Antigone and Greek Drama Notes

Greek Drama Greek drama grew out of rituals honoring Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and fertility. Thespis (thespians) transformed hymns sung to gods into songs that told the story of a famous hero.

Types of Greek Plays Tragedies were serious treatments of religious and mythic questions. Satyr plays (named for wood demons) were comic and even unruly treatments of the same themes.

The Theater The theater was shaped like a semi-circular football stadium that could seat 40,000 people. Actors amplified their voices through special mouthpieces provided in their masks.

Greek Theater (cont.) Actors were all men, choruses were well-trained boys. By switching masks, actors could play several roles. No scene changes, no complicated plots; the actions of the plays usually took place in one day, in one place, focusing on one event. Violent action took place off stage; messengers told the audience what happened.

Sophocles Sophocles is generally considered the best of the ancient Greek playwrights. Born in 496 BC, lived to be 90 years old Wrote over 100 plays, only 7 remain today His plays always contain a moral lesson, usually a caution against pride and religious indifference.

Sophocles’ Innovations Sophocles added a third actor to the original two. He introduced painted sets. He expanded the size of the chorus to fifteen.

Sophocles’ “Theban” Plays His most famous plays are the “Theban” trilogy. These three plays tell the story of Oedipus of Thebes and his family. It took him 40 years to write them. Oedipus the King (written second) Oedipus at Colonus (written third) Antigone (written first)

Antigone Background Since Greek audiences knew the story, suspense came from their knowledge of things the characters did not know: dramatic irony. The audience pitied these characters and wanted to see how they would be portrayed.

Theme of Antigone The conflict in Antigone—individual conscience at odds with established authority—is eternally relevant. When we know that those in power are morally wrong, do we break their laws, or do we collaborate with them by obeying?

Tragedy According to Aristotle, the function of a tragedy is to arouse pity and fear in the audience so that we may be cleansed of these unsettling emotions. This idea is known as catharsis, a pleasurable sense of emotional release.

More Tragedy A tragedy is a work of literature, especially a play, that results in a catastrophe for the main character through some character flaw, error in judgment, or fate Greek Tragedy – usually centered on the suffering of a major character and ends in disaster

Tragic Hero This character is not completely good or bad. His/her misfortune is brought about by some error or frailty, which is the tragic flaw (Hamartia). The flaw is often hubris: arrogance caused by excessive pride.

Tragic Hero (cont.) The hero’s fall must be from a tremendous height. Because of the tragic flaw, the hero is responsible on some level for his or her downfall.

Tragic Hero (cont.) The hero comes to recognize his error and accept the consequences. He is not angry; he is humbled and enlightened.

Tragic Hero (cont.) The audience, though, feels that the hero’s punishment exceeds his crime. We see that the hero is flawed like us, and fear for ourselves because he failed.

Greek Theater Format Plays opened with a Prologue that presented the background to situate the conflict. The chorus sang a parodos, or opening song. The chorus’s song, an ode, divided scenes and served the same purpose as a curtain does.

The Chorus During the odes, a leader, called the choragos, might exchange thoughts with the group in a dialogue. During that recital, the group would move left to right, singing the strophe.

The Chorus (cont.) The chorus would move the opposite direction during the antistrophe. At the end, there was a paean (song of thanks to Dionysos) and an exodos (final exiting scene). Their purpose was to summarize the action, provide background information or praise the Gods

Classical Greek myths and themes A true hero is willing to sacrifice anything for his/her country, including family & personal desires. The causes of war don’t always justify the tremendous suffering produced by it. Individual conscience & divine law are more important than civil law.

Greek themes – cont. Tragedy is almost always the result of pride, stubbornness & anger. The young are “rash and deaf to warnings to be moderate.” Disaster usually follows when humans attempt to be more than they are, god-like