Antigone and Greek Drama Notes

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Antigone and Greek Drama Notes
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Greek Drama

• Greek drama --honors Dionysos, the god of wine
  and fertility.
• Thespis (thespians) transformed hymns sung to
  gods into songs that told the story of a famous
  hero.
• Based on myths.

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Types of Greek Plays

• Tragedies were serious treatments of religious
  and mythic questions.
• Satyr plays (named for wood demons) were comic
  and even unruly treatments of the same themes.

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The Theater

• The theater was a semi-circular (like football
  stadium).
• Actors amplified voices through mouthpieces in
  their masks.

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Greek Theater (cont.)

• All actors men, and the choruses were
  well-trained boys.
• By switching masks, each actor could play several
  roles.

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Sophocles

• Sophocles -- generally considered the best of the
  ancient Greek playwrights.
• His plays always contain a moral lesson, usually
  a caution against pride and religious
  indifference.

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Sophocles Innovations

• Sophocles added a third actor to the original
  two.
• He introduced painted sets.
• He expanded the size of the chorus to fifteen.

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Sophocles Theban Plays

• These three plays tell the story of Oedipus of
  Thebes and his family.
• Oedipus the King
• Oedipus at Colonus
• Antigone

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Antigone Background

• Since Greek audiences knew the story, suspense
  came from their knowledge of things the
  characters did not know dramatic irony.
• The audience pitied these characters.

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Oedipus Myth

• See handout.

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Theme of Antigone

• Conflict in Antigoneindividual conscience at
  odds with established authorityis eternally
  relevant.
• When we know that those in power are morally
  wrong, do we break their laws, or do we
  collaborate with them by obeying?

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Tragedy

• According to Aristotle, tragedy arouses pity and
  fear in the audience so that we may be cleansed
  of these unsettling emotions.
• This idea is known as catharsis, a pleasurable
  sense of emotional release.

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Tragic Hero

• This character is not completely good or bad.
• His/her misfortune is brought about by some error
  or frailty, which is the tragic flaw (hamartia)
• The flaw is often hubris arrogance caused by
  excessive pride.

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Tragic Hero (cont.)

• The heros fall must be from a tremendous height.
• Because of the tragic flaw, the hero is
  responsible on some level for his or her downfall.

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Tragic Hero (cont.)

• The hero comes to recognize his error and accept
  the consequences.
• He is not angry he is humbled and enlightened.

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Tragic Hero (cont.)

• The audience, though, feels that the heros
  punishment exceeds his crime.
• We see that the hero is flawed like us, and fear
  for ourselves because he failed.

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Greek Theater Format

• Plays opened with a Prologue that presented the
  background to situate the conflict.
• The entering chorus sang a parodos, or opening
  song.
• The choruss song, an ode, divided scenes and
  served the same purpose as a curtain does.
• Chorus also provides summary or commentary and
  sets the mood.

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The Chorus

• During the odes, a leader, called the choragos,
  might exchange thoughts with the group in a
  dialogue.
• During that recital, the group would rotate left
  to right, singing the strophe.

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The Chorus (cont.)

• The chorus would move the opposite direction
  during the antistrophe.
• At the end, there was a paean (song of thanks to
  Dionysos) and an exodos (final exiting scene).