1. Greek Theatre
Rites & Rituals

2. Ancient Greek Theatre
Ancient Greek Theatre had its origins in the dances, stories and rituals which worshiped Gods. Around 1200 BC religious rituals started to evolve in Thrace in Northern Greece which worshipped the god of fertility and procreation, Dionysus. The rituals surrounding the ‘Cult of Dionysus’ included sacrifices, wearing of masks, group dances and emotional altered states of release called ‘ecstasis’.

3. Ancient Greek Theatre
Often the rituals involved the offering up of a tragic hero in stories or incantations to the God Dionysus. Soon after this time, the rites of Dionysus became mainstream and more formalised and symbolic. The death of a tragic hero was offered up to the gods rather than the sacrifice of animals like goats. By 600 BC these ceremonies were practiced in spring throughout much of Greece and had evolved into ritual dithyrambic choruses.

4. Ancient Greek Theatre
Around 540 BC Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, started the festival of the Greater Dionysia. This festival involved the telling of heroic stories and ritual dances being performed in a more formal way. An essential part of the rites of Dionysus was the dithyramb. The word means 'choric hymn'. This chant or hymn was probably introduced into Greece and accompanying them were probably mimic gestures and, music. In its earliest form it was led off by the leader of a group of dancers, dancing around an altar. The choric rhythm was probably performed by a chorus of about fifty men.

5. Rites & Rituals
Greek Theatre has its origins in ritual and is divided into two types of performance: the tragedies and the comedies .
What rituals do we participate in today and what makes them ritualistic?
- Think about the people involved, symbols and actions.
- Consider rituals that you share with your school, friends, family or
as an individual.

6. Tableaux Based on Ritual.
A ‘tableau’ is defined as a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; striking a scene.
Activity
Split into groups of 4-5
Each group will choose a random ritual from today’s society .
Your group will have 1 minute to negotiate and strike a tableau of your given ritual.
The rest of the class will guess what it is.
Think carefully about key ritualistic elements/figures in your given event.

7. Tableaux

8. Tableaux Based on Greek Ritual
Sacrifice
Harvest
War
Famine
Festivals in honour of the gods

9. The Main Players Euripides 480bc – 406bc Sophocles 496bc – 406bc medea
Oedipus the king
Oedipus at colonus
antigone
Aeschylus 525bc – 456bc
The orestia (Agamemnon, the libation bearers & the eumenides)

10. The Play Structure
The traditional Greek tragedy in 475 BC consisted of the following parts:
1. Prologue - which described the situation and set the scene.
2. Parados - an ode sung by the chorus as it made its entrance.
3. Five dramatic scenes - each followed by a Komos, an exchange of laments by the chorus and the protagonist.
4. Exodus - the climax and conclusion.

11. Masks & Ritual
The Greek term for mask is ‘persona’ and was a significant element in the worship of Dionysus at Athens, likely used in ceremonial rites and celebrations. Most of the evidence comes from only a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC, which depicts actors preparing for a Satyr play.
No physical evidence remains available to us, as the masks were made of organic materials and not considered permanent objects. Nevertheless, the mask is known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of classical Greek theatre.

13. The Chorus
A Greek chorus is a consistent, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action occurring on stage.
They spoke in unison and they were the moral compass of the play. They also offered a variety of background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance.
In many of these plays, the chorus expressed to the audience what the main characters could not say, such as their hidden fears or secrets.