Oedipus Rex Sophocles

It walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening. What is it? Man (or woman). Crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult and uses two legs and a cane when old.

Who was Sophocles? Born in 495 B.C. near Athens, Greece He lived until he was ninety years of age One of the great playwrights of the Golden Age He was devoted to the service of the state, art, and public affairs By the age of sixteen, he was already known for his beauty and grace and was chosen to lead a choir of boys during public celebrations. He wrote more than 120 plays. Only seven survive. He competed and often won the City Dionysia, a festival held every year at the Theatre of Dionysus in which new plays were presented

Greek Theatre: The Purpose Greek theatre was important to classical culture. It was viewed as the ritualistic interpretation of natural forces: the cycle of life and death; and the nexus of past, present and future. Elements of song and dance were essential to Greek theatre, so it was also an outlet for creativity. Thus, the prime function of theatre was to merge creative expression with feelings and reasoning, allowing man to analyze those forces he may not naturally understand.

Greek Theatre: The Ritual Was a religious celebration (Dionysus: god of drama and….wine) The Greek government saw the ritualistic celebration as so important that business activities were suspended for one week for the festival Citizens were expected to attend the festival and often participated Attendance was a CIVIC DUTY! More than 15,000 spectators attended the theater Plays were instructional as well as entertaining. Citizens would glean lessons from the performance

Greek Theatre: Competition Greek Theatre contained an element of competition Two or three authors would present four plays: three tragedies A comedy These plays were judged. The winner would take away substantial prizes and public honor.

Greek Theatre: Structure The structure of the theater imposed restrictions on the play. There were obvious acoustic problems and the actors had a difficult task ahead of them. There was a lack of painted scenery. These restrictions required the playwright to delineate carefully within the characters lines the: setting passage of time names and dates stage movements.

Ancient Greek Theatre

Greek Theatre: Conventions There was a CHORUS in the play The function of the chorus was interactive: it helped the audience understand the play Generally there were no more than three actors in a scene: actors would play more than one part Costumes were designed to make the actors look larger than life (elevate their status) and were cumbersome and made it difficult for the actors to move. As a result, there was not much action in the play and monologues were favored.

Functions of Chorus The beauty of poetry and dancing Relieves tension between scenes Interprets events for audience Often converses with the actors; gives advice Gives background of events

Characteristics of Greek Drama Rated G No violent action Scenes of horror happen off stage Reported to the audience Unity Unity of action- no subplots Unity of place-no change of scenery Unity of time- plot is over a short period No intermissions

Generic Structure of Drama Exposition (Inciting Incident) Conflict / Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution (Dénouement)

Tragedy A drama of a character, usually one in high position, where a conflict usually develops between the protagonist/hero and a “superior force” (such as destiny, circumstance, or society) and the story ends in some sort of disaster or great fall of the protagonist.

Greek Tragedy has five distinct parts: The Prologos (Prologue) The Parados (Chorus) The Episodes (Scenes) The Stasimons (Odes) The Exodos (Conclusion)

The Prologos (Prologue) The opening portion of the play which sets the scene and contains the exposition.

The Parados The entrance song of the chorus. The Parados is named after the broad aisles on either side of the theatron, along which the chorus entered or exited.

The Scenes The action of the drama. The episodes, performed by the actors Contains the rising action

The Odes The ode is a type of lyric poem, using exalted and dedicated to something, with dignified diction, a poetic form created for the choral passage. The ode consisted of strophes and antistrophes, essentially stanzas of the poem. Historians suggest that the chorus sang the strophe, dancing in one direction around the orchestra, changing directions with the antistrophe.

The Exodos (Conclusion) The concluding section of the tragedy. The exodos ends with the chorus singing their final lines as they exit, interpreting the main message of the play.

Tragedy Terms Hamartia: A tragic flaw or error that in ancient Greek tragedies leads to the hero’s reversal of fortune (Perepeteia). Hubris: Excessive pride or arrogance. Often leads to the downfall of the major character in Greek tragedy. Anagnorisis: A moment of awareness when a character makes a critical discovery, usually in reference to a key aspect of his identity.

The Legend