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Introduction to Antigone and Greek Tragedy
-When were plays performed?
-Were intermissions or breaks part of Greek Theatre?
-Greek Plays were usually performed as a religious ceremony in competition with each other to what god?
- This is the god of what?
-What gender, specifically, was allowed to participate in the plays?
Greek Tragedy Background
Structure of Greek TragedyPrologue - the opening scene - the background of the story is established, usually by a single actor or in a dialogue between two actors.Parodos - the entrance of the chorus, usually chanting a lyric which bears some relation to the main theme of the play.Episode – the counterpart of the modern act or scene - the plot is developed through action and dialogue between the actors, with the chorus sometimes playing a minor role.
Structure of Greek TragedyStasimon- the choral ode. A stasimon comes at the end of each episode so that the tragedy is a measured alternation between these two elements.
Exodos- the final action after the last
Stasimon, ended by the ceremonial exit of all the players.
Elements of Tragedy:The subject is serious.
The tragic hero is pitted against forces beyond his or her control.
The tragic hero makes decisions that lead to a “no-win” situation.
Aristotle’s Definition of Tragic Figure
The character must be a person of noble birth.The character must be neither totally good nor totally evil.An error of judgment or a weakness in the character causes the misfortune.The character must be responsible for the tragic events.Action involves a change in fortune from happiness to misery.
Exploration of the tragic hero1. Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear, wonder and
awe.Two purposes: 1. The reader turns his thoughts inward to
ponder their own fate 2. The reader is moved to consider momentarily the fate of all human beings.
2. A tragic hero must be a man or woman of capable of great suffering. (usually kings, queens, or nobles)
3. Tragedy explores the question of the ways of God to man. (Why do people suffer?)
4 Tragedy purifies the emotions. (Catharsis- emotional release is the climax of the play)
5. Tragedy shows how man is brought to disaster by a single flaw in his own character. (The Tragic flaw)
Chorus- consists of twelve to fifteen elders (men)Choragos- the leader of the chorusOde- indicates the end of a scene - also used to provide the chorus’s response to the proceeding scene.Lyric Poem- verse which focuses on emotions and thoughts
The Chorus
The Three Functions of the Chorus:
1. To provide background information for YOU- the audience!
2. To talk and give advice to the main characters!
3. To interpret important events that occur in drama
Greek Theatre
Parts of the TheatreTheatron - the area in which the audience sat. It was shaped like a horseshoe and had rows of stone seats rising upward and backward in tiers. In the first row were stone thrones for the principal citizens and the priest of Dionysus. Orchestra - The circular area at ground level which was enclosed on three sides by the u-shaped theatron.Thymele - an altar to Dionysus on which sacrifices were made and which was sometimes used as a stage prop during plays.
Parts of the Theatre, ContinuedParodos - entrance passage Skene - a wooden structure, the dressing room Proscenium - the level area in front of the skene on which most of the play's action took place Eccyclema - a wheeled platform which was rolled out of the skene to reveal a tableau of action that had taken place indoors (mainly scenes of violence )
(Thymele)
A. Theatron-audienceB. Orchestra-
where the actors and chorus perform
C. Altar-for Dionysos
(god of wine and fertility)
D. Skene-dressing roomE. Proskenion-side of the skene
that acts as a backdrop
F. Parados-entrance to the theater
Sample Greek Theatre Masks
Sophocles496-406 B.C.considered the greatest of the ancient Greek playwrightsSophocles was known for his musical, poetic, and dramatic talentsAt the age of seventeen, he was the choragos, or chorus leader, in a dramatic celebration of Greece's victory over Persia
Sophocles, Cont.When he was twenty eight, he caused a sensation by winning first prize for tragedy at the festival of Dionysus, defeating Aeschylus, the leading playwright of the day.Over the next sixty-two years, Sophocles went on to win twenty-four first prizes and seven second prizes in thirty-one competitions--the best record of any Greek playwright.
Sophocles, Cont.wrote more than one hundred and twenty tragedies, of which only seven survive today
His plays always contain a moral lesson--usually a caution against pride and religious indifference.
also a great technical innovator: He added a third actor to Aeschylus's original two, introduced painted sets, and expanded the size of the chorus to fifteen.
Sophocles, Cont.Sophocles wrote the three tragedies about King Oedipus of Thebes and his family over a forty-year periodbegan with the third part of the story, Antigone, first performed in 442 B.CTwelve years later, Sophocles backtracked and wrote the first part of the story, Oedipus the King.The last year of his life Sophocles wrote the middle segment, Oedipus at Colonus.
The Oedipus MythCharacters and Terms:• King Laios• Queen Jocasta• Thebes• Oracle at Delphi • Oedipus • Corinth • Sphinx • Chorus• Choragos
The Oedipus MythCharacters and Terms, Cont.• Polyneices• Eteocles• Antigone• Ismene• Creon• Teiresias• Haimon• Eurydice• Sentry
Map of Corinth
Map of the Mediterranean
Antigone’s Family Tree
