Introduction to Greek Drama

Greek Drama  Includes surviving tragedies, satyr plays, and comedies from the fifth century ( B.C.)  The writers were all Athenians  The dramatic festivals for which the plays were composed took place in the same single theater in Athens, dedicated to the god Dionysus  Includes surviving tragedies, satyr plays, and comedies from the fifth century ( B.C.)  The writers were all Athenians  The dramatic festivals for which the plays were composed took place in the same single theater in Athens, dedicated to the god Dionysus

The City Dionysia  The festival for which the plays were composed was called the Dionysia, in honor of Dionysus  The plays were presented in dramatic competitions; a magistrate called the archon chose three tragedians to compete each year  For the contest, each playwright would compose three tragedies and one satyr play (a short play of a lighter tone that would have followed the tragedies), all of which would have been performed one after another  Aristotle said tragedy derived from the dithyramb, a poetic composition sung and danced in honor of Dionysus by choruses of fifty men or boys  The festival for which the plays were composed was called the Dionysia, in honor of Dionysus  The plays were presented in dramatic competitions; a magistrate called the archon chose three tragedians to compete each year  For the contest, each playwright would compose three tragedies and one satyr play (a short play of a lighter tone that would have followed the tragedies), all of which would have been performed one after another  Aristotle said tragedy derived from the dithyramb, a poetic composition sung and danced in honor of Dionysus by choruses of fifty men or boys

The Dramatists Tragedy :  Aeschylus ( B.C.)  The Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides)  Sophocles ( B.C.)  The Thebian Plays (Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus)  Euripides ( B.C.)  Medea  The Bacchae Comedy :  Aristophanes ( B.C.) Tragedy :  Aeschylus ( B.C.)  The Oresteia (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides)  Sophocles ( B.C.)  The Thebian Plays (Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus)  Euripides ( B.C.)  Medea  The Bacchae Comedy :  Aristophanes ( B.C.)

The Greek Theater  Theatron: “watching place” for the audience  Orchestra: circular dancing space for choral songs and dances  Skene: slightly elevated stage behind the orchestra; for the actors  Mechane: suspended crane from which deus ex machina might appear  Theatron: “watching place” for the audience  Orchestra: circular dancing space for choral songs and dances  Skene: slightly elevated stage behind the orchestra; for the actors  Mechane: suspended crane from which deus ex machina might appear

Structure of Greek Tragedy  Prologue: Usually spoken by individual character, situates the play historically and mythologically  Parados: Song sung by chorus as it first enters the stage  Episodes: Compose the bulk of the action, consist of alternations between dramatic action and stasima (sg. Stasimon), choral songs that reflect on the action  Catastrophe and exodus: The moment in the play when the intrigue is unraveled and when the characters leave the stage.  Prologue: Usually spoken by individual character, situates the play historically and mythologically  Parados: Song sung by chorus as it first enters the stage  Episodes: Compose the bulk of the action, consist of alternations between dramatic action and stasima (sg. Stasimon), choral songs that reflect on the action  Catastrophe and exodus: The moment in the play when the intrigue is unraveled and when the characters leave the stage.

Components of Greek theater  Generally took Greek mythological narratives as their subject  All plays were composed in verse; for actors, in iambic meter, considered close to ordinary speech  Masks: Illustrations of theatrical masks on Athenian vases from the fifth century reveal a full head mask, with no particular distortion, for tragic performance  Actors: Early tragedies were played by two actors; by the mid fifth century there would be three, possibly four  Chorus: Group of people who would sing or dance  Generally took Greek mythological narratives as their subject  All plays were composed in verse; for actors, in iambic meter, considered close to ordinary speech  Masks: Illustrations of theatrical masks on Athenian vases from the fifth century reveal a full head mask, with no particular distortion, for tragic performance  Actors: Early tragedies were played by two actors; by the mid fifth century there would be three, possibly four  Chorus: Group of people who would sing or dance

Aeschylus  Wrote an estimated eighty plays in his lifetime, of which seven survive. The Orestia is the only complete three-play cycle still extant.  Won as many as thirteen first-place victories  Was the first playwright to introduce a second actor  Plays tend to be conservative and Religious, in ancient athenian terms  Reported to have been killed by an eagle dropping a turtle on his head  Wrote an estimated eighty plays in his lifetime, of which seven survive. The Orestia is the only complete three-play cycle still extant.  Won as many as thirteen first-place victories  Was the first playwright to introduce a second actor  Plays tend to be conservative and Religious, in ancient athenian terms  Reported to have been killed by an eagle dropping a turtle on his head