Drama

Ancient Greek Theatre

ENGL 124 B03 Winter 2010

• Drama developed out of spoken poetry performances; comedy may have preceded tragedy

• Tragedy was a uniquely Athenian invention (early 5th c. BCE)

• Originally, retold familiar mythical stories; later plays also recounted important local events

The Invention of Theatre

• God of wine, celebration and destruction

• The Great Dionysia festival was held annually in Athens

• Three competing poets wrote and presented three tragedies and a ‘satyr play’ each; comedies were added later

• Soon spread to other Athenian public festivals

The Rites of Dionysis

• Took place in outdoor amphitheatres; relied on natural light

• Later productions featured elaborate, naturalistic scene-paintings

• Featured a roll-out platform for tableaus (ekklyklema) and a mechanism for lower actors onto stage from above (mechane)

The Theatre Setting

• Originally involved only two or three actors, and a small chorus of twelve or fifteen, all male

• All actors wore masks, and sometimes wigs; main actors probably played multiple roles

• Large portions of the text were chanted or sung; the chorus also danced, accompanied by flute (aulos)

Performance Techniques

• Acts as an ‘everyman,’ reacting to and analyzing the action onstage

• Stood in a rectangular formation, with the dance leader at the front corner (stage right), and the worst dancers hidden in the centre

The Chorus

Prologue: opening monologue which sets the scene

Parodos: chorus enters from either side of the stage, chanting

First Episode: exchange of dialogue

First Stasimon: choral song accompanied by dancing: strophe (chorus moves to stage right) and antistrophe (chorus moves to stage left); the epode (“additional song”) was sung while stationary

Second EpisodeSecond StasimonThird EpisodeThird Stasimon

Exodos: final exchange of dialogue, sometimes including a song; the cast exits the stage

Play Structure

• Very formalized in rhythm, language, and content

• Dialogue usually in iambic meter; recitations in anapests; lyric meters for songs, chants and dances

• Stichomythia: to heighten emotion, actors sometimes have back-and-forth exchanges of lines or pairs of lines

Poetic Techniques

References

Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, eds. Greece and the Hellenistic World. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988. Print.

Dover, K. J. “Tragedy.” Ancient Greek Literature. Ed. K. J. Dover et al. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1980. 50–73. Print.

Frost, Frank J. Greek Society. 4th ed. Lexington MA: D. C. Heath, 1990. Print.

Joint Association of Classics Teachers, ed. The World of Athens: An Introduction to Classical Athenian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1984. Print.