Greek Drama: Historical Context Origins & Subject Matter

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Presentation transcript:

Greek Drama: Historical Context Origins & Subject Matter The Greek Theater Sophocles & the Tragedians Structure

Historical Context c. 1300-1200 B.C. Trojan War (10 years) c. 1000-800 B.C. Homeric Greece c. 800-500 B.C. Archaic Period (Athens vs. Sparta) c. 491-406 B.C. “The Golden Age”

Athens: 5th Century B.C. Raphael’s The school of Athens

Government/Society “Golden Age of Pericles” (461-430 B.C.) Representative democracy Women lacked voting rights Domestic slaves Courts of Law Sporting Events

Culture Poetry Drama Painting Sculpture Architecture

Science & philosophy Socrates (469-399 B.C.) Plato (427-347 B.C.) Empedocles (earth/air/fire/water) & Hippocrates (blood/phlegm/bile/black bile) Socrates (469-399 B.C.) Plato (427-347 B.C.) Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Origins of Greek Drama Dithyramb: improvisational choral poem in honor of Dionysus, god of fertility/wine/drama

Satyrs: mythological attendants of Dionysus (pointed ears, horns, goat legs) Satyr-Play: celebrates lecherous living and indecent pleasures (sex, drinking)

Thespis: Father of Greek Drama (534 B.C.) Dionysian Festivals: (Actor in addition to traditional dancers) Dionysian Festivals: Boisterous revelry  serious, philosophical Playwriting competitions 3 related tragedies + 1 satyr-play Three times per year City Dionysia (spring) (17,000 people)

Subject matter Generally based on Classical Mythology Religious/Moral Quality Dramatic Irony

The Greek Theater

Teatro Greco, Taormina, Sicily

Theater of Dionysus, Athens, Greece

Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA

eccyclema deus ex machina

Actors Males only Elaborate costumes (long, flowing robes) and high boots w/ raised soles Masks – represented the dominant emotion of character Number of actors on stage never exceeded three

The chorus Representative of typical Athenian citizens Alternating lyrics: strophe (“movement”) & antistrophe (“counter-movement”) Functions of Chorus: Sets tone/atmosphere of the play through their reactions to the action Questions new characters coming on stage as to their purpose/identity Adds beauty/theatrical effectiveness through song and dance

Sophocles Born in Colonus, outside of Athens Wrote 120 plays Won “first prize” 18 times 7 plays remain: Ajax Antigone Electra Oedipus the King The Trachiniae Philoctetes Oedipus at Colonus

Themes of Sophocles Supremacy and inscrutability of the gods Faith in a moral order of the universe Suffering as an inherent part of the human condition Belief in the potential dignity of man

Structure of tragedy Prologos (pp.9-10) Parados (pp. 21-23) 1st Episode (pp. 23-36) 1st Stasimon (p. 36)) 2nd Episode (pp. 37-55) 2nd Stasimon (pp. 55-56) 3rd Episode (pp. 56-66) 3rd Stasimon (p. 67) 4th Episode (pp. 67-72 4th Stasimon (p. 73) Exodos (pp. 73-80)

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