Antigone

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Antigone

• A Greek Tragedy by Sophocles

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Dionyssos

• was the god of fertility and wine
• In Athens, special festivities were organized to
  praise Dionyssos
• Dionyssiac ceremonies, simple at the beginning,
  little by little became more complexand were
  accompanied by flute,drums and the eating of the
  raw fleshes of the animals sacrificed to
  Dionyssos

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The etymology of the word "tragedy" is
"tragos""ode", which means the hymn of
goats.Tragoi (the goats) were the priests of god
Dionyssos.
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The parts of the ancient tragedy are

• a. The epic
• An extended narrative poem in elevated or
  dignified language, celebrating the feats of a
  legendary or traditional hero
• b. The lyric
• a category of poetry that expresses subjective
  thoughts and feelings, often in a songlike style
  or form
• c. The dancing
• Some of the ancient meanings of the dance
  remain-certain dances are performed during the
  spring with clear fertility symbology

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The formation of tragedy was the synthesis of the
above elements.
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Dithyrambous.

• A special kind of lyric choric poetry
• Dithyrambous is an hymn to god Dionyssos
• song accompanied by flute

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As part of the choric poetry Dithyrambous had a
chorus.

• in tragedy the chorus was very solemn and it was
  called "emmelia"
• After Sophocles, the chorus had 15 members and
  stood in a circle
• The chorus was considered to be the mouthpiece of
  society (in its humble form) and morality and
  suffered along with the heroes.

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At first in dithyrambous, there were no actors
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Thespis

• Greek poet who reputedly originated Greek tragedy
  
• He is supposed to have modified the dithyramb
  (which had been, in effect, exchanges between the
  leader and the chorus) by introducing an actor
  separate from the chorus.
• This actor was called the hypocrite or
  responder. Thus there developed a spoken
  dialogue.

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Architecture of Ancient Greek Theater

• Greek theatre buildings were called a theatron
  ('seeing place')
• The theatres were large, open-air structures
  constructed on the slopes of hills. They
  consisted of three principal elements the
  orchestra, the skene, and the audience.

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The centerpiece of the theatre was the orchestra,
or "dancing place", a large circular or
rectangular area. The orchestra was the site the
choral performances, the religious rites, and,
possibly, the acting. An altar was located in the
middle of the orchestra in Athens, the altar was
dedicated to Dionysus.
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Behind the orchestra was a large rectangular
building called the skene (meaning "tent" or
"hut". It was used as a "backstage" area where
actors could change their costumes and masks, but
also served to represent the location of the
plays, which were usually set in front of a
palace or house.
13
Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the
audience. The audience sat on tiers of benches
built up on the side of a hill. Greek theatres,
then, could only be built on hills that were
correctly shaped. A typical theatre was enormous,
able to seat around 15,000 viewers.
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Ancient Greek Masks

• The use of masks in ancient greek theater draw
  their origin from the ancient dionysiac cult.
• The members of the chorus wore masks, usually
  similar to each other but completely different
  from the leading actors
• Because the number of actors varied from one to
  three, they had to put on different masks, in
  order to play more roles.
• The actors were all men. The mask was therefore
  necessary to let them play the female roles.

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Tragedy

• A drama or literary work in which the main
  character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme
  sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic
  flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with
  unfavorable circumstances.

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Sophocles

• Greek dramatist. Together with Euripides and
  Aeschylus, he is considered one of the greatest
  dramatists of ancient Greece. His surviving plays
  include Ajax, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus
  at Colonus
• A man of wealth, charm, and genius, Sophocles was
  given posts of responsibility in peace and in war
  by the Athenians. He was a general and a priest
  after his death he was worshiped as a hero
• he composed about 123 dramas), winning first
  place about 20 times and never falling lower than
  second
• A definitive innovator in the drama, he added a
  third actorthereby tremendously increasing the
  dramatic possibilities of the mediumincreased
  the size of the chorus, abandoned the trilogy of
  plays for the self-contained tragedy, and
  introduced scene painting.

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Antigone

• a tragedy written in 442 BC by Sophocles
• chronologically the third of the three Theban
  plays but was written first
• Oedipus the King
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone

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• After Oedipus is exiled, he leaves the ruling
  rights of Thebes to his two sons, Eteocles and
  Polynices who must take it in turns to rule.
• Eteocles rules first but the two becomes enemies
  after Eteocles refues to give up the throne, and
  Polynieces is exiled.
• At the beginning of the play, both brothers are
  dead, apparently slain by the other's hand.

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• The current ruler, Creon, has made a decree
  Since Polynices fought against Thebes, he shall
  not be buried. Meanwhile, Eteocles is to be
  buried with full military honors.

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• Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and the sister
  of the dead brothers, believes this proclamation
  to be against the gods' orders.
• She confides her plan to bury Polynices herself
  to her sister Ismene. The more timid of the two,
  Ismene refuses to take part out of fear, but
  agrees with her motive.

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Why study Antigone?

• Ancient Greek Drama is the basis for all modern
  drama and film
• The story gives many important clues to the
  Ancient Greek culture and character
• Tragedies still contain the basic elements that
  they originated with

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Film Versions of Antigone

• Antigone (1964) Directed by Yorgos Javellas,
  Sophocles play about the daughter of King
  Oedipus caught in a moral dilemma about whether
  to obey the laws of the state or to follow her
  conscience is brought to the screen with Irene
  Papas performing the title role. English
  subtitles
• Antigone (1974)Directed by Gerald Freedman, this
  screen adaptation of Sophocles play stars
  Genevieve Bujold, Stacy Keach, and Fritz Weaver.
• Antigone (1984)Don Taylor directed this made for
  TV adaptation of Sophocles play