Greek Tragedy
The Land
Located in Europe in the Aegean
Sea
The Land
• Greece has
thousands of
inhabited islands and
dramatic mountain
ranges
The Land
The Land
The History
• Democracy was founded
in Greece
• It had a patriarchal (male
dominated) society
The Philosophy
•Philosophy, the art
of thinking, began
in Greece
(Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle)
Aristotle (342-322 BC)
author of Poetics, which defined
Greek tragedy
Tragedy is a drama that recounts an important and unhappy event in the
life of a significant person
A tragic hero must be a person capable of great suffering
Tragedy explores humankind’s questions of the ways of god or fate
Tragedy shows how a person is brought to disaster by a single character flaw
Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity, fear, wonder, awe, and ends with a
catharsis of emotions.
Aristotle’s Tragic Hero
Must come from nobility
Must have a tragic flaw
Undergoes a reversal of fortune(fall
from high place)
Finally recognizes his/her mistakes
The Unities
• A. Unity of Time (play is limited to a 24
hour period)
• B. Unity of Place (scenes/locations did not
change)
• C. Unity of Action (one storyline without
subplots or diversions
Purpose of the Plays
• Everyone was expected to attend based
on civic duty
• Plays were a form of religious worship
• They taught moral lessons such as
moderation, duty, etc.
• Violent acts were not permitted on stage
but were simply reported to the audience
by a character
Dramatic Structure
Terms to Know
• Catharsis- the release of pent up emotions
or tension, sometimes through art or music
and sometimes through behavior
• Hubris- having excessive pride or
arrogance
The Myths– a key
factor in Greek Tragedy
The Myths – Why they were written
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Explained the unexplainable
Justified religious practices
Gave credibility to leaders
Gave hope
Polytheistic (more than one god)
Centered around the twelve Olympians
(primary Greek gods)
To give credibility to leaders
The Greeks used myths
to create family trees
for their leaders,
enforcing the madeup idea that the
emperors were
related to the gods
and were, then,
demigods.
Mount Olympus
…Where the
Olympians
lived.
Who are the Olympians?
The Olympians Are the 12 Main
Gods
Temperaments of the
Olympians
Zeus
•
•
•
•
•
King of gods
Heaven
Storms
Thunder
Lightning
Poseidon
•
•
•
•
Zeus’s brother
King of the sea
Earthquakes
Horses
Hades
• Brother to Zeus and
Poseidon
• King of the
Underworld (Tartarus)
• Husband of
Persephone
Ares
• God of war
Hephaestus
•
•
•
•
God of fire
Craftspeople
Metalworkers
Artisans
Apollo
•
•
•
•
•
God of the sun
Music
Poetry
Fine arts
Medicine
Hermes
• Messenger to the
gods
• Trade
• Commerce
• Travelers
• Thieves & scoundrels
Hera
•
•
•
•
•
Queen of gods
Married to Zeus
Women
Marriage
Childbirth
Demeter
•
•
•
•
•
Goddess of Harvest
Agriculture
Fertility
Fruitfulness
Mom to Persephone
Hestia
• Goddess of Hearth
• Home
• Community
Athena
• Goddess of wisdom
• Practical arts
• War
Aphrodite
• Goddess of love and
beauty
Artemis
• Goddess of hunting
and the moon.
Dionysus- a minor god
Dionysus
•God of
Wine
and
Partying
(Revelry)
Dionysian Festival
• Greek plays were performed
during religious ceremonies
held in honor of Dionysus
and sacrifices were made
(generally on stage )
The Theater
• Business would shut down
for days, people would
travel from all around to see
the drama competitions—
even prisoners were
temporarily released to see
the plays
The Theater
•Tragedy means
“goat song”
(related to
Dionysian rituals)
The Theater
Six Main Portions of
Greek Theater:
Theatron
– Seating
for
audience
The Theater
Six Main Portions
of Greek Theater:
Orchestra –
“Dancing
Place”
where
chorus sang
to the
audience
The Theater
Six Main Portions
of Greek Theater:
Thymele –
altar to
Dionysus in
center of
orchestra
where
sacrifices
were made
The Theater
Six Main Portions
of Greek Theater:
Skene –
wooden
scene
building
used as a
dressing
room.
The Theater
Six Main Portions
of Greek Theater:
Parados –
entrance
to the
theater
used by
the
Chorus
The Theater
The Theater
Where and how were the dramas
performed?
In an
amphitheatre
…
Where and how were the dramas
performed?
…With a chorus who described most of
the action.
Where and how were the dramas
performed?
……With masks
The Stage
The Playwrights
• Thespis was the
first playwright to
tell a story. He had
one chorus
member step away
from the others to
play the part of a
hero or god.
How were the dramas developed?
Aeschylus added a
second individual
actor to the
performance, thus
creating the
possibility of
conflict.
How were the dramas developed?
• Sophocles
adds a third
actor; now
we have fullblown drama.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Set in Thebes (a
city in ancient
Greece)
Is based on the myth of
Oedipus, which all Greek
audiences would have known
well
This allowed the audience to
focus on the message being
delivered rather than the events
The Story of Oedipus
• Oedipus is given away by
his parents, Laios and
Jocasta when they learn
from an oracle that their son
would kill his father and
marry his mother.
• The ancient citizens of
Greece would sacrifice and
pray to an ORACLE.
• An oracle was a priest or
priestess who would send
a message from the gods
to mortals who brought
their requests.
The Oracle at Delphi
Most famous oracle in Greek
mythology.
Sophocles’ Antigone
• Oedipus learns of the oracle
and believing the king and
queen of Corinth are his
parents, he leaves to avoid
the oracle.
Sophocles’ Antigone
• Oedipus travels
to Thebes, killing
Laios on the way.
He saves the city
from a terrible
monster, the
Sphinx.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Thebes rewards him
by making him king
and giving him the
queen to marry.
Sophocles’ Antigone
• A plague hits the city and
the oracle warns that it
won’t go away until the
killer of King Laios is
punished.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Oedipus
investigates and
finds out he killed
his father and
married his mother.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Oedipus
blinds
himself and
Jocasta kills
herself.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Antigone is the
daughter of
Oedipus and
Jocasta.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Antigone’s brothers,
Eteokles and
Polyneces, were to
rule in alternate years.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Eteokles refused to
give up the throne
for Polyneces at the
end of his year.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Polyneces went to
Argos and raised
an army to gain
the throne.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Eteokles and
Polyneces killed
each other in
battle.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Antigone’s uncle,
Creon, became
king of Thebes.
Sophocles’ Antigone
• Creon, gives Eteokles,
his ally, a hero’s burial
and issues a decree
against burying
Polyneces.
Sophocles’ Antigone
•Antigone believes that
he is wrong and that
both of her brothers
should be buried with
honor.
Ancient Greek Burial Traditions
• 1. Bury or burn the body to keep the soul from wandering the earth
• 2. Dead are washed and dressed in fine clothing.
• 3. The mouth and eyes of the dead are shut to prevent the soul
from leaving the body.
• 4. Mourners wear black and/or cut their hair.
• 5. The body is followed by a procession.
• 6. Wine was poured over the gravesite and there was a sacrifice of
food and drink.
• 7. Flowers were laid on the gravesite.
• 8. A funeral feast was prepared.
• 9. Dead were buried in a special place called a necropolis “city of
the dead”.
• 10. A coin was placed inside the dead’s mouth to pay the ferryman
for a ride across the River Styx into the underworld.
• http://video.pbs.org/video/1082075672/
Sophocles’ Antigone
The play is based on three
major conflicts
• Human law vs. God’s law
• Civic Duty vs. Family Duty
• Man’s role vs. Woman’s role