Greek Theatre History

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Greek Theatre History
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Greek Theatre

• Grew out of religious ceremonies (rituals), which
  were prominent features of Greek society
• Ceremonies included funeral services, festivals
  celebrating the seasons, and ceremonies honoring
  the gods
• City Dionysia held a festival in honor of
  Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility

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Festival of Dionysia

• Many believe that Greek drama originated in the
  dithyrambic chorus presented to honor Dionysus
• Dithyramb a lengthy hymn, sung and danced by a
  group of 50 men (chorus)
• Chorus group of men, elders that represented
  the voice of society
• There were 4 plays performed at the festival 3
  tragedies and 1 comedy

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Greek Tragedy

• Tragedy means goat song in Greek
• The protagonist (main character) in a tragedy,
  usually does not reach his goal so tragedies have
  sad endings
• Tragedies are based on myths, which are stories
  or legends sometimes based on fact, which are
  handed down from generation to generation
• Three Greek tragedy playwrights Aeschylus,
  Sophocles, Euripedes

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Thespis

• Greek tragic playwright
• Is credited with transforming the dithyramb into
  tragedy
• Added the first actor (hypokrite) to the play
• Hypokrite means an actor speaking behind a mask
• Thespians (actors) are named for Thespis

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Aeschylus

• Father of tragedy
• Added second actor to plays
• Reduced the chorus from 50 to 12 men
• Wrote about gods

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Sophocles

• Wrote about heroes
• Added the third actor to plays
• Added dramatic action and defined plot structure
• Wrote 110 plays 7 survived
• Most noted works
• Oedipus Rex and Antigone

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Oedipus Rex

• Ideal tragedy
• Tragic story of a man in search of truth
• Fate has preordained that Oedipus to kill his
  father and marry his mother

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Euripides

• Playwright who questioned life
• Wrote about man not gods or heroes more
  interested in human problems rather than
  religious interests
• Emphasized human relationships and emotions
• Reduced importance of the chorus
• Most famous play was Medea, a tragedy about a
  woman who seeks revenge on her unfaithful husband
  by killing their children

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Aristophanes

• Greek Comedy playwright
• Wrote 40 plays
• Combined satire, wit and farce (slapstick comedy)
  to create the Greek comedy form
• Nothing was sacred made fun of everyone and
  everthing
• Most famous play Lysistrata women try to stop
  war by refusing to sleep with their husbands
  until they quit fighting

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Aristotle

• Greek philosopher
• Published The Poetics, guideline for the arts
• Established six elements of drama
• Plot
• Character
• Theme
• Language (Dialogue)
• Music
• Spectacle

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Conventions of Greek Theatre

• No violence on stage
• Men played all the roles
• Only 3 main actors on stage at all times these
  actors played multiple roles wearing masks
• Audience included all social classes
• Audience learned lessons from the plays
• Catharsis purging of emotions the audience
  feared the same thing that happened to the
  protagonist would happen to them

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More Conventions

• Masks - Actors wore masks to change characters
• Large stylized movements were needed to help
  audience understand the plot
• Special effects
• Ekkylema a wagon used to bring characters
  onstage often to reveal the results of offstage
  violence
• Deus ex machina crane hidden behind the upper
  level of the skene used for the entrance of the
  actor playing a god

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Greek Play Structure

• Prologos opening scene which begins the action
  and provides background information
• Parados the chorus enters
• Choral ode performed by the chorus
• Exodus final scene in which all the characters
  exit from the stage

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Theatre and Stage Area

• Orchestra the circular playing space where the
  actors performed
• Parados the entrance way for the chorus
• Proskenion the bottom level of the skene or
  stage house
• Skene the scene house behind the orchestra
  used to present several locales actors changed
  their costumes behind the skene
• Theatron viewing place where audience sat

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Greek Theatre Space