Transcript Ancient Greek Drama

Ancient
Greek
Drama
• Originated in Athens, Greece
and reached it’s peak in the
fifth century B.C.
• Grew from ancient religious
rituals.
Greek Mythology
•Zeus
•Apollo
•Dionysus
–
Dionysus
• Son of Zeus
& a mortal
woman
• Mother was killed while
pregnant by Zeus‘s lightning
bolt
• Underwent resurrection – 2nd
birth from Zeus’s thigh
Dionysus
God of wine and fertility in nature
God of common people
Thought to liberate worshippers
from personal trouble
Dionysus was a suffering god
• Ceremonies were
not compatible w/
Greek tradition
• Rapid movements of
hands & body
• Hysterical screaming
• Cycle of lamenting
and rejoicing
Dionysus’s teachings went against
Apollo’s teachings of restraint.
Apollo’s follows believed in
“Nothing too much” and
“Know thyself”
• Often the worship of
Dionysus was forbidden
• More women worshippers
than men
A Suffering God
• Dionysus was believed to have undergone
death and resurrection
• Religious ceremony mirrored this
• Lamenting mirrored god’s death
• Rejoicing with wild dancing and
singing mirrored god’s resurrection
• Often involved animal sacrifices
• Service served
as a social
safety valve
• After service
worshippers
left with peace
of mind
• Was a type of
catharsis
Dithyrambs
• Choral lyric poems in honor of
Dionysus
• Sung while dancing around
altar
• Performed by 50 men dressed
in goat skins (sacred animals of
the gods)
Dithyrambs
–Later evolved into what
we see as chorus
–Goats later awarded as
prizes in tragedy festivals
Dithyrambs
• Tragedy = goat song
(tragoidia)
• Men represented
satyrs (Dionysus’s
companions
Dithyrambs evolved
• Became poetic in form
• Included stories of gods
and heroes
• Arion (writer) was the
to
write dithyramb as literature in
poetic form
st
1
Choragos
• The leader of the chorus
filled in the intervals between
portions of lyric poems with
stories of Dionysus
Peisistratus
• Ruler of Athens
th
• 6 Century B.C.
• Gave official recognition to
tragedy
• Festival instituted
Thespis
Introduced first actor
Hypokrites - answerer
Performed between dances of the
chorus
Would take several roles – change
costumes many times - wore mask
Conversed w/ leader of chorus
Thespis
• The “Father of Drama” was born in Attica,
and was the first prize winner at the Great
Dionysia in 534 BC.
• He was an important innovator for the
theatre, since he introduced such things as
the independent actor, as opposed to the
choir, as well as masks, make up and
costumes.
Aeschylus added the second
actor
• With this addition,
drama was born
• Possibility of
conflict
• Chorus was reduced
to 12
Sophocles
• Added 3rd actor
• Stabilized chorus at 15
• Introduced painted sets
Sophocles
• Prominent citizen of Athens
• Generally considered the greatest of
ancient Greek playwrights
• Known for musical, poetic, and dramatic
talents
• General, political leader,
priest
Socrates taught
• That man possessed a certain
freedom of will and action;
and a person could live out his
life with dignity, bringing upon
himself no more than his
allotted share of grief.
• Every person’s fate held in
store a personal allotment of
unavoidable misery.
• Misery in itself was not tragic
but was to be expected.
Career spanned 62 years
• At age of 17, was leader of the chorus
• At age of 28, won prize and defeated leading
playwright of the day
• Wrote 120+ plays
• Won 1st place 24 times for 72 plays
• Never won less that 2nd prize (7 times)
• Names of nearly 100 plays known today
• Seven complete plays survive today
Contributions
•
•
•
•
•
Added the third actor
Fixed the number of chorus members to 15
Introduced painted scenery
Made each play of trilogy separate in nature
Wrote Oedipus (430 B.C.), Oedipus at Colonus
(405 B.C.) and Antigone (440 B.C.)
• Plays always contain a moral lesson – usually a
caution against pride
Production of the plays
Tragedy as an art form
• Reached its height in 5th century B.C.
• Tragedies presented at Tragedy Festivals
• Originally presented in honor of god Dionysus
• Most important of 3
annual festivals
• Plays produced by state
• 5 days in March/April
Dionysia Festival
Festival Structure
• DAY 1
• Grand procession w/ statue of
Dionysus carried to the theatre –
sacred parade
• A herald would announce the
competing plays
• DAYS 2 & 3 - 5 Dithyrambs – Men
& 5 Dithyrambs – Boys
Festival Schedule
DAYS 4 - 6 Drama contest
Each playwright presented three
tragedies - & 1 satyr play
(ridicule gods or heroes)
Later a comedy also presented
Only 3 playwrights participated
Actors were chosen by state earlier
in the year
Public businesses suspended
Prisoners released on bail
14,000 spectators
Attendance mandatory – religious
obligation
Citizens often required to
participate in productions
Spectators
• Men and women were segregated
• Originally free
• When trouble over seats – fee
charged
• State provided fund for those who
couldn’t pay.
Playwright’s Responsibilities
Wrote plays
Composed music
Directed
Supervised rehearsals
Acted
Assigned actors, chorus,
musicians, etc.
Costs paid by wealthy
citizens (honor)
Was considered a public
service
Required as a special tax
on wealthy
Shared praise
Prizes
Wreaths,
Crowns of
ivy
Bull,
Goat
Name carved
in marble
judges
• 10 – 20 judges were
chosen by government
• Elaborate precautions
to prevent corruption
Thespis
• Winner
of the
first
contest
Other winners
•Aeschylus
•Sophocles
•Euripides
Theater
Actors and Acting
Hypocrites (answerer)
• Never more than
three actors in a
performance
•All male performers
Costumes and
Masks
• Long flowing robes
• Colored
symbolically
• Often padded to
add stature
• High boots with
raised soles
• Props carried to
identify roles
Larger Than Life Masks
• Made of linen,
wood, cork
• Made with human or
animal hair
• Exaggerated
features – large
eyes and open
mouth
Masks continued
• Used to inspire audience (larger than
mortals)
• Hid actor’s face from gods as they
impersonated them
• Acted as megaphone to amplify voices
• Identified age, gender and rank of
character
• Called a “persona”
• Choir masks much simpler
Gives
advice
Identifies
themes
Ideal
Spectator
Passage of time
or transition
between scenes
Chorus
Entertains
Points out
significance
of events
Introduces &
questions new
characters
Gives
background
information
Conventions of Tragedy
• Unities of time, place, action
• Techniques of stichomythia, strophe,
antistrophe, epode, and in media res
• Messenger who tells happenings
offstage and reports acts of violence
(never allowed on stage
Conventions continued
• No violence on stage
• The action always takes place outdoors
• There were limitations of the theater
–No intermission
–No lighting, no curtain
–Myths were already known to
audience – playwright had to rely on
dramatic irony
Structure of tragedy
• Prologue
• Parados
• Episodes
• Stasimon
• Paean
• Exodus
Prologue
•Opening scene
•Background of story is
established
•Single actor
Episodes
Counterparts of Acts
4 – 8 in a tragedy
(known as scenes in our translation)
Stasimon
•Choral ode at the end of each episode
•Originally a poem written to be sung
•Serves to separate the scenes since no
curtains were present: provides the
chorus’ response to the preceding
scene
Paean
• A choral hymn in praise of a
god
• In Antigone praise to Dionysus,
in whose honor the Greeks
presented their plays
Exodus
Exit of Chorus and Actors
Definition of Tragedy
• Defined by Aristotle in 335 BC in Poetics
• Told to arouse emotions of pity and fear in audience
– Pity because the tragic hero is not an evil man –
punishment is too great
– Fear because of the possibility of error in ourselves
• Produces catharsis in audience (new understanding of
gods and man)
• Produces catharsis in audience – come away with new
understanding of gods and man
• Tells story of downfall (catastrophe) of tragic hero
• Order is restored in the end of the play
Tragic Hero
•
•
•
•
•
Noble
Powerful & respected
Tempts fate
Has a tragic flaw in personality (usually pride)
Brings extraordinary amounts of sorrow and
suffering on himself
• Undergoes a reversal of fortune
• Has a moment of self awareness
• Dies or wishes to be dead in the end of the
play
Basic Concepts of Greek Culture
• Believed every person’s life ruled by
predetermined fate – a natural force set in
motion by the gods and one that could not be
altered
• Believed every person’s fate held in store a
personal allotment of unavoidable misery
• Believed man possessed a certain freedom of will
and action and could live out his life with dignity,
bringing upon himself no more than his allotted
share of grief
Basic concepts of Greek Culture
continued
• Believed man was inferior to the gods
because he was mortal and fallible
• Believed man was to be punished if he
defied the gods