1. Greek Theater

2. Historical Context

3. 3

4. The Greek Theater 5th Century B. C. Golden Age of Greek Drama
Dramatic festivals were popular
People witnessed tragic and comic plays 4

5. The role of “drama” in the ancient Greek culture was a specific one: it played a significant part in the religious rites of the period.

6. GREEK THEATRE
Religious festival in honor of the God DIONYSUS; the God of Wine and Fertility
Held in Athens
The festival was thought to have lasted anywhere from 7 to 15 days
Playwrights would enter plays into a contest; the winner won money and a ivy wreath as a symbol of victory

7. Greek plays were performed during religious ceremonies held in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry (altars generally on stage)
Banks would shut down for days, people would travel from all around to see the drama competitions—even prisoners were temporarily released to see the plays
Tragedy means “goat song” (relates to Dionysian rituals)

8. The Myths – Why they were written
Explained the unexplainable
Justified religious practices
Gave credibility to leaders
Gave hope
Polytheistic (more than one god)
Centered around the twelve Olympians (primary Greek gods)

9. How do we know about the Greeks?
While the Greeks were great at writing plays, they were not so great at keeping them for future reading, most of the early great works were lost.
Lycurgus established a library in 330BC, which was the only way in which we have any record of any of these early Greek works.

10. Literary Elements

11. GREEK THEATRE COMEDY: main character achieves his goals
TRAGEDY: main character suffers and does not achieve his goals
SATYR (satire): made fun of Greek legends
All of these play types were written and performed during this time period… although the interpretation of these art forms has evolved they are still the general dramatic forms still written and performed at present

12. GREEK PLAYWRIGHTS SOPHOCLES: wrote tragedies; Oedipus Rex
AESCHYLUS: wrote tragedies
EURIPIDES: wrote tragedies
ARISTOPHANES: wrote comedies
MENANDER: wrote comedies

13. Sophocles

14. Sophocles (496-406 BC) The Ancient Greek Plays & Playwrights
A performer
Introduction of the third actor
His works became more actor-lead rather than chorus-lead
Wrote over 100 plays – 20 won him first prize
ONLY SEVEN TEXTS SURVIVED
Ajax, The Trachiniae, Philoctetes, Electra
THE THEBAN LEGEND: His only remaining trilogy consists of “Oedipus Rex,” “Oedipus at Colonus,” and “Antigone.”

15. GREEK THEATRE
Greek philosopher ARISTOTLE wrote the work The Poetics about important topics of theatre such as…
PLOT (what happens)
THEME (the ideas and messages)
CHARACTER, MUSIC, DICTION (speech)
SPECTACLE (what is seen) were discussed… these topics are still the primary focus of theatre actors and directors in modern theatre

16. The Storyline

17. Main Character is of the Elite Class

18. Main Character suffers a Downfall – He loses everything

19. Main Character is Neither all good nor all bad

20. Downfall is the result of a Fatal Flaw – a character flaw
(pride/ambition/greed, etc.)

21. Misfortunes involve characters who are related or who are friends

22. Tragic actions take place offstage

23. Main Character has a moment of recognition – understanding what he’s done wrong

24. Audience experiences pity and fear

25. Pity and Fear leads to a catharsis

26. Technical Elements

27. The Greek Stage 27

29. Dionysus Theater in Athens

30. The Ancient Greek Theatre Space
Orchestra: a circular area with an altar in the center where the performances took place
Skene: A building behind everything in which the actors changed costumes
Audience: Usually the theatre spaces were built into hillsides and the seating was arranged in a large semi-circle

31. Periaktos: Triangle prisms which could be pivoted to reveal three different backgrounds
Deus ex Machina: (god from the machine) a crane-like machine that was used to lower an actor, playing the part of god, onto the stage in order to fix the problems at hand

32. DIAGRAM OF AN ANCIENT GREEK THEATER SPACE
You might wish to copy this down, this looks strikingly similar to the diagram that you will be drawing and labeling on the test.

33. The Stage

34. Modern Theater designed to look like one in Ancient Greece

36. Masks

37. Masks of Greek Theater

39. Masks of Greek Theater

40. Modern-day replicas Hero-King Comedy (Servant or Herald )
Tragedy (Weeping Chorus)

41. The masks were worn for many reason including:
1. Visibility--The mask was designed to be oversized in order to better convey the expressed emotion to an audience in a large theater.
2. Sound -- Some masks were designed with a megaphone-like mouth-piece in order to help the actor “project” his voice.
3. Few Actors, Many Roles --Masks also allowed for one actor to play many different parts in the course of one play.
4. Characterization Video

42. Some general categories of masks
OLD MEN --Smooth-Faced, White, Grizzled, Black-Haired, Flaxen and More Flaxen
2. YOUNG MEN--Common, Curled, More Curled, Graceful, Horrid, Pale and Less Pale
3. SLAVES--Leathern, Peaked-Beard, Flat Nose
4. WOMEN--Freed Old Woman, Old Domestic, Middle Aged, Leathern, Pale-Disheveled, Pale Middle Aged, Whorish-Disheveled, Virgin, Girl
5. SPECIALIST MASKS--Some made for specific characters, others for: Mourning, Blindness, Deceit, Drunkenness...etc. (The comic masks, those especially of old comedy, were as like as possible to true persons they represented, or made to appear more ridiculous)

43. Performance Elements

44. THE CHORUS
a group of actors onstage who often spoke in unison to prepare the audience for what is about to happen or what has just taken place

45. Greek Theatre and the Chorus

46. Origins
Greek theatre evolved from ritual and dance with a strong choral focus, to greater emphasis upon dramatic action.

47. Dionysus
The choric dithyrambs (choral songs) were originally about the death and resurrection of Dionysus (the god of wine and fertility).

48. Narration
The first function of the chorus was as narrator (telling stories, providing information).
The purpose of the chorus was to bridge the gap between the audience and the players and to intensify the emotion.

49. Function
The functions of the chorus:     · Maintain a sense of ceremony and ritual     · Establish a lyric mood through rhythmic chanting and dance     · Reinforce the passions of the dramatic action     · Connect the audience and the actors by making responses and asking questions     · Unite music, dance, and speech and connect dramatic episodes

50. Music and Song
The chorus could punctuate the action of a play with bursts of song and dance, which enlarged the dramatic action and relieved tension.
Instruments used to accompany choric songs and dances included flutes, lyres, horns, drums, and bells.

51. Chorus in-role
When the first actor stepped out of the chorus and assumed a role, the chorus was then able to assume a role as well (i.e. If the actor was playing a god, the chorus could become his worshippers).

52. Objective vs. Subjective
The chorus could work within the limits of the action as characters, or from outside the action as impartial commentators.

53. Guide for the Audience
The chorus was the ideal spectator. It provided commentary and questions, gave opinions and warnings, and clarified experiences and feelings of characters in everyday terms. The chorus sympathized with victims, reinforced facts, separated episodes, and often served as spokespeople for the conservative members of the community.

54. Rehearsal
Choruses probably did not rehearse in the theatres in which they later performed. Not wanting spectators to see the play before the festivals, they probably rehearsed in a closed rehearsal room.
Early dramatists (Aeschylus and probably Sophocles and Euripides) taught their own choruses.

55. Size of the Chorus
As the number of actors increased from one to three, the size of the chorus, which originally numbered 50, was reduced.
The ‘Parados’ (chorus entrance) marks the beginning of the play, and the exodus (its exit) the ending.

56. Civic Responsibility
Members of the chorus were chosen from the general population.
Chorus members were unpaid volunteers doing their civic duty.
The rehearsal period for a chorus was likely four months or more.

57. Supported by Community
The chorus was trained and costumed at state expense through a choregos (a wealthy citizen) who chose this job as his way of paying taxes and raising his standing in the community.

58. GREEK THEATRE
THESPIS is credited as the first actor; stepped away from the chorus and delivered lines independently from the chorus (International Thespian Society is named in his honor); actors are generally referred to as thespians

59. Gender Male actors performed all the roles
Actors switched masks to play a number of roles – both female and male 59

60. One last Video