Medea and the Greeks
Homework
• Answer questions 1-7(top of page 20
Euripides
• The fifth century B.C., a most important
period of Greek drama,
• Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides Euripides,
born in about 484 B.C.,
• Euripides in a span fifty years wrote more than
eighty plays, nineteen of which survive today,
and won five major awards. Medea was first
produced in 431 B.C.
Social and Political Ideas - Athens
Fifth Century B.C.
• this was a time of great achievements in all forms of
art.
• .The Athenian government of the time was an exclusive
democracy run by elected officials in the form of an
open assembly.
• Participation in this democracy, however; was limited
to only about ten percent of the population; women,
slaves, and other “non-citizens” were excluded.
• The world was beginning to change, however; and one
of those changes involved the lowly status of women.
Religious Ideas
• The Greeks worshipped multiple gods,
• Attributed human qualities to these gods
• The Greeks also believed in fate as a divine force,
even stronger than the gods. Although no one
could know his/her fate, the Greeks used omens,
oracles, and soothsayers to learn the will of the
gods.
• The Greeks felt that the gods became angry with
people who were guilty of pride or any kind of
excess.
Origins of Greek Drama
• Greeks had many religious festivals to celebrate the
gods.
• Drama was an important part of the religious ritual.
• to honor Dionysus.
• The god Dionysus suffered, died, and was resurrected.
The early tragedies were in this cycle of despair
followed by ecstasy of enlightenment.
• These plays were choral lyrics with one actor taking
several roles and conversing with the leader of the
chorus between performances of the chorus.
• As the theater evolved, more and more of the myths
were used as the basis of the dramas.
Dionysus
The god of wine,
and of theatre.
His followers are the
Satyrs and
Maenads.
The Satyrs are half
men half goat, and
the maenads are
mad women(too
much wine.)
• Like the vines that are cut down every
winter and grow anew in the spring,
Dionysus represents joyful
resurrection, similar to Persephone
Definition of Tragedy
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Homework every night!
Jk
The Greek tragedy focuses on the tragic hero
tragic flaw which brings about his downfall.
As the hero accepts the consequences of his
errors, he teaches the audience some truth of
life.
• The people watching feel a catharsis, a
heightening of emotions, as they watch the hero
suffer; and they identify with his problems. I
The Greek Theater
• - The first theater was on the slopes of Acropolis.
Now.. My one question is
Shared Inquiry
• Read Nurse’s monologue
– How is Medea described? Use a check/post-itnote to mark lines that reveal character
– ? Where you have questions
Agenda
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Stamp homework/ turn in at end of class
Review: lines that reveal character
Imagery
Foreshadowing
Small groups will read 21-23 answer questions
on back side of SG and turn in.
• P. 18 no one who makes an enemy of her will carry off an easy
victory
• She glares at us like the mad bull or a lioness guarding her
cubs
• P 18 She learns through pain what blessings they enjoy who
are not uprooted from their native land.
• 18she will not eat she lies collapsed in angony
• P. 18: she hates her sonsto see them is no pleasure to see
them is no pleasure to her. Foreshadows death
Imagery: use of figurative language to
make something abstract concrete
• Simile: in direct comparison between two
dissimilar things that share a common
characteristic. (like or as) My love is like a rose
• Metaphor: Direct Comparison without using
like or as. (IS) My love is a rose
• Where is imagery used in Nurse’s soliloquy?
Foreshadowing?
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Hints of future events
Page 18:
Some dreadfu lpurpose if forming in her mind
P.20:
I’ve watched her watching them, her eye like a
wild bull’s. There is something she means to do.
• The dark cloud of her lamentations….it will burst
aflame as her anger rises.
Why don’t we meet Medea right
away?
agenda
• Check homework: read 21-23 answer
questions on back side of SG and turn in.
• Small group work on monologues
• Read 24-29
Review homework
• Question #9: Is Medea’s rage justified?
groups
• 1. Chorus page 22-23 what view of marriage is Euripides making clear
here? And what does the chorus ask of Medea?
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Find specific lines and images
• 2 .What argument does Medea make in her speech about the role of
womenin Greek Society?
– Do you sympathize with her Find specific lines and images
• 3. What argument does Medea make in her speech about the role of
womenin Greek Society?
–
Do you sympathize with her Find specific lines and images
• 4. What is the real reason why Medea begs for one more day corinth?
– Find specific lines and images that reveal her intent and reveal her character.
• 5. What is the real reason why Medea begs for one more day corinth?
– Find specific lines and images that reveal her intent and reveal her character
Agenda
• Rehearse monologues
• Present group 1
• Practice vocab
• Test Monday:
• Vocab, definition of Greek Tragedy, Greek
stage conventions
Themes
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Passion
Greatness and Pride
Position of women
Exile
The other
Medea’s cleverness/manipulation
Agenda
• Finish monologues
• Review vocabulary
• Stage conventions and defintion of Greek
tragedy
• Review notes from ppt one Euripedes.
Dramatic Reading
Where should choral voce be used?
Find words or phrases that need to be emphasized
through choral voice
Who will read each line?
divide by sentences or thoughts
Find three gestures or movements to include in your
dramatic reading.
hands raised
backs turned
people move
poses
Greek Tragedy
1. The Greek tragedy focuses on the tragic hero
2. tragic flaw which brings about his downfall.
3. As the hero accepts the consequences of his
errors, he teaches the audience some truth of
life. The people watching feel a catharsis, a
Stage Conventions
1. Plays make use of dramtic irony
Audience knows something that the characters don’t know.
2.Plays acted in daytime
3. Actors were males. Wore masks, wigs
4 poetic verse not prose
5. Three Unities
unity of time, unity of place, unity of subject (no subplots)
Messengers were used to tell audience what happened off stage.
No violence shown.