Purpose of Greek Theatre
• Celebrations held in honor of the god
Dionysus
• The Chorus would chant songs in honor
of the god.
• Greek legend says that drama began
when Thespis added an actor to the
chorus who would take different roles and
converse with the chorus
The Competition
• In 534 BC, the first drama competition
took place.
• The competitors presented three dramas
• They viewed plays in an amphitheater
• Some had painted scenery hung at the
back.
• There were no curtains
The Competition
• Actors wore large masks which would
amplify their voices
Elements of Greek Theatre
Greek Theatre and Tragedy
Tragedy:
shows the downfall or death of the main
character or tragic hero
Tragic Hero
Main character in a tragedy
Tragic Flaw
Mistaken action or defect in a character
Elements of Greek Theatre
Prologue:
Spoken by one or two characters before the
chorus appears. The prologue usually gives
the mythological background necessary for
understanding the events of the play
Parados:
This is the song sung by the chorus as it
first enters the orchestra and dances.
Elements of Greek Theatre
First Episode:
This is the first of many "episodes", when
the characters and chorus talk.
Stasimon/Ode
At the end of each episode, the other characters usually
leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings a
stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the
things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some
kind of larger mythological framework. Works like a
curtain at the end of the scene.
Elements of Greek Theatre
Paen
At the conclusion of the tragedy. A
thanksgiving to Dionysus
Exodus
At the end of play, the chorus exits singing
a processional song which usually offers
words of wisdom related to the actions and
outcome of the play.
Elements of Greek Theatre
Chorus:
Commented on the plays action and usually
consisted of about 15 men. Usually sang
and danced between scenes. Often acts as
the conscience of the characters
Choragus:
Chorus leader who conversed with the
actors
Elements of Greek Tragedy
Strophe
Chorus rotates from right to left while
reciting/singing the lines.
Antistrophe
Chorus moves in the opposite direction
answering the strophe.
Elements of Greek Tragedy
• Based on myths the audience were
familiar with
• Tell of a reversal of fortune, from good to
bad, experienced by a man or woman of
noble birth
• The main character may have a tragic
flaw
Elements of Tragedy Con’t.
• The characters downfall comes from his or her own
actions
• The doom is clearly destined
• Doom is brought about by fate
• The theme is often warning against excess such as pride
or passion
• Demonstrate the limits of human knowledge, sympathy,
and foresight.
• Remind us every decision involves choosing and living
with the unforseen consequences of these choices.
Sophocles
 Greek dramatist. Together with Euripides
and Aeschylus, he is considered one of the
greatest dramatists of ancient Greece. His
surviving plays include Ajax, Oedipus Rex,
Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus
 A man of wealth, charm, and genius,
Sophocles was given posts of responsibility
in peace and in war by the Athenians. He
was a general and a priest; after his death
he was worshiped as a hero
 he composed about 123 dramas), winning
first place about 20 times and never falling
lower than second
 A definitive innovator in the drama, he
added a third actor—thereby tremendously
increasing the dramatic possibilities of the
medium—increased the size of the chorus,
abandoned the trilogy of plays for the selfcontained tragedy, and introduced scene
painting.
Sophocles
• 496 – 406 B. C.
• a playwright who lived a long,
comfortable, happy life
• grew up in a wealthy family in
ATHENS, GREECE
Sophocles
• his dramatic work portrayed
misery and tragedy
• he also became a
distinguished public official
• produced 123 plays (only seven
survive today)
• the age of Sophocles in Greece
was a time when anything seemed
possible through human effort and
reason
Sophocles
Sophocles
• toward the end of Sophocles’
life, Athens raged a war against
Sparta, their bitter rivals
• there also was a great plague in
430 B. C.
Sophocles
Sophocles’ surviving plays
(written after 440 B.C.)
are deeply troubling
Sophocles
These plays depict characters
caught up in unsolvable
dilemmas that test their faith
in divine and human justice
Before there was Antigone
There was Oedipus!
The Pre-Oedipus Story
All the knowledge that a student
needs to know BEFORE reading
“Oedipus”
Once Upon a Time . . .
It all began in Greece, in a city-state by
the name of Thebes.
King Laius and Queen Jocasta were
expecting their first child when they
received a rather disturbing prophesy:
Their son would kill his
father!!!
That’s King Laius for those of you not following too
closely.
What to do?
Faced with a bad situation,
Laius and Jocasta decide to
KILL their new little baby.
They pierce their son’s ankles
(don’t ask why, no one is quite
sure) and give him to a
shepherd to kill.
What to do?
The shepherd doesn’t
like this situation at
all!!! He can’t kill
the baby either!
Cithaeron
A mountainside where
different shepherds bring
their sheep to graze
Shepherd #1 gives baby
to Shepherd #2, thinking
that this is good enough.
The baby will never make
it back to Thebes.
Right?????
WRONG
Corinth
Shepherd #2 gives the
baby to King Polybus and
Queen Merope of Corinth,
who haven’t been able to
have their own children.
They raise Oedipus as
their child, never telling
him that he is, in fact,
adopted.
The TRUTH
But, the truth will surface.
At a wedding, a guest who has indulged a bit
too much, tells Oedipus that Polybus and
Merope are not his parents.
I don’t know;
do you?
Oedipus confronts
Polybus and Merope,
who promptly deny
it.
A Riddle
Oedipus loves a good riddle.
He decides to go to the Oracle at Delphi to ask it
about his parents (hoping for a straight answer).
The Oracle at Delphi
 Of course, the Oracle isn’t really good at straight
answers.
 Oedipus asks the Oracle if Polybus and Merope are his
real parents.
 The Oracle answers him by giving him a prophesy:
“You will kill your father and
beget (have) children by your
mother.”
AHHHHHHH!!!
Go west young man!
Oedipus decides that
he can’t go back
home (Corinth),
otherwise he may kill
his father (Polybus)
and marry his mom
(Merope).
But, as the reader, we know . . .
 Polybus and Merope are not his real parents.
 Therefore, he could go back to Corinth if he wanted to.
 The worst way that he could head is towards Thebes.
 Therefore, he heads towards Thebes
Meanwhile, back in Thebes . . .
 A plague has beset the people of Thebes in the form of the
Sphinx.
 The Sphinx asks a riddle, and if you can’t answer it, well,
it’s not good.
 To help his people, King Laius decides to travel to the
Oracle at Delphi to seek a solution.
At the crossroads
Guess who meets at
the crossroads of
three roads?
If you guessed
Oedipus and King
Laius, you’d be right.
Oedipus running
from the Oracle and
Laius to it.
Father and Son Meet
Only, neither knows that they
are father and son!!
They argue over who has the
right of way.
Legend has it that Laius strikes
Oedipus, and Oedipus gets a
little angry.
They fight and Oedipus kills
King Laius.
First part fulfilled
If you’ve been
following
closely, you will
realize that the
first part of the
Oracle’s
prophesy has
now been
fulfilled.
Thebes
Oedipus continues
onto Thebes and
meets the Sphinx,
which is still
terrorizing the
people.
The Sphinx asks
Oedipus its riddle:
“What goes on four legs in the
morning, two legs at noon, and
three legs in the evening?”
His Reward
After correctly answering the riddle and ridding
Thebes of the Sphinx, the people wish to reward
Oedipus by making him their king (who has
mysteriously disappeared).
The easiest way to accomplish this is for him to
marry the queen, Jocasta (his mom).
Second part of prophesy
fulfilled!
Happily ever after????
Oedipus and Jocasta
marry and have four
children.
About 18-20 years
pass.
The play begins.
Then we have Antigone
Antigone
a tragedy written in 442
BC by Sophocles
chronologically the third
of the three Theban
plays but was written
first
Oedipus the King
Oedipus at Colonus
Antigone
 After Oedipus is exiled, he
leaves the ruling rights of
Thebes to his two sons,
Eteocles and Polynices
who must take it in turns
to rule.
 Eteocles rules first but the
two becomes enemies
after Eteocles refues to
give up the throne, and
Polynieces is exiled.
 At the beginning of the
play, both brothers are
dead, apparently slain by
the other's hand.
The current ruler,
Creon, has made a
decree: Since
Polynices fought
against Thebes, he
shall not be buried.
Meanwhile, Eteocles
is to be buried with
full military honors.
Antigone, the daughter of
Oedipus and the sister of
the dead brothers, believes
this proclamation to be
against the gods' orders.
She confides her plan to
bury Polynices herself to
her sister Ismene. The more
timid of the two, Ismene
refuses to take part out of
fear, but agrees with her
motive.