Antigone and Greek Theater

Antigoneand Greek Theater

DionysusThe god of wine and fertility

thought to liberate believers from personal trouble

Drama in Athens

• Outdoor theater sacred to Dionysus• Held 14,000 people• Used once a year for dramatic competitions at the festival of Dionysus• Theater also used for court cases

theatron

orchestra

skene

parodos

proskenion

chorus

The Greek Outdoor Amphitheatre

Deus Ex Machina!

Ekkylema• movable platform rolled out from behind the

scenes to depict events which take place inside the building before which the action occurs.

Poets or Playwrights?

BOTH!

• Greek drama was written in ..verse, with poetic meters• The meter was based on ..short and long syllables, not ..stress, as in English• Songs were also a crucial ..part of drama

Hey! I can barely see you from way up here!

Can you see me NOW?

ActorsThe 3 actor ruleAll maleCostumes?

SOPHOCLES 496 - 406 B.C.E.

One of the 3 great tragedians who lived in Athens. The others were Aeschylus and Euripides.

The Athenians considered Sophocles to be their most successful playwright.

Famous Trilogy: Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex), Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone

Tragedy was performed in Athens at the 3 annual festivals in honor of Dionysus

New plays were written specifically for these festivals, competitions were held, and prizes awarded.

A chorus of men dressed in skins of goats (the sacred animal of the god) sang a song to Dionysus, thus the term tragoedia ("goat-song").

TRAGEDY

Hero– Suffers because of a personal flaw (harmatia)

• Most common flaw is hubris, excessive pride– Experiences strong emotions– Comes to a breaking point– Faces horrible truth (catastrophe)– paripateia: a move from happiness to misery,

a reversalAudience experiences relief, but hero

does not (catharsis)

HIGH ESTATE• The protagonist (the hero) - is a person of

"high estate, "apparently a king or queen or other member of a royal family, neither completely virtuous nor utterly villainous. He must be worthy of our interest, concern, or sympathy. An evil or depraved character cannot be a tragic hero.

THE FALLThe protagonist must

fall from power and from happiness

His high estate gives him a place of dignity to fall from and perhaps makes his fall seem all the more a calamity in that it involves an entire nation or people

TRAGIC FLAWThe protagonist's downfall is

the result of a flaw in his character (weakness), or an error in judgment.

Many times the hero brings about his own downfall through the tragic flaw of hubris - excessive pride or arrogance.

REVELATION

The protagonist must experience a revelation. He must gain the knowledge that he is

responsible for the tragic events (wisdom through suffering).

The disaster that befalls the protagonist should be inevitable, either decreed by fate, or the clear outcome of actions engaged in or choices made by him.

The protagonist must assert his force and dignity as a man and not take his destruction meekly without battle or protest.

THE CHORUSUsually 15 men (but up to 50) Dressed the same including masksFollow the dramatic action closely, react to it

emotionally and comment on it. Gives background, informing audience of

preceding events.

FUNCTIONS OF THE CHORUSChants poetry and dance.Reflect attitudes of citizens in audienceRelieves tensionTells about violenceThe leader of the chorus often acts as

spokesman for the groupOften converses with and gives advice to the

actors.

StructurePrologue: Spoken by one or two characters before the chorus appears. The prologue usually gives the mythological background necessary for understanding the events of the play.

Parodos: This is the song sung by the chorus as it first enters the orchestra and dances.

First Episode: This is the first of many "episodes," when the characters and chorus talk.

First Stasimon: At the end of each episode, the other characters usually leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of larger mythological framework.

For the rest of the play, there is alternation between episodes and stasima, until the final scene, called the...

Exodos: At the end of play, the chorus exits singing a processional song which usually offers words of wisdom related to the actions and outcome of the play.