was “unity” in plot -- no subplots
• The action always took place in one day.
• There were no curtains or intermissions.
CHORUS IN GREEK DRAMA
• The function of the chorus was to :
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
set the mood of the drama
interpret events
relieve the tension
generalize meaning of the action
converse with and give advice to the actors
give background information
emphasize the beauty of poetry and
dancing
– leader acted as spokesman for the group
STYLE IN PLAYS
– There are long, wordy speeches (sometimes
about current events or contemporary
people).
• Soliloquy- Character speaks to himself out
loud in order to reveal thoughts to the
audience. (No actors on stage can ‘hear’)
• Monologue- A long speech that a
character makes. (Actors on stage can
hear). This speech dominates the
conversation.
MESSAGE FROM TRAGEDIES
• Out of great tragedy
comes wisdom.
A General Definition of Tragedy
Any serious and dignified drama that
describes a conflict between the
hero(protagonist) and a superior
force(antagonist), and reaches a
sorrowful conclusion that arouses
pity or fear in the audience
CONCEPT OF TRAGIC HERO
AND TRAGEDY (from Aristotle)
• Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity, fear, wonder and awe.
• A tragic hero must be a man or woman capable of great
suffering.
• Tragedy explores the question of the ways of God to man.
• Tragedy purifies the emotions
• Tragedy shows how man is brought to disaster by a single
flaw in his own character.
Characteristics of the Tragic Hero
The Character…
Is not all good or bad
Is of the noble class or highly prosperous
Has a tragic flaw
Recognizes his error and accepts the consequences
Arouses the audience’s pity and fear
Tragic Flaw
• Hamartia (Greek Word for Tragic Flaw)
• the character flaw or error of a tragic hero
that leads to his or her downfall
The Stage
Sophocles
Born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of
Athens, Sophocles was one of the three
major Greek tragedy writers of his era.
During Sophocles’ life, the ruler of Athens
was the great general, Pericles.
Athens enjoyed a golden age under his rule.
The Greeks held dramatic festivals several times
each year. Playwrights were chosen to produce
their work in competitions.
Sophocles won his first competition when he was
27. Various ancient sources show that he won
the competition about 20 times, and never took
home less than second place.
Seven complete plays written by Sophocles still
exist, of which Antigone is one.
Antigone was produced in 441 B.C. when
Sophocles, about 55years old, had already
written 32 plays.
The play made him a huge success in politics
as well as in the theatre.
The following year the Athenians elected him
to a high office. He became co-commander of
a fleet of ships.
Like many writers, Sophocles was interested in
the larger story of his characters.
He later wrote two more plays about
Antigone’s family, Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at
Colonos.
He was known as an innovative playwright
willing to break traditional molds in what were
seen as radical departures from expected form.
ANTIGONE’S FAMILY TREE
Menoceus
Laius + Jocasta
Oedipus + Jocasta
Polyneices, Etiocles,
Ismene and Antigone
Creon
+
Eurydice
Haemon
Characters in Antigone
ANTIGONE, youngest daughter of Oedipus
and Jocasta. Her name means, “born to
oppose.”
ISMENE, first daughter of Oedipus and
Jocasta, possibly named for the river,
Ismenos.
POLYNICES, eldest son of Oedipus and
Jocasta. His name means, “fighter of
many battles.”
ETEOCLES, second son of Oedipus and
Jocasta
The first - and last - brother to be king.
CREON, becomes king of
Thebes only by necessity.
His name means simply,
“ruler.”
EURYDICE, Creon’s wife and
Haemon’s mother. A woman
with no way out - but one.
HAEMON, Creon’s son whose
name means, “blood.” He is
engaged to marry Antigone.
TIRESIAS, a blind prophet in
Thebes who foretells the true
horrors that await.
BURYING THE DEAD
In Greek culture, the dead -even the enemy dead were treated with honor.
After the Battle of Marathon, for example, the
Athenians buried the Persians whom they hated
and defeated. The body of an enemy might not be
returned to his homeland, but it would still be
buried. Even traitors were buried.
THE CURSE ON THE HOUSE
OF CADMUS
Long before Antigone was born her
family was cursed by the god Aries.
Cadmus, the great grandfather of Laius,
Antigone’s grandfather, offended the
god. Laius and his wife Jocasta tried to
avoid the curse. When an oracle said
their son, Oedipus, would kill his father
and marry his mother they ordered the
infant’s death, but the abandoned baby
was found and raised by peasants.
Oedipus himself learned of the
prophesy his parents had feared, and
tried to flee fate by distancing himself
from the couple he believed to be his
parents. As he traveled, he confronted
a man on the road and killed him - not
knowing that in fact, the man was
Laius, his blood father. Soon after,
Oedipus outsmarted a Sphinx in a
contest of riddles.
The citizens whom the creature had
terrorized, gave him the recently
widowed queen of Thebes as wife.
Together, Oedipus and Jocasta had four
children, Eteocles, Polynices, Ismene,
and Antigone. Then Oedipus learned the
truth - he had married his own mother.
In horror, Jocasta killed herself and
Oedipus rips out his eyes.
For many years he wondered aimlessly until
he died. At his death it was decreed that his
two sons were to serve as king of Thebes in
alternate years. When after the first year
Eteocles refused to step down, Polynices
brought war against him. The brothers killed
one another, Jocasta’s brother, Creon, and
claimed the kingship. It is at this point in the
story that the play Antigone begins.
Antigone is a source of our
deepest values
Independence
The meaning of family
The courage to do what’s
right
History of Thebes
Thebes was founded by Cadmus
The King before Cadmus
(Pentheus) made the god
Dionysus mad