alpha

1
alpha
2
Ancient Greek Theatre
3
Where/when it all began

• The Greek theatre (AE theater) or Greek drama is
  a theatrical tradition that flourished in ancient
  Greece between c. 550 and c. 220 BC.
• Early tradition holds that drama and comedy
  evolved from the dithyramb, the songs, folk tales
  and dances offered to Dionysus, the Greek god of
  fertility and wine.

4
Who were the players of Greek theatre?

• The plays had a chorus of up to 51people, who
  performed the plays in verse accompanied by
  music. The performance space was a simple
  half-circular space, the orchestra, where the
  chorus danced and sang. The orchestra, which had
  an average diameter of 78 feet, was situated on a
  flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the
  slope of which produced a natural theatron,
  literally "watching place". Later, the term
  "theatre" came to be applied to the whole area of
  theatron, orchestra, and skené. The choragos was
  the head chorus member who could enter the story
  as a character able to interact with the
  characters of a play.

5
The physical structure of the theatre

• The theatres were originally built on a very
  large scale to accommodate the large number of
  people on stage, as well as the large number of
  people in the audience, up to fourteen thousand.

6
Without microphones, how did they hear???????

• Mathematics played a large role in the
  construction of these theatres, as their
  designers had to able to create acoustics in them
  such that the actors' voices could be heard
  throughout the theatre, including the very top
  row of seats.

7
In, Out, and Behind the scenes

• In 465 BC, the playwrights began using a backdrop
  or scenic wall, which hung or stood behind the
  orchestra, which also served as an area where
  actors could change their costumes. It was known
  as the skené, or scene.
• Greek theatres also had entrances for the actors
  and chorus members called parodoi. The parodoi
  (plural of parodos) were tall arches that opened
  onto the orchestra, through which the performers
  entered.

8
Props

• There were several prop items commonly used in
  Greek theatre
• machina, a crane that gave the impression of a
  flying actor (thus, deus ex machina).
• ekeclema, a wheeled wagon used to bring dead
  characters into view for the audience
• trap doors, or similar openings in the ground to
  lift people onto the stage
• Pinakes, pictures hung into the scene to show a
  scene's scenery
• Thyromata, more complex pictures built into the
  second-level scene (3rd level from ground)

9
Behind the mask

• The comedy and tragedy masks have their origin in
  the theatre of ancient Greece. The masks were
  used to show the emotions of the characters in a
  play, and also to allow actors to switch between
  roles and play characters of a different gender.
  The earliest plays were called Satyrs they were
  parodies of myths.

10
Antigone by Sophocles

• Antigone is the best-known daughter of Oedipus
  and Jocasta.
• However, due to the incestuous nature of their
  relationship, Antigone is also Oedipus's
  half-sister and Jocasta's granddaughter.

11
Ancient greek burial rites

• The ancient Greeks had distinct methods of
  burial, and it was often believed if you were not
  provided a proper burial along with the
  appropriate rituals, you were destined to suffer
  between worlds until your rites of passage into
  the underworld were completed.

12
Sophocles takes a few liberties

• Sophocles covered the details of her life and
  death in his Antigone and his Oedipus at Colonus.
  
• Sophocles departed from the original legend in
  the order of the events according to the
  original, the burial of Polynices took place
  while Oedipus was yet in Thebes, not after he had
  died at Colonus.

13
Essence of the play

• Antigone is a tragedy written before or in 441 BC
  by Sophocles. It is chronologically the third of
  the three Theban plays but was written first.
• The important issue in the play is the clash of
  values between Creon and Antigone. Creon
  advocates obedience to man-made laws while
  Antigone stresses the higher laws of duty to the
  gods and one's family. Creon, the dramatic hero,
  only realizes his mistake after he loses the
  lives of all his family.

14
Characters to remember

• Antigone -  The play's tragic heroine. In the
  first moments of the play, Antigone is opposed to
  her radiant sister Ismene.
• Ismene Quiet, subservient sister of Antigone
  she is willing to bend to Creons will.

15
Characters, continued

• Creon king who opposes Antigone on her decision
  to bury her brother
• Haemon -  Antigone's young fiancé and son to
  Creon. Haemon appears twice in the play. In the
  first, he is rejected by Antigone in the second,
  he begs his father for Antigone's life.

16
Characters

• The Chorus frames the play with a prologue and
  epilogue, introducing the action and characters
  under the sign of fatality.
• Polyneices and Eteocles do not appear directly in
  the play, but their actions prior to the plays
  opening figure the plays action.

17
Omega