Term

Agon
Anagnorisis
Catharsis
Characterisation
Choregos
Chorus
City Dionysia
Dramatic Irony
Ekkyklema
Exodos
Harmatia
Hubris
Mekhane
Myth Cycle
Orchestra
Parodos
Parodos
Peripeteia
Prologue
Stasimon
Stichomythia

Strophe &
Antistrophe
Theme
Tragedy
Tragedy
Tragic Hero

Definition
A formal contest or debate in which the chorus or a main
character chooses between two parties. Could involve
presenting a case.
The moment in a play when a character makes a critical
discovery (Greek- : recognition).
The purging of emotion. Provides relief from strong/repressed
emotions.
The act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential
features of a character.
Monetary provider for the City Dionysia. Chose the chorusprovided food, costume, accomodation etc.
15 men who acted as a bridge between the actors and the
audience. Performed odes, and represented the citizens.
5 day festival held in March to honour Dionysus through
drama and revelry.
A literary technique by which the full significance of a
characters words or actions are clear to the audience but not
the character.
Wheeled trolley/turning dias used to reveal dead bodies to
the audience.
The final scene. Normally the protagonist is left alone to
lament on their mistakes. Generally ended by the chorus.
A fatal flaw. A mistake made by a character (the tragic hero)
that caused his suffering.
Destructive pride. Excessive self-confidence or pride towards
or in defience of the gods.
Crane, used to lift the actors into the air. Could be used to
illustrate the gods etc.
Well known stories regenerated over and over again by tragic
playwrights. (ie. Herakles, Argonauts, Theban Cycle, Trojan
War, House of Atreus)
The circular stage in the centre of the theatre. Housed an
altar and was where the chorus performed.
The two side entrances into the theatre.
The entry song of the chorus. The first half of the first ode.
Could vary in mood and metre. Performed after the prologue.
A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances. A
good way to spark and maintain attention.
'All that proceeds the entry of the chorus' Establishes the
opening situation and introduces the characters.
Choral ode sung by the chorus- during the Exodos. Split into
strophe and antistrophe. Means stationary song.
Dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of
verse. A stylistic device.

The stanzas of the Stasimon. During the strophe (turn), the

chorus move towards the altar, and during the antistrophe
(counter turn) they move away.
An idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or literature.
A lamentable, dreadful or fatal event or affair; calamity;
disaster
A play with death & suffering, with a sad ending
Protaganist of a tragedy. Not exceptional, but has a hamartia.
Commonly left alive at the end.