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Introduction to Greek Drama

Introduction to Greek Drama. Origins:. The ancient Greeks believed that the gods held great influence over the lives of humans; this was the basis of their most enduring invention: The tragic drama.

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Introduction to Greek Drama

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  1. Introduction to Greek Drama

  2. Origins: • The ancient Greeks believed that the gods held great influence over the lives of humans; this was the basis of their most enduring invention: The tragic drama. • The tragic dramas were performed over the course of three days at the major annual festival held in honor of the god Dionysus. • These plays were presented in ancient Athens as part of a drama contest. • Women were not allowed to attend.

  3. Dionysus • In Greek religion and mythology, god of fertility and wine. • It was believed that he could endow man with divine creativity.

  4. Tragedy vs. Comedy • TRAGEDY is a drama which concerns better than average people (heroes, kings, gods) who suffer a transition from good fortune to bad fortune. • COMEDY concerns average, or below average, people (people like you and me) who enjoy a transition from bad circumstances to good (but not too good) and who speak everyday language. A comedy does not mean funny. It means happy.

  5. Purpose • Drama began in the Greek world as a form of religious ritual. • Dramas often explain: • The relationship of the human to the divine (gods) • The relationship of the human world to the Natural world

  6. The Theater (don’t write this down) • The theatre consisted of a large circular orchestra, or dancing-floor, for the chorus. • The chorus (from 12-15 people) sang and danced; their leader might engage in dialogue with the actors; they were always men, masked and in costume.

  7. Theatres Continued… • Theatres were more than 60 feet wide from wing to wing. It was also 60 feet from the front of the stage to the first row of spectators. This room is about 20 feet from the door to the window. • Actors had to be heard by spectators (30,000) three hundred feet from the front of the stage, in the last row of seats.

  8. Seats Orchestra

  9. Drama Masks

  10. Purpose of the masks: • Identify Characters • Unity (Chorus) • Emotion • Volume / projection • Exaggeration (Distance)

  11. Importance of burial (Write this) • To the ancient Greeks, death was the gateway to the afterlife, and a funeral was an essential rite of passage to help the traveler on his or her way. • Remembrance of the dead ensured their immortality, and was deemed so important that childless people adopted heirs to take care of their funeral arrangements.

  12. Burial continued… They believed the gods insisted on proper funerals and would be offended by anything less. Charon, ferryman of the dead, only accepted those buried or cremated with formal rites, and demanded the customary toll for ferrying them across the river Styx (the river that separated the living from the dead). Those turned away were denied peace and doomed to wander the banks of the Styx for 100 years.

  13. Burial continued… • It was a crime to speak ill of the dead, tell lies about them or fail to perform funeral rites. • However, the authorities had the power to deny full funeral rites to outlaws. • This caused a conflict between the need to obey sacred laws requiring burial and the need for the laws of men to keep control of society.

  14. Aristotle’s Definition of a Tragic Hero384-322 B.C. (written 2,300 years ago!) Six Traits Write them down!

  15. The hero must be noble stature and have greatness of some sort. He or she must be from a high social status, and must have nobility and virtue as part of his or her character. 1

  16. Though the tragic hero is great, he or she cannot be perfect. The audience needs to see him/her as someone who is essentially like “us”. 2

  17. The hero’s downfall is wholly or partially his/her own fault. It is usually due to an error in judgment. 3

  18. Usually, the character’s tragic flaw (aka: hamartia) is due to “hubris” or excessive pride or arrogance. 4

  19. The hero’s misfortune is not wholly deserved – the punishment is worse than the crime. The punishment cannot be pure loss – the hero learns something from the events. 5

  20. Though it makes the audience sad, the fate of the hero should not leave the audience depressed. The function of tragedy is to leave the audience with a feeling of “catharsis” or a cleansing of emotions. 6

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