Greek Drama Style
Ancient Greek playwrights in Athens wrote
plays for the Great Dionysia Festival that was
held every spring. It was a civic duty to attend
these plays, as they dealt with moral and
social issues important to the community.
Sophocles based Antigone on the Theban
myths of the legendary rulers of Thebes,
using what was, even in his time, an old story
to comment on such issues as the absolute
rule of kings and the status of women in
society.
Tragedy
Antigone is a traditional Greek
tragedy. A tragedy is defined
as a drama about a noble,
courageous hero or heroine of
excellent character who
because of some tragic
character flaw brings ruin upon
himself or herself. Tragedy
treats its subjects in a dignified
and serious manner, using
poetic language to help evoke
pity and fear and bring about
catharsis, a purging of these
emotions.
In the case of Antigone
we have two
characters at the
center of the conflict,
Antigone and Creon,
who are both tragic
figures. Antigone defies
a royal law to bury her
brother and pays with
her life, while each
meets a tragic end.
Catharsis
Catharsis is the release or purging of emotions
of fear and/or pity, brought on by art, usually
tragedy. It is an act that brings spiritual
renewal. One of the conventions of Greek
drama was to have all violence occur offstage
and then conveyed verbally to the audience.
This occurs in Antigone. With Antigone,
Sophocles (the playwright) hoped to illustrate
to audiences the emotional price of his
characters' actions, inspiring in his viewers
new perspectives and a sense of caution
regarding similar actions.
Chorus
Another convention in Greek drama is the
chorus. Strictly defined, a chorus is a
group of actors who comment on and
interpret the action taking place on
stage. The Greek word choros means
"dance," and sometimes the chorus
actually functioned as a character in the
play, or portrayed a group of citizens
very similar to the audience.
In Antigone, Choragos, the chorus leader,
is a character in the play; the rest of the
chorus are Theban elders who
alternately express loyalty to Antigone
and Creon. The chorus's indecision
underscores the complex nature of the
issues in the play.
Historical Context
Fifth Century Greece and Its
Influence
The Fifth Century B.C. in Greece was a
time of great advancement in
philosophy, art, and government. Great
writers such as Aristotle, Aeschylus, and
Sophocles wrote plays, philosophy, and
political tracts that would influence the
world for thousands of years to come.
Bronze Age of Greece
Antigone takes place in Bronze Age Thebes,
sometime during the 1200s B.C. Sophocles
uses the legends of the family of Oedipus
(Antigone's father) in order to explore social
and political issues of his time. Attending the
theater was a civic and religious duty in
Sophocles's time. By setting his play in a time
period 800 years before his own, he could
explore social and political issues without
offending those currently in power…
…He uses the authoritarian rule of Creon
and the strong-willed Antigone to warn
against the dangers of dictatorship and
to highlight the status of women in
Greek society.
Civil and Moral Unrest
In 429 B.C. a great plague killed almost twothirds of the population of Athens, causing
civil and moral unrest and testing the bounds
of democracy. Warfare was also common at
this time in Greek society, as the city-states of
Greece competed with each other for trade,
commerce, and artistic superiority. This
unrest is reflected in the events portrayed in
Antigone, beginning with the civil war that pits
Antigone's brothers against each other.
Democracy and
Government
Sophocles was not only a respected writer, but
also a member of the government in Athens.
Democracy was practiced differently in
Ancient Greece than it is in the modern
United States. Full citizenship, which included
the right to vote, was only given to free men;
women and slaves were not considered full
citizens and so lacked the same rights as
men. They were forced to follow a different
code of conduct.
Despite such inequities and restrictions, the
foundations laid in the Fifth Century B.C.
provided a framework for the founders of the
United States and other world democracieswhen they sought to establish a free
democratic government.Sophocles was not
only a respected writer, but also a member of
the government in Athens. Democracy was
practiced differently in Ancient Greece than it
is in the modern United States. Full
citizenship, which included the right to vote,
was only given to free men; women and
slaves were not considered full citizens and
so lacked the same rights as men…
Playwrights and Drama
The Amphitheatre
Among many
creations, the
Greeks created the
amphitheatre.
Hundreds of people
could be seated in
the theatre. The
sounds echoed
upwards, so that an
actor could literally
whisper onstage and
be heard from
hundreds of feet
away.
Amphi - around
Theo - gods
The writers of the Fifth Century B.C. established
the traditions of both tragedy and comedy.
The first three plays at the Great Dionysia
festival were tragedies, followed by the satyr
play, which poked fun at the characters and
situations of the earlier tragedies; "satyr"
served as the forerunner to the modern
dramatic convention of satire, which uses
humor to criticize or mock. The satyr plays
were then followed by a comedy by another
playwright, as the competition for comedic
plays was separate from the competition for
tragedies. There were strict rules for tragedy
in the Great Dionysia, and the plays were
viewed as valued cultural.