 Greek
theatre is considered to be the
birthplace of modern drama.

“Western understanding of drama originated in
fifth century (500-400) BC classical Athens,
where the theater played a central role in
politics, religion, and society. The Athenian
stage invented forms of tragedy and comedy that
persist to the present day.“ (W.B. Worthen in The
Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama, 2nd edition, p. 13)
 Definitions
of tragedy and comedy
 Description of tragic hero
 Idea of universal truth—the notion that a belief,
emotion, experience can be applied to a wide
variety of cultures, social classes, and time periods
 Dramatic form—plot, character, language, theme,
music, spectacle
 Without
the innovations of the ancient
Greeks, we would not have plays, movies, or
TV today.
 The
earliest forms of drama grew out of
religious rituals.



Humans were primitive—did not understand
forces of nature (rain, snow, sun, earthquakes,
floods, plants growing, the changing of the
seasons, etc.). We need concepts of basic
science to understand things such as days and
seasons. We have a need to explain our lives.
Developed concept of magical or supernatural
forces and rituals intended to “win the favor”
of those powers.
Created stories/myths to explain the nature of
the magical forces, the rituals, and man’s
relationship to the forces (the gods).


Eventually began to act out these stories (not as
part of religious ceremonies)—this was the
beginning of drama.
Performances were done by a chorus which sang
and danced the stories. (No individual
characterization)
Anthropologists have theories about early societies—before
the Greeks—and their development of the religious
ceremonies which lead to the innovations of the Greeks.
 The
first actor—was the first to assume a
character
 Invented dialog (character had a
conversation with the chorus)
 This is why actors are called “thespians”


2nd actor introduced by Aeschylus (5th century BC)
3rd actor introduced by Sophocles (468 BC)—could not
have 3 person scenes

Were the main part of the religious festivals to
honor the god Dionysus.

Dionysus was the god of fertility, wine, and revelry
(partying)


Early worship of him involved intoxication, sexual orgies,
and the “rending and devouring of sacrificial
victims“ (frequently human).
Gradually the worship became less extreme—still involved
lots of partying.
Series of contests (not just plays) between
citizens and the Athenian “’tribes‘ that formed
the city‘s basic political and military
units“ (Worthen 13).
 Festivals included parades through the city,
religious observances and sacrifices in the
theater.

 Each
competing playwright produced a
trilogy of tragedies dealing with a single
theme or series of events. (Although
sometimes they did 3 unrelated dramas.)
 All 3 plays were performed on one day.
 The playwrights we are familiar with
came from the 5th century BC: Aeschylus,
Sophocles, Euripedes, and Aristophanes
(who was the author of almost all the
Greek comedies we have)
 Each
playwright also produced a “rugged
farce“ (Worthen 14) which was performed
after the trilogy.
 Satyr plays parodied a god‘s activities
 Characters were half-beast/half-human
companions of Dionysus.
 Included vigorous dancing and indecent
language and gestures.

Scene from a satyr play
 Comedy
was introduced in 487 BC
 It is believed that all the comedies were
performed on the last day of the festival.
 Both
comedy and tragedy were judged by a
panel of judges (like a beauty contest)
 Winner of tragedy got a bull
 Winner of comedy got a goat
 Topics
were more or less the same as
modern plays, TV, and films:
contemporary society (what was going on in
the society at that time)
 politics
 literature
 war
 mythology (acting out the stories)
 history
 man‘s relationship to the gods (religious
issues)

Violence happened off stage (characters/chorus
reported on it).
 Showed the effects of the violence on stage
(brought out the dead/mutilated bodies).
 Scenes had only 2-3 actors (all were men).
 Actors wore masks.
 Chorus commented on the action occurring in
the scenes through odes in between the episodes
(scenes).
 Sometimes had to bring in a god to resolve the
problems (Deus ex machina).
 Actors could perform different characters (go off
stage and put on a different mask) so play could
have more than 3 characters.

 Amphitheater


Greek—built on the hillside
Roman—free-standing (like the Coliseum)
 We



Design
still use the terminology
orchestra (orchestra pit—where the band sits)
skene (scenery)
proscenium (the “picture frame“ around the
front of the stage from the audience‘s point of
view)
 The
Dionysos Theater in Athens built into the
Akropolis,3rd century BCSource:Wikipedia
Ekkyclema—rolling
platform. Interior scenes
could be played on these
or they were used to
display bodies of dead
characters.
Machina—basket
on
a pole, suspended
from a crane.
Characters that
were supposed to be
flying could be
hoisted over the
skene by the
machina.

Stage blood—sheep or
goat‘s blood
A
drama in which a character (usually a good
and noble person of high rank) is brought to
a disastrous end in his or her confrontation
with a superior force (fortune, the gods,
social forces, universal values), but also
comes to understand the meaning of his or
her deeds and to accept an appropriate
punishment. (The Norton Introduction to
Literature, 7th ed)
 The
tragic hero is a man of noble stature. He
is not an ordinary man, but a man with
outstanding quality and greatness about him.
His own destruction is for a greater cause or
principle. (<shakespeare.learnhub.com>)

“high position” usually means a king, duke,
prince, company owner, etc.
According to Aristotle:
1.
Usually of noble birth
2.
Hubris- the tragic flaw-excessive pride or self-confidence
3.
Hamartia– a.k.a. the tragic flaw that eventually leads to
his downfall.
4.
Peripeteia – a reversal of fortune brought about by the
hero’s tragic flaw
5.
His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and
self-knowledge
6.
The audience must feel pity and fear for this character.
 The
“flaw” in the character is a defect which
keeps him/her from being aware of the
situation around him/her. The character
does not understand (for much of the story)
his/her part of creating the situation.
The
tragic hero has a “moment of
enlightenment” near the end of the story.


He/she finally understands what he/she has done
wrong—how he/she contributed to the tragic
situation.
The story often ends with the death of the tragic
hero.
 Sophocles
(495 BC - 406 BC)
 Said to have written 123 or more plays during
the course of his life.
 Dominant competitor for 50 years in the
dramatic competitions of ancient Athens that
took place during the religious festivals of
the Lenaea and the Dionysia.
Only seven of his tragedies have survived into
modern times
 The most famous: Oedipus and Antigone: these
are often known as the Theban plays or The
Oedipus Cycle,
 were not originally written or performed as a
single trilogy
 He developed his characters to a greater extent
than earlier playwrights such as Aeschylus, and
used female characters in his plays.

Sophocles died at the venerable age of ninety in
406 or 405 BC.
 He was so respected by the Athenians that two
plays performed at the Lenea soon after his
death paid homage to him,
 his unfinished play Oedipus at Colonus was
completed and performed years later.
 Both Lophon, one of his sons, and a grandson,
also called Sophocles, followed in his footsteps
to become playwrights themselves.

Parts of a Greek theater—
http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html#Theaters
 Photo of Theater of Dionysus—
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/Dionysus
 Photo of Theater at Delphi—
http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tragedy_theater.html
 Scene from a satyr play—
www.nd.edu/~agutting/aristotle.html
 Greek masks (title page)
humanitieslab.stanford.edu/.../397
 Stage blood—
http://www.pathguy.com/oedipus_photo.jpg
 Masks—
www.stratfordfestival.ca/.../SF_1955_oedipus.jpg
 Ekkyclema—
www.didaskalia.net/images/gstage11.gif
 Mechane—
www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/InventionsC.htm
Demidec Resources co. 2004 „Sophocles“
