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2.   Reasons for the theatre:  Entertainment  Show religion  Advance and show loyalty to politics  Honor local heroes  Major social event  Competition  Discussion of philosophical issues Greek Theatre

3.   One of the oldest forms of theatre  Came from religion and myths  Gained popularity in 6 th century BC  Performance Origins:  Dionysus: God of wine; people danced and sang to Dionysus at festivals  Thespis: Lyric Poet; introduced us to a single actor  *Today actors are called thespians!  Aeschylus: Added a second actor  Sophocles: Adding a third Origins of Greek Drama

4.   Chorus : A group of actors that voiced attitudes of the community  Thespians: Actors  Drama: Greek word for “doing” In what ways are Greek dramas different from Homer’s epics? Greek Theatre Vocabulary

5.   Athens  15,000 people  The actors had to exaggerate their movements or they couldn’t be seen by the whole audience  Only men performed  Masks were worn  Made of  Linen  Wood  Wool  Plaster At the Theater

6.   Actors wore robes which seemed to evolve into costumes  Chorus members dressed in the roles they were playing  Examples: soldiers, priests, animals, etc.  Open-air: Used natural light and heat  Few props  Only used as symbols to identify roles  Example: A soldier would carry a sword and shield At the Theater

7.   A messenger would usually deliver bad news in detail  For Example: Violence occurred off stage  Murder  Suicide  Battles At the Theater

8.   Festival of Dionysus  In Athens  Drama competition  Four greatest Greek dramatists  Aeschylus  Sophocles  Euripides  Aristophanes Greek Festival

9.   Comedies  Made fun of society, politics, gods  Tragedies  Fall of a great man or woman  The Tragic hero is neither very good or very bad  The hero’s downfall is brought on my a flaw within their character  The tragic flaw encourages people to look at their own lives to define their beliefs  Familiar Themes  Myths  History  Politicians  Humankind’s struggle to find meaning and self-understanding Topics of Plays

10.   5 th century BC during the Golden Age of Greece  Political and cultural achievement  Born into a wealthy family  Handsome  Athletic  Skilled in music  Studied tragedy, music composition, and choreography Sophocles: Page 250

11.   Wrote 120 plays  24 won first prize at the festival  Only 7 survived intact  Oedipus the King is the one of the best!  Innovation:  Introduced a third actor to the stage  Invented scenery  Invented special effects  Example: Lowing an actor from the sky Sophocles: Writing

12.   Is it always better to know the truth?  Would you rather have someone lie to you if it will save your feelings?  Give examples. Oedipus Preview

13.   According to Legend...  Oedipus arrived at Thebes  A sphinx (wings, lion’s body, woman’s head) was killing people  In order to save them, someone had to answer this riddle:  What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?  Your Answer ____________________________________ Oedipus Preview

14.   Oedipus answered correctly: Man  Man crawls as a baby, walks on two legs as a man, and uses a stick in old age  When the sphinx heard this, she killed herself  Oedipus became king  Oedipus married the widowed queen Jocasta Oedipus Preview

15.   Chorus: Danced and chanted between scenes, commented on action; express social and religious views  Dignity: The quality of being worthy of honor  Vengeance: Revenge; The return of a harmful deed for a harmful deed  Denounce: To inform against, accuse publicly  Dire: Terrible; bad enough to arouse dread Vocabulary

16.   Denotation: Dictionary meaning  Connotation: Emotional meaning it evokes Lit Terms