Greek Theater

The origins of drama

 The earliest origins of drama are ancient hymns,
called dithyrambs. These were sung in honor of
the god Dionysus. These hymns were later adapted
for choral processions in which participants would
dress up in costumes and masks.
 Word Origin
 The modern word
“drama” comes form
the Greek word dran
meaning "to do"
 Definition
 Dithyrambs: a poem,
chant, or hymn of
ancient Greece sung by
revelers at the festival
in honor of the god
Dionysus
 Greek Theater
 Greek tragedies and comedies were always
performed in outdoor theaters.
 Early Greek theaters were probably little more than
open areas in city centers or next to hillsides where
the audience, standing or sitting, could watch and
listen to the chorus singing about the exploits of a
god or hero.
 From the late 6th century BC to the 4th and 3rd
centuries BC there was a gradual evolution towards
more elaborate theater structures, but the basic layout
of the Greek theater remained the same
 Par ts of the Theater
 Orchestra: (literally, "dancinngg space") A
circular
anndd level sppace where the choruuss would
dance, sing, anndd interact with the actors who were
oon the stage nnear the skene.

 Theatron: (literally, "viewinngg-place") Thhiis is

where the spectators sat. Thhe thheeatroonn was
usuually part oof hhillsiddee overlooooking the
oorrchestra.
 Parts cont.
 Skene: (literally, "tent") The skene was directly in
back of the stage, and was usually decorated as a
palace, temple, or other building, depending on the
needs of the play. It had at least one set of doors, and
actors could make entrances and exits through them.
 Parodos: (literally, "passageways") The paths by
which the chorus and some actors made their
entrances and exits. The audience also used them to
enter and exit the theater before and after the
performance.
Theatre
of
Dionysus

 The first plays were performed in the Theatre of

Dionysus, built in the shadow of the Acropolis in
Athens at the beginning of the 5th century,
 These theatres proved to be so popular they soon
spread all over Greece.
 Word Origin
 The modern word
“theater” comes from
the Greek word
theatron meaning
"seeing place"
 Why Dionysu s?
 In Greek Mythology
Dionysus was the son
of Zeus. He is the only
god born of one god
and one mortal parent.

 He was the god of

wine, fertility and
revelry.
 Dionysis cont.
 He was raised by satyrs, killed, dismembered, and
resurrected (was actually reborn).
 Other gods had temples, the cult of Dionysis met
in the wood.
 It was believed that he could liberate and inspire
man. It was also believed that he could endow
man with divine creativity. Dionysus, thus, came
to be considered a patron of the arts
 The “City Dionysia”
 In thhee sixth century BC, thhe Athennian
ruler, Pisistratus, estabbllishhed the 'City
Dioonysia', a festival of entertainment held
in hhonor of the ggod Dionnysus.
 This festival featured coommpetitionnss in
music, singingg,, dannce and poetry.
 The most remarkable of all the winners was
said to be a wandering bard named Thespis.
 Word origin
Does the name Thespis remind you of anything?
Can you guess which modern word goes back to
this early actor’s name?

thespian:
1. Of or relating to drama; dramatic: thespian
talents. 2. Thespian Of or relating to Thespis
 Four Qualitiesof Greek Drama:
1.Performed for special occasions (festivals). Athens had four
festivals worshipping Dionysus.

2.Competitive--prizes were awarded. Actors and playwrights

competed (Oedipus won 2nd place)

3.Choral – There was singing; the chorus was made up of

men (from 3 to 50). The chorus sang, moved, and danced.
They moved the story along.

4.The stories were based on myth or history

 Essential pieces of Greek drama
 The play
 The actors
 The chorus
 The Play: Types of Greek Drama
 Comedy
 Tragedy
 Satyr Plays

Comedy and tragedy were the most popular types of

plays in ancient Greece. Hence, the modern
popularity of the comedy and tragedy masks to
symbolize theater.
 Comedy
 not admitted to Dionysus festival till 487-486 B.C.
– late
 The first comedies were mainly satirical and
mocked men in power for their vanity and
foolishness.
 The first master of comedy was the playwright
Aristophanes.
 exaggerated, farcical, sensual pleasures
 Structureof theComedy:
 Prologguue — leading character conceives
a "happy iddea"
 Parados: entrance of the choorrus
 Agon: dramatized debbate between
prooponent anndd ooppponnent of the
"happy idea"
 Comedy cont.
 Parabasis: chorus
addresses audience on
poet’s views on topic
 Episodes: "Happy
idea" is put to practical
application
 The Greek tragedy
 Late point of attack
 Violence and death offstage
 Frequent use of messengers to relate information
 Usually continuous time of action
 Usually single place
 Stories based on myth or history, but varied
interpretations of events
 Focus is on psychological and ethical attributes
of characters, rather than physical and
sociological.
 Tragedy cont.
 Tragedy dealt with love, loss, pride, the abuse of
power and the fraught relationships between men
and gods.
 Typically the main protagonist of a tragedy commits
some terrible crime without realizing how foolish
and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly
realizes his error, the world crumbles around him.
 The three great playwrights of tragedy were
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
 Word Origin
 The word tragedy came
to be derived from the
Greek tragoos (goat)
and ode (poem).
Tragedy
literally means goat
song or goat poem.
 The Structure of Greek Tragedy
 Prologue, which described the situation and set the
scene
 Parados, an ode sung by the chorus as it made its
entrance
 Five dramatic scenes, each followed by a Komos, an
exchange of laments by the chorus and the protagonist
 Exodus, the climax and conclusion
 Tragedies were often presented in trilogies. Interspersed
between the three plays in the trilogy were satyr plays, in
which satyrs (men dressed as half-goats) made fun of the
characters in the surrounding tragedies.
 Tragic flaw
 a flaw or mistake that brings abbout the downfall
oof the hheero of a tragedy
 The Greek term "harmartia,,"" typically translated as
"tragic flaw,,"" actually is clooser in meaning to a
"mistake" or an "error,," "failing,," rather thhaan an
innate flaw.
 The character's flaw must resuullt from
soommething that is also a central part of their
vviirtuue, which goes somewhat arwry, usually
duuee to a lack of kknowledge.
 Satyr Plays
 These were short plays
performed between the acts
of tragedies. They made
fun of the plight of the
tragedy's characters.
 The satyrs were mythical
half- human, half-goat
servants of Dionysus.
 Word Origin

 Does the term Satyr

remind you of any
modern day term?

The Satyr and the Satyr

plays spawned the
modern word satire.
 The Actors
 All of the actors and
playwrights were men.
Women were not allowed to
participate.
 The actors played multiple
roles, so a mask was used to
show the change in character
or mood.
 Gestures and body
movements were controlled
and stately
 If playing female role —
need for female appearance
— wore the prosternida before
the chest and the progastrida
before the belly
 The Chorus
Functions of the chorus
an agent: gives advice, asks, takes part
establishes ethical framework, sets up standard by
which action will be judged
ideal spectator - reacts as playwright hopes audience
would
sets mood and heightens dramatic effects
adds movement, spectacle, song, and dance
rhythmical function - pauses / paces the action so
that the audience can reflect.
Sophocles
 Sophocles: (496-406 B.C.) The
son of a wealthy merchant, he
would enjoy all the comforts of
a thriving Greek empire.
 By the age of sixteen, he was
chosen to lead a choir of boys at
a celebration of the victory of
Salamis.
 By age 28 his studies
complete, and he was ready to
compete
the in
City Dionysia--a festival
held every year at the Theatre of
Dionysus in which new plays
were presented.
 Sophocles cont.
 won 24 contests, never lower than 2nd
 Added a third actor and scenery
 Concerned with the relationship between gods and human
fate
 Concerned with tragic irony, the contrast between human
fate and human ignorance
 Concerned with the importance of free will/moral choice
 Struggle even if struggle is hopeless; each character
embodies a certain moral ideal
 Portrays humans as they OUGHT to be
 Believed evil/moral failings stemmed from ignorance
 Characteristics of Sophocles' plays:

 complex characters, psychologically well-

motivated
 emphasis on individual characters
 characters subjected to crisis leading to suffering
and self recognition - including a higher law above
man
 exposition carefully motivated
 scenes suspense fully climactic
 action clear and logical
 poetry clear and beautiful
 few elaborate visual effects
 theme emphasized: the choices of people
 We will be looking at:
Oedipus:
The story of Oedipus was well known legend to Sophocles’
audience.
Aristotle used this play and its plot as the supreme example of
tragedy
Sigmund Freud famously based his theory of the “Oedipal
Complex” on this story
Antigone:
Antigone was probably the first of the three Theban plays that
Sophocles wrote, although the events dramatized in it happen last.
Antigone is one of the first heroines in literature, a woman who
fights against a male power structure, exhibiting greater bravery
than any of the men who scorn her.
 The Final Curtain
 By the time of Sophocles' death in 406 BC (128
years after Thespis' victory in the first Athenian
drama competition) the golden era of Greek drama
was ending.
 Athens, whose free-thinking culture had spawned
the birth of theater, would be overrun in 404 BC by
the Spartans, and would later be torn apart by
constant warring with other city states, eventually
falling under the dominion of Alexander the Great
and his Macedonian armies.
 Theater continued, but it would not return to the
same creative heights until Elizabethan England two
millenia later.