Introduction%20to%20Greek%20Drama

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Introduction to Greek Drama

• Socio-Political Background
• Impact of Religious Ideas
• Origins of Greek Drama
• Stage Conventions

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Socio-Political Background

• Athens, Greece, fifth century B.C.E.
• Focus on art literature
• Architecture, sculpture, and pottery
• DRAMA was born
• Democracy of elected officials
• Women slaves excluded

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ATHENS
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Religious Ideas

• Polytheistic belief system
• Strong belief in Fate (pre-ordained events)
• Consulted oracles and soothsayers
• Obeyed omens and dreams
• Pride and excess were sins punished by gods
• Respect in death shown through burial

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• DIONYSUS
• God of Wine Agriculture
• Patron god of Greek Theater
• Zeus son
• Associated with revelry and excess

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Origins of Greek Drama

• Drama started as part of religious festivals
• They believed that Dionysus was pleased by
  theatrical performances in his honor
• The performances developed in complexity
• Plays often taught moral lesson

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Early THEATERs

• First theater built on slopes of the Acropolis,
  which was the center of worship in Athens.
• Audience sat in the open air on benches,
  surrounding the stage on three sides.
• Because it was religious, the performance was
  dignified and serious.

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Example of theater
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Early Theater
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Stage Conventions

• Use of dramatic irony (audience knows more than
  characters on stage)
• Acted in daytime, no lights, no curtains, few
  seats
• Actors all male, who wore masks wigs to play
  different characters, both male female
• Plays written in poetic verse, not prose
• No violence on stagemessengers told audience of
  deaths/killings

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Stage Conventions (Cont.)

• Three unities used to increase intensity
• Unity of TIME
• Took place during 24 hour period
• Unity of PLACE
• Took place in one setting
• Unity of PLOT
• Focus on main character no sub-plots
• Use of a chorus

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Greek Chorus

• 15-20 men representing citizens of Athens
• Always on stage
• Frequently sang and danced
• Always had a leader who carried on in dialogue
  with main characters or chorus

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FUnction of CHorus

• Interpret/summarize events
• Ask questions
• Give advice, if asked
• Give background info
• Act like a jury of elders, who listened to
  evidence of play and reach moral conclusion

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PURPOSE OF MASKS

• Be visible to audience in the back
• Be audible to audience
• Opening for mouth like a megaphone
• Enable men to play women
• Allow one actor to play multiple parts
• Show the actors emotions

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Examples of Masks
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MACHINERY

• Aeorema
• A crane that lowered actors down, especially gods
  who would solve all problems at the end
• Deus ex machina god by machine gods would fix
  everything by magic
• Periactoi
• 2 pillars on either side of stage that would
  rotate to change scenery
• Ekeclema
• Rolls out a platform to display the bodies

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Types of Drama

• Comedy
• Often obscene, full of insults, vulgar
• Common people
• Dithyramb
• Songs in lyrical verse
• Like an opera
• Tragedy
• A story of disaster and destruction
• Noble people

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TRAGEDYGoat-song

• One of three types of Greek drama
• Three greatest Greek Tragedians
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripides

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Sophocles

• Athens, Greece (496?-406 B.C.E.)
• First victory at Greater Dionysia
• (principal dramatic festival) in
• 486 B.C.E.
• Never won less than 2nd prize
• Won 1st prize at least 18 times!
• Member of the Athenian senate
• Wrote 123 plays, only 7 survive
• Include Oedipus Rex and Antigone
• Frequent themes of fate versus free will

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TRAGIC HERO

• A great man with one tragic flaw which brings
  about his downfall.
• Tragic flaw is often hubris, an excess of pride,
  usually spiritual pride.
• As the hero accepts the consequences of his
  actions, he teaches the audience some truth about
  life.
• Audience purges their own anxieties through
  actions of hero, called a catharsis.
• Catharsis is Greek for cleanse