Greek Tragedy

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Greek Tragedy

• Everything you wanted to know about Greek tragedy
  but were afraid to ask. Holy crud, this is a
  loaded PowerPoint!

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What are we going to talk about?

• The Origins of Tragedy
• Which Cities Performed Tragedy
• When Tragedy was Performed
• The Parts of a Greek Theater
• The Theaters Themselves
• The Major Playwrights
• The Way a Greek Tragedy Was Staged

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The Origins of Tragedy

• Connected with the worship of Dionysus in Athens
• Only Athenian dramas survive

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The Origins of Tragedy

• 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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Where Was Tragedy Performed?

• Almost every Greek city had a theater
• Theaters very small or huge
• Usually in the center of the city

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The Parts of a Theater

• The Orchestra (dont write)
• The acting area
• semi-circular
• Had a small altar to Dionysus in the center
• Where the Chorus danced and the actors spoke

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The Parts of a Theater
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The Theaters

• Theater of Dionysos
• Athens
• Main theater for tragedy
• 4th century remains
• 20,000 seats

• Located on side of Acropolis

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Theater of Dionysos

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Theater of Dionysos

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The Theaters

• Theater of Epidauros
• The best-preserved
• Largest surviving theater
• Still in use today

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Theater of Epidauros

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Theater of Epidauros

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The Theaters

• Theater of Pergamon
• In Asia Minor (Turkey)
• Extremely steep seating
• Fit to the terrain
• Pergamon one of the most wealthy Asian cities

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Theater of Pergamon

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Oh crud, are all of these on the test!?!?

• NOPE!

• ? theaters were popular and in many places

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The Playwrights

• Three major tragedians
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides
• All active in the 5th century
• All won first place in multiple competitions
• Only Athenian plays survive

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Sophocles

• b. 496 d. 406
• Very active in city politics (413)
• First tragedy 468
• First first prize 468
• Won 18 first prizes
• Never finished third
• ? One of the greatest

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Sophocles

• Introduced the third actor
• Wrote over 120 plays (seven survive)
• The most successful of the Big Three
• Introduced more dialogue between characters (less
  Chorus)
• Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone,
  Electra

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The Staging of Tragedy

• Classical theater resembled todays rock
  concerts the audience knew every number by
  heart, performers wore high heels, loud costumes
  and heavy make-up, and they relied on background
  singers, known as the Chorus.
• -Howard Tomb

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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

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The Staging of Tragedy - Actors

• Maximum of three actors
• All roles played by men

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The Staging of Tragedy - Actors

• Chorus publicly funded
• Viewed as a civic duty
• Choregos got a monument if his chorus won

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The Staging of Tragedy - Costumes

• Actor wore
• Mask
• Robes
• Platform boots (kothornoi)
• Chorus could be in costume (comedy)

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The Staging of Tragedy - Masks

• The most important feature
• All parts by men, so mask depicted gender
• Acted as a megaphone
• Voice inflection paramount

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The Staging of Tragedy - Masks

• Multiple Masks Multiple Characters
• Only three actors
• More than three speaking roles, need for costume
  and mask change

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The 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
• Supplied public tickets
• Must-see TV

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The Audience

• 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
• A spiritual cleansing of the audience
• Performances emotional

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Oedipus the King aka Oedipus Rex

• in media res in the middle of things

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Oedipus Rex

• Legend
• Oedipus ? Thebes
• Thebes oppressed by sphinx
• Riddle What walks on four legs in the morning,
  on two at noon, and three in the evening?

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Oedipus Rex

• Answer Man (humans)
• Who can answer ?
• 1) throne
• 2) marries widowed queen Jocasta
• Fail? Thrown to your death!

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This is so unfair.
Nope. Wrong! Next?
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• Oedipus solves riddle (YAY!)
• Hero
• Marries Jocasta
• Has four kids with her
• Many years later (maybe 15 or 20 yrs)
• (Longest PowerPoint ever...)