GREEK theatre

Dr. NeighboursNRHS Theatre

Classes

The landThe myths

The stage

The LandLocated in Europe in the Aegean

Sea

The Land

PURPOSE OF GREEK DRAMA

Dramas presented by the state at annual religious festivals. Typically the Festival of Dionysius, the God of

Wine, Fertility & Revelry Plays were supposed to be presented for

the purpose of ethical and moral improvement of the spectators and to ensure the spiritual survival of the community. And a little entertainment, too!

Winners of prizes were selected by ten citizens chosen by lots for the duty.

FESTIVALS OF DIONYSUS

In honor of the god of Wine, Fertility, and Revelry

Early worship involved orgies and drunkenness Myths relate to seasonal growing cycles and

passions of Man Purpose of worship was inducement of fertility 8th-7th Century B.C.--contests of choral dancing

held at many festivals ; “dithyrambs”

DITHYRAMB“Ecstatic Hymn”A RELIGIOUS CHANT OR

SONG PERFORMED IN RHYTHM AND WITH

DANCING

First Definite Record of Drama in Greece: 534 B.C.

“City Dionysia” (late March) reorganized

Contest for Best Tragedy instituted

Winner of first contest is Thespis, who also acted in the performance

Actors today are known as “Thespians”, in honor of the first known Greek actor.

Actors were all male. They wore masks.

Scenes of the drama were always outdoors; indoor actions were reported by messengers.

There was no violence on stage

There was “unity” in plot -- no subplots or irrelevancies.

The action always took place in one day.

There were no curtains or intermissions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK DRAMA

“HYPOKRITE”

GREEK WORD FOR ACTOR, MEANS “WEARER OF

MASKS”

“CHORAGUS”

A wealthy patron, wishing to honor the gods, pays for the cost of a production

Precursor to the “Producer”

THE CHORUS IN GREEK DRAMA

The function of the chorus was to :set the mood of the drama interpret events relieve the tensiongeneralize meaning of the

actionconverse with and give advice

to the actorsgive background informationemphasize the beauty of

poetry and dancing leader acted as spokesman for

the group

SUBJECT OF PLAYS

The subject was almost exclusively taken from well-known myths.

The plays explored the

mysteries of life and the role of the gods in human affairs.

The main purpose was ethical and religious instruction.

STYLE IN PLAYS There are long, wordy

speeches (sometimes about current events or contemporary people).

MESSAGE FROM TRAGEDIES

Out of great tragedy comes wisdom.

CONCEPT OF TRAGIC HERO AND TRAGEDY (from

Aristotle) Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity, fear, wonder and awe.

A tragic hero must be a man or woman capable of great suffering.

Tragedy explores the question of the ways of God to man.

Tragedy purifies the emotions (catharsis)

Tragedy shows how man is brought to disaster by a single flaw in his own character.

Greek Theatre Terms

exodus --

Dionysus --

skene --

theatron or orchestra --

parados --

thymele --

prologue –

episode --

stasimon --

chorus –

choragas --

proscenium --

choral ode --

strophe --

antistrophe –

epode --

hubris –

humartia --

sphinx --

unities --

Oedipus rex, Antigone and Greek Theatre Terms, cont.

exodus -- final action of the play

Dionysus -- God of drama, wine, revelry

skene -- wooden building with three doors through which actors made their entrances and exits

theatron or orchestra -- dancing place of the chorus

parados -- chorus marching in from the left or right

thymele -- altar to Dionysus on which sacrifices were made, and which was sometimes used as a stage prop

prologue -- opening scene (introduction)

episode -- act or scene

stasimon -- choral ode (end of each episode)

chorus -- clarifies experiences and feelings of the characters and expresses conventional attitude toward development in the story; also sets the mood

proscenium -- level area in front of the skene on which most of the plays action took place

choral ode -- lyric sung by the chorus which develops the importance of the action

strophe -- a turning, right to left, by chorus

antistrophe -- a turning, left to right, by chorus

choragas -- leader of the chorus

epode -- the part of a lyric ode following the strophe and antistrophe

hubris -- Greek word for excessive pride or arrogance

humartia -- Greek word for error in judgment, especially resulting from a defect in the character of a tragic hero; the tragic flaw

sphinx -- a female monster, usually represented as having the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle

unities -- time, place, action; a play should have no subplot, should not cover more than 24 hours and should not have more than one locale

Masks of Greek Theater

The masks were worn for many reason including:

1. Visibility2. Acoustic Assistance3. Few Actors, Many Roles4. Characterization

Masks of Greek Theater

Masks of Greek Theater

Modern-day replicas

Hero-King

Comedy (Servant or Herald )

Tragedy (Weeping Chorus)

THE THEATRE OF THE GREEKS

The Grecian Amphitheatre(Where They Performed)

The Stage

The Stage

Theater at Epidaurus

Theater at Epidaurus

Once, on a Hill Far Away…

The theatre of the Greeks was built on the slope of a hill This secured sufficient elevation for the back row of

seats without enormous substructures (which the Romans used)

If the surface was rocky, semicircles were cut out, tier above tier (level above level)

If it was soft ground, an excavation was made in the hillside and lined with rows of stone benches The steps were often made with marble, as in the

theatre of Dionysus at Athens.

The Circular Pit The circular pit that was formed by

the seating was enclosed by a lofty portico and balustraded terrace

This area was assigned to the spectators.

The auditorium was divided by broad concentric belts, named diazomata, which served as lobbies,

Had eleven rows of seats between each, and these were further divided into wedges by transverse flights of stairs between the lobbies, converging on the centre of the orchestra.

The latter resembled the passages in a trireme with its banks of oars, and hence were called selides or gangways, the subdivisions, eleven to each section, suggesting as many benches of rowers.

The Auditorium•The auditorium was divided, as with contemporary theatres, into several parts•But the assignment of seats was determined not by a money payment, but by rank and other considerations. • Thus the rows nearest the orchestra were set apart for the members of

the council, while others were reserved for young men, who sat together, or for those who, for whatever reason, were entitled to them.

• Most of the space was given to the general public, who with these exceptions could make their own choice of seats.

Parts of a Greek Theatre ORKESTRA: circular

acting space at center, translates as “dancing place”

THYMELE: Altar stone at center of orkestra

THEATRON: Spectator seating; “seeing place”

SKENE: Stage building behind orkestra; where we get the words “scene” and “scenery”

The Orchestra (Orkestra)

The orchestra was ten or twelve feet below the front row of seats which formed its boundary A portion of its space

was occupied by a raised platform, which superseded the altar of Dionysus in the centre, though still known as the thymele.

In front of the orchestra, and on a level with the lowest tier of seats, was the stage Flights of steps led from

the orchestra, with others leading to chambers below, known as Charon's stairways;

They were used for the entrance of spectres from the nether world and for the ghostly apparitions of the dead.

SKENE STAGE HOUSE:

provides scenic background, a place to change costumes, place to exit

Had one to three doors

May have been raised up off ground level

Developed a second story in later years

Parts of a Greek Theatre PARADOS/PARADOI: entry

ramps for the chorus between the Teatron and Skene; where we get the word “parade”

PERIAKTOI: Three-sided turnable column used as a scenic device, placed in space between columns of skene

MACHINA: Crane-like device used to suspend celestial figures above the action; “deus ex machina” means “god from the machine”

Side View: Orkestra and Teatron

Orkestra with Thymele, Skene

Teatron

AUDITORIUM“The Hearing Place”

Includes Orkestra and Teatron

Seating for the Priests

The Head Priest’s Chair

GREEK PLAYWRIGHTS Only 5 playwrights and 45 plays survive According to Aristotle, drama developed out of

improvisation by the leaders of the dithyrambs Early “plays”, such as those by Thespis, were no

more than a discourse between one actor (“Protagonist”) and the chorus.

In later years, playwrights wrote 3 Tragedies and one Satyr Play for the contests at the City Dionysia

Major Greek Dramatists

Aeschylus 524 B.C. Agamemenon

Sophocles 496 B.C. AntigoneOedipus

Euripides 480 B.C. Medea

Dramatist Born Wrote

AESCHYLUS: 525-456 B.C.

Tragic Playwright, Introduced Second Actor, “Deuteragonist”

Encouraged face-to-face conflict between characters

reduced importance of chorus, size from 50 to @15

Wrote Agamemnon and Prometheus Bound

SOPHOCLES: 496-406 B.C.

Considered greatest Greek dramatist, wrote tragedies

Created Third Actor More concerned with

human relationships than religious issues

Wrote Oedipus Rex (the King) and Antigone

EURIPIDES: 480-406 B.C.

Last of great Greek Tragic playwrights

Reduced chorus to relatively unimportant role

Treated Gods with lack of awe

Wrote Medea and The Trojean Women

ARISTOPHANES: 450-385 B.C.

Comic Playwright, “Old Comedy”, discusses “happy idea”

Wrote Lysistrata, an anti-war comedy

ONE LAST WORD ON GREEK TRAGEDIES…

General pattern developed by AeschylusPROLOGOS: establishes dramatic situationPARODOS: Entrance of Chorus, “exposition”EPEISODA: main action, equivalent of an “Act”STASIMA: Choral interlude, makes comment on

the action in the EpeisodaClimax occurs in last Epeisoda, so that last

Stasima allows final comment by the chorusEXODOS: Final summation and exit of Chorus