The Origins of Tragedy Definition of Tragedy Which Cities Performed Tragedy When Tragedy was Performed The Major

Playwrights The Way a Greek Tragedy Was Staged

a. number of actors c. the masks b. the costumes d. the audience

 Originated from the dithyramb: a choral song in honor of Dionysus Arion of Methymna (7th century) was the first to write a choral song, practice it with a chorus, and perform it

 Lasus of Hermione was the first to do it at Athens Connected with the worship of Dionysus in Athens

 Theater was first officially recognized in 534 B.C. when the Athenian Government began to subsidize drama.
Some of the first accounts of Greek Drama are documented by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his book Poetics.

 A dithyramb is a hymn that was sung and danced for the god of wine and fertility. Worship of Dionysus was achieved through intoxication, sexual orgy and sacrificial offerings- sometimes human. The Greeks created the first permanent theatre structure called Theatre of Dionysus in honor the fertility god. It is located in Athens.

 Thespis of Corinth The first travelling actor Active c. 538-28 BCE Added prologue and speech to choral performance Said to have invented the mask

 Defined theater
art of acting a part on stage dramatic impersonation of another character than yourself

Uncertain whether he was a playwright, an actor, or a priest Thespian term comes from his name

 Aristotle defines tragedy as the imitation of an action which is serious, complete, of a certain magnitude, couched in poetic language. It should be dramatic, with incidents arousing pity and fear, which bring about a purgation of these emotions.

 Pity is aroused in the audience for the character(s), and we fear lest the same misfortune happen to us. Purgation/catharsis is a cleansing; a release of emotions. According to Aristotle, comedy portrays men as worse than they are and tragedy as better than in actual life. He also notes that Sophocles drew men as they ought to be.

 Corinth: c. 600 (Arion) Sicyon: c. 550 - Cleisthenes (not the Athenian) - Epigenes Athens: c. 510 - only Athenian dramas left - school of Hellas

 City of Dionysia @ Athens - aka Greater Dionysia - end of March Rural Dionysia - different demes had performances - off-Broadway - various dates in December The Lenaea - less prestigious - sometime in late January/early February

 Almost every Greek city had a theater Theaters could be very small or huge Each theater had specific parts Usually in the center of the city

 Three major tragedians

Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides

All active in the 5th century All won first place in multiple competitions Only Athenian plays survive

 b. 525 d. 456 (Sicily) Fought at Marathon

Aeschylus, Euphorion's son of Athens, lies under this stone dead in Gela among the white wheatlands; a man at need good in fight -- witness the hallowed field of Marathon, witness the longhaired Mede.

First tragedy 499 First prize 484 (13 overall)

Introduced the second actor Wrote over 70 plays (seven survive) Always revered Main interest is in situation and event rather than character Pericles directed the chorus for Persians Both sons were very successful playwrights Oresteia, Seven Against Thebes Plays are deeply patriotic and religious

 b. 496 d. 406 Served as a general with Pericles (441) Very active in city politics (413) First tragedy 468 First prize 468
Won 18 first prizes Never finished third

Introduced the third actor Wrote over 120 plays (seven survive) The most successful of the Big Three Challenged conventional mores Introduced more dialogue between characters (less Chorus)

Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus,

Antigone, Electra

 No innovations on the stage Wrote ninety plays (19 survive) Sophocles: I present men as they ought to be, Euripides presents men as they are. More realistic than the other two Alcestis, Medea, Hippolytus, Bacchae,

Orestes

 The audience knew every number by heart

Most tragedies dealt with mythological themes

Performers wore high heels, loud costumes and heavy make-up

They wore elaborate clothes, tall boots, and masks

They relied on background singers, known as the Chorus.

Especially after the introduction of the third actor

 Maximum of three actors

Aeschylus second Sophocles third

All roles played by men Same group of actors for each set of plays for each author

 Playwrights did not act in their own plays after Sophocles Chorus publicly funded
A choregos would pay for and train the chorus Viewed as a civic duty Could be prosecuted for failing to do it wealthy enough Choregos got a monument if his chorus won

 Actor wore: Mask Robes Platform boots (kothornoi) Chorus could be in costume (comedy)

 The most salient feature

All parts by men, so mask depicted gender Acted as a megaphone Voice inflection paramount

Multiple Masks = Multiple Characters

Only three actors More than three speaking roles, need for costume and mask change Oedipus and his eyes

 Any male could attend

Women most likely able to attend Aeschylus Furies

State funded attendance

Cost was the average daily wage of a laborer Theoric Fund
Never suspended, even when Athens in dire straights Supplied public tickets

Must-see TV

 Catharsis learning through suffering Moderation is to be sought in all things, even good things The mighty fall so far that we admire them for being so high A spiritual cleansing of the audience Performances emotional

 Characteristics of a tragic hero:

Undergoes a morally significant struggle that ends disastrously. Essentially a superior person who is treated sympathetically (we like him in spite of what the hero might do) His destiny or choice is to go down fighting rather than submit and thus pluck a moral victory from a physical defeat. Not all good or all bad (very human) Has a high, respected position to ignominy or unhappiness or death.

 Hamartia some defect in the tragic character that helps cause his own ruin. For the Greeks this flaw is hubris (excessive pride). The flaw may seem to be jealousy, anger, ambition, etc., but it will always be because the character thinks himself too superior in some way. Because of this hubris, whatever happens to the tragic hero is not all undeserved.

1. Reversal of situation (peripety) good begins to slide or go bad 2. Recognition (a.k.a. epiphany) discovery of the critical fact the hero realizes his own flaw has brought him to this low point. 3. Scene of suffering destructive or painful action such as a death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, etc. (the suffering and final submission of the hero)

 2 Main types of drama: tragedy and comedy. Theatrical events were performed annually at the festival of Dionysus, which lasted 5 or 6 days: the Dionysus. Going to the theater was to take part in a religious ritual. Competition among writers: Each author submitted 4 plays (tetralogy) to be performed in one day (3 tragedies trilogy and a satyr play.

 Plots were religious and drawn from mythology (dealt with the relationship between humans and the divine). Actors wore masks, costumes, and raised shoes. Audiences were familiar with the stories. Knowing the story allowed for dramatic irony (situations or speeches that have one meaning to the plays characters but another for the audience, who knows more than the character about a given situation).

 Open air theater - The theater of Dionysus in Athens had more than 17,000 seats. Theatron the seats for the audience were arranged like a horseshoe in rising tiers. Orchestra circular area at ground level. Thymele an altar in the center of the orchestra to Dionysus on which sacrifices were made.

 Skene the scene building on the side of the orchestra that had a backdrop with doors for entrances and exits. Proscenium the level area in front of the skene for action of the play. Technical equipment:
Eccyclema wheeled platform rolled out of the skene to reveal action that had taken place indoors (very violent scenes) The machine mechanical contrivance to lower gods to the proscenium from the top of the skene. Devices to imitate lightening and thunder. Painted scenery.

The Greek Outdoor Amphitheatre

Two major performance areas-

The Orchestra or Dancing Circle

served as the primary acting area

The Skene (scene building)consisted of a building behind the orchestra probably used as a dressing room, later to be integrated into the stage action by an innovative playwright.

Greek Scenic Devices

Periaktoia revolving triangular devices with one scene painted on each side.

Deus ex MachinaGod From the Machine

The Machina- a crane that was used to represent characters who were flying or lifted off of the earth.
Tunnel from behind the Skene to the center of the stage. Scenic wagons revealed through doors on the Skene. Pinakes painted panels that could be attached to the skene.

 Time 24 hours for the action of the play. Place no change of scenery Action no subplot (an action which happens elsewhere is told by another character)

1. Prologue introductory section that gives the background (usually expository rather than dramatic) 2. Parados entrance of chorus; chorus chants more background to the story. 3. Episodes and Stasimon Action begins with the first episode (usually 5 episodes) followed by a parados (chorus). The choral odes are called stasima.

1.

2.

Exodus the final action of the play. 2 features: messenger speech and the deus ex machina, in which the deity is brought in to intervene in the action. Chorus there is always a chorus in Greek tragedy. Chorus fulfills several functions:
1. 2. Members sang, danced and played instruments Ideal audience responding to the action as the poet intended. Modulated the atmosphere and tone (representative of typical Athenian citizens conservative but not submissive) Questions new characters as to origin or purpose Choral odes showed the passage of time.

3.
4. 5.