Greek tragedy originated from songs dedicated to Dionysus involving intoxication and human sacrifice. The first permanent theater was built in Athens to honor Dionysus. Thespis is considered the first playwright who added spoken parts to the choral performances around 538 BCE. Tragedies dealt with mythological themes and were performed annually in Athens as part of religious festivals involving intense emotions and catharsis for the audience. The three great tragic playwrights were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides who innovated the genre in the 5th century BCE in Athens.
Greek tragedy originated from songs dedicated to Dionysus involving intoxication and human sacrifice. The first permanent theater was built in Athens to honor Dionysus. Thespis is considered the first playwright who added spoken parts to the choral performances around 538 BCE. Tragedies dealt with mythological themes and were performed annually in Athens as part of religious festivals involving intense emotions and catharsis for the audience. The three great tragic playwrights were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides who innovated the genre in the 5th century BCE in Athens.
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Some Pointers in Tragedy according to the Ancient Greeks. You may edit or change to your liking.
Greek tragedy originated from songs dedicated to Dionysus involving intoxication and human sacrifice. The first permanent theater was built in Athens to honor Dionysus. Thespis is considered the first playwright who added spoken parts to the choral performances around 538 BCE. Tragedies dealt with mythological themes and were performed annually in Athens as part of religious festivals involving intense emotions and catharsis for the audience. The three great tragic playwrights were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides who innovated the genre in the 5th century BCE in Athens.
Greek tragedy originated from songs dedicated to Dionysus involving intoxication and human sacrifice. The first permanent theater was built in Athens to honor Dionysus. Thespis is considered the first playwright who added spoken parts to the choral performances around 538 BCE. Tragedies dealt with mythological themes and were performed annually in Athens as part of religious festivals involving intense emotions and catharsis for the audience. The three great tragic playwrights were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides who innovated the genre in the 5th century BCE in Athens.
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Origin of Greek Tragedy
From dithyramb, a choral song dedicated to Dionysus.
A dithyramb is a hymn that was sung and danced for the god of wine and fertility. Worship of Dionysus was achieved through intoxication, sexual orgy and sacrificial
offerings sometimes human
The Greeks created the first permanent theatre structure called Theatre of Dionysus
in honor the fertility god;
It is located in Athens.
Arion of Methymna (7th Century BCE) was the first to write a choral song, practice it with a chorus, and perform it
Lasus of Hermione was the first to do it at Athens. It is connected with the worship of Dionysus in Athens
Theater was first officially recognized in 534 BCE when the Athenian Government began to subsidize drama.
Some of the first accounts of Greek Drama are documented by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his book Poetics.
Thespis of Corinth
The first travelling actor
Active c. 538-28 BCE Added prologue and speech to choral performance Said to have invented the mask
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Uncertain whether he was a playwright, an actor, or a priest
thespian term comes from his name
What is theatre?
Defined theater
Art of acting a part on stage
Dramatic impersonation of another character than yourself
Aristotle's definition of Tragedy
Aristotle defines tragedy as the imitation of an action which is serious, complete, of a certain magnitude, couched in poetic language. It should be dramatic, with incidents arousing pity and fear, which bring about a purgation of these emotions. Define Pity. Pity is aroused in the audience for the character(s), and we fear lest the same misfortune happen to us purgation/catharsis is a cleansing; a release of emotions According to Aristotle, comedy portrays men as worse than they are and tragedy as better than in actual life. He also notes that Sophocles drew men as they ought to be. Who performed tragedy? Corinth: c. 600 BCE (Arion) Sicyon: c. 550 BCE Cleisthenes (not the Athenian) Epigenes Athens: c. 510 BCE only Athenian dramas left school of Hellas Where and When performed? City of Dionysia at Athensaka Greater Dionysia Time. End of March Rural Dionysia Different demes had performances off-Broadway Time. Various dates in December
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The Lenaea Less prestigious Sometime in late January/early February Almost every Greek city had a theater Theaters could be very small or huge Each theater had specific parts usually in the center of the city
Three Tragedy Playwrights
All active in the 5th Century BCE
All won first place in multiple competitions
Only Athenian plays survive Aeschylus. b. 525 BCE d. 456 BCE (Sicily) Fought at Marathon Aeschylus, Euphorion's son of Athens, lies under this stone dead in Gela among the white wheatlands; a man at need good in fight -- witness the hallowed field of Marathon, witness the long-haired Mede. First tragedy: 499 BCE First prize: 484 BCE (13 overall) Introduced the second actor Wrote over 70 plays (seven survive) Always revered Main interest is in situation and event rather than character Pericles directed the chorus for Persians Both sons were very successful playwrights Oresteia, Seven Against Thebes Plays are deeply patriotic and religious Sophocles. b. 496 BCE d. 406 BCE Served as a general with Pericles (441 BCE) Very active in city politics (413 BCE) First tragedy: 468 BCE First prize : 468 BCE Won 18 first prizes Never finished third Introduced the third actor Wrote over 120 plays (seven survive) The most successful of the Big Three Challenged conventional mores Introduced more dialogue between characters (less Chorus) Wrote Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, and Electra. Euripides No innovations on the stage Wrote ninety plays (19 survive) Sophocles: I present men as they ought to be, Euripides presents men as they are. More realistic than the other two
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Wrote Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Bacchae, and Oreste.
The Staging of Tragedy
The audience knew every number by heart Most tragedies dealt with mythological themes Performers wore high heels, loud costumes and heavy make-up They wore elaborate clothes, tall boots, and masks They relied on background singers, known as the Chorus especially after the introduction of the third actor Actors Maximum of three actors All roles played by men Same group of actors for each set of plays for each author Playwrights did not act in their own plays after Sophocles Chorus publicly funded A choregos would pay for and train the chorus Viewed as a civic duty Could be prosecuted for failing to do it; wealthy enough Choregos got a monument if his chorus won Costumes. Actor wore: Mask The most salient feature All parts by men, so mask depicted gender Acted as a megaphone Voice inflection paramount Multiple Masks = Multiple Characters Only three actors More than three speaking roles, need for costume and mask change Robes Platform boots (kothornoi) Chorus could be in costume (comedy) Audience Any male could attend Women most likely able to attend State-funded attendance Cost was the average daily wage of a laborer Theoric Fund Never suspended, even when Athens in dire straights Government supplied public tickets CATHARSIS learning through suffering Moderation is to be sought in all things, even good things The mighty fall so far that we admire them for being so high
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A spiritual cleansing of the audience
Performances are emotional
Tragic Hero Characteristics of a tragic hero: Undergoes a morally significant struggle that ends disastrously. Essentially a superior person who is treated sympathetically (we like him in spite of what the hero might do) His destiny or choice is to go down fighting rather than submit and thus pluck a moral victory from a physical defeat. Not all good or all bad (very human) Has a high, respected position to Ignominy or unhappiness or death. Tragic Flaw: Hamartia Some defect in the tragic character that helps cause his own ruin. For the Greeks this flaw is hubris (excessive pride). The flaw may seem to be jealousy, anger, ambition, etc., but it will always be because the character thinks himself too superior in some way. Because of this hubris, whatever happens to the tragic hero is not all undeserved. Classic Moments in the Tragic Plot Reversal of situation (peripety) good begins to slide or go bad Recognition (a.k.a. epiphany) discovery of the critical fact the hero realizes his own flaw has brought him to this low point. Scene of suffering destructive or painful action such as a death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, etc. (the suffering and final submission of the hero) Greek Theatre. Two main types of drama: tragedy and comedy. Theatrical events were performed annually at the festival of Dionysus, which lasted 5 or 6 days: the Dionysus; going to the theater was to take part in a religious ritual. Competition among writers: each author submitted 4 plays (tetralogy) to be performed in one day (3 tragedies trilogy and a satyr play) Plots were religious and drawn from mythology (dealt with the relationship between humans and the divine). Audiences were familiar with the stories; knowing the story allowed for dramatic irony (situations or speeches that have one meaning to the plays characters but another for the audience, who knows more than the character about a given situation) Theater and Equipment Open air theater - the theater of Dionysus in Athens had more than 17,000 seats Theatron the seats for the audience were arranged like a horseshoe in rising tiers Orchestra circular area at ground level Thymele an altar in the center of the orchestra to Dionysus on which sacrifices were made Skene the scene building on the side of the orchestra that had a backdrop with doors for entrances and exits Proscenium the level area in front of the skene for action of the play Technical equipment: Eccyclema wheeled platform rolled out of the skene to reveal action that had taken place indoors (very violent scenes) The machine mechanical contrivance to lower gods to the proscenium from the top of the skene
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Devices to imitate lightening and thunder
Painted scenery
Greek Amphitheatre. Two Major Performance Areas
The Orchestra or Dancing Circle served as the primary acting area The Skene (scene building)- consisted of a building behind the orchestra probably used as a dressing room, later to be integrated into the stage action by an innovative playwright. Equipment: Deus ex Machina God From the Machine The Machina- a crane that was used to represent characters who were flying or lifted off of the earth. Dramatic Unities Time 24 hours for the action of the play. Place no change of scenery Action no subplot (an action which happens elsewhere is told by another character) Structure of Tragedy
Prologue introductory section that gives the background (usually expository rather
than dramatic)
Parados entrance of chorus; chorus chants more background to the story
Episodes and Stasimon action begins with the first episode (usually 5 episodes)
followed by a parados (chorus); the choral odes are called stasima
Exodus the final action of the play; two features: messenger speech and the deus ex
machina, in which the deity is brought in to intervene in the action
Chorus there is always a chorus in Greek tragedy; fulfills several functions:
Members sang, danced and played instruments Ideal audience responding to the action as the poet intended Modulated the atmosphere and tone (representative of typical Athenian citizens
