 Considered to be the greatest theatre in history
 Classic or Golden Age of Greece- 500-400 BC
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great tragedies architecture government

 Beginnings of Greek theatre:
1. Dionysian rites
2. Festival for fertility
3. singing and dancing and drinking wine
4. play contest called dithyrambs
5. honored Dionysis
 tragedies were performed
 tragedy means “goat song” in Greek (tragos)
 goats were sacrificed at the festival

 Festivals- 4 each year
 City Dionysia- March
 festival for tragedies
 week-long national holiday
 all attend
 Plays- only men acted- true many places
 6 day festival
 plays at the theatron- seeing place
 three days of competition for plays

 Each play a Trilogy- three tragedies- one theme
 Each day also a satire-a farce about the tragedies
 performed outdoors
 City Lenaea- festival for comedies (komos)
 held in February
 performed outdoors

 semicircle seating for audience- on hillside
 circular altar and acting area- orchestra
 back area behind orchestra for actors to change-skene
 skene had three doors with side passageways calledparados
 raised area behind orchestra- proskenion
 side areas called- paraskenia
 large acting area -not close to audience

 all men
 large masks with megaphones to project voices- made of cork or wood- showed age and emotion
 large shoes on platforms- appear taller-corthurnus
 large headpiece- onkus
 costume: colorful, patterns sleeveless tunic with a belt-chiton long cloth over the shoulder-himation short cloak- chlamys

 pinakes- boards painted to show scenes
 periaktos- pyramid with different scenes on each side turned to show new scenes
 drums-sound effects
 eccylama- used to show dead bodies- could not show killing on stage
 deus-machina- used to fly in gods
 stories were usually Greek myths

 Aristotle wrote rules for performing tragedies
1. must make audience want to lead a better lifeoften through fear
2. hero with a tragic flaw
3. a change of fortune for the character- growth of the main character
4. written in poetry form
5. the three unities- related events, occurs in 24 hours, one location

 prologue- intro to get audience up to speed
 parados- chorus enters
 epeisodon-dialogue of actor
 stasimon-chorus speaks or sings
 exodus- play ends

 Thespis – won the first award= Thespians
 three great tragic writers:
 Aeschylus
 Sophocles
 Euripedes


 father of tragedy
 added the second actor
 reduced chorus from 50 to 12
 wrote: Agamemnon-return from Trojan War and killed by his wife Clytemnestra
Libation Bearers-Orestes kills his mom to avenge dad’s death
The Furies-gods pardon Orestes


 added third act0r
 chorus set at 15 members
 plot and character development expanded
 wrote:
Electra
Oedipus Rex-kills dad and marries own mom
Antigone-war, sequel to Oedipus Rex

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 emphasized psychologial motivation
 told about the plight of women and the outsiders of society
 humanized the theatre with emotions
 wrote: Medea- about a man who is driven mad due to his jealousies

 Aristophanes and Menander
 wrote satires about Greek people and their lives.
 wrote about daily lives of servants, lovers, weird relatives- much like sitcoms of today

 Roman invasions -took over the country and started their own drama
 Next week- Roman Theatre