GREEK THEATRE

1. GREEK THEATRE

2. Religon and theatre were connected for the Greeks, theatre celebrated the god Dionysus Dionysus was the son of Zeus and a mortal, raised by satyrs (goat men), he was killed and dismembered and then resurrected as a god, he is linked to fertility, wine, and revelry(having a good time).

3. THESPIS • 1st Actor • Performed in the earliest known theatrical contest in Athens • The term THESPIAN comes from his name (To be an actor or to be involved in theatre in any way, then you are one) INTERNATIONAL THESPIAN SOCIETY (Honors Program in High School) *BEFORE THESPIS there was just the chorus – he made it so that an actor would stand apart from the Chorus

4. TRAGEDY COMES from two Greek Words TRAGOS (meaning “goat”) and ODE (meaning “song”) --Dionysius always hung out with satyrs (or goat men) – so the name is honor of his favorite “people”

5. Festival of Dionysus • Created to worship Dionysus • In Athens, Greece twice a year • Three finalists would compete for best play

6. Writing Assignment - *Write under your notes about the Festival of Dionysus IF you were a Greek god, and the people of Athens created a festival for you, what activities would they do and what type of food would they eat? Write 3 sentences describing your festival **Be prepared to share, Ms. K will use the popsicle sticks to pick one person at random.

7. STRUCTURE OF A GREEK TRAGEDY 1. Prologue – summary of events that occurred before. 2. Parodos– entrance of chorus – introduce the chorus, gives information about what has happened, and sets the mood of the play. 3. Episodes – 3 to 6 with choral interludes in between each one, develop the main action 4. Exodus – Concluding scene, included the departure of all the characters and chorus

8. Writing Assignment: *under your notes about the parts of a greek tragedy *Using what we just learned about what a Prologue you will write your own based on the following story: *Remember the Prologue is usually a monologue or a scene between just a few people –know who/whom is speaking this monologue and why it is important to them* This is the story of one courageous rug, who went on an adventure through the wash after being pooped on by the family dog. ***Be prepared to share – Ms. K will pick two people using the popsicle sticks.

9. Scenes of death and physical violence almost always happened off stage, they would bring in a cart with the bodies or reveal the bodies after it happened. • Actors were not full time actors, they performed for the festivals and that was it. • Emphasis for acting was on the voice, vocal beauty was very important to the Greeks. • All of the actors and chorus members wore masks, which increased the emphasis of using body and voice to perform.

10. GREEK TRAGEDY – Greek Gods*Write down the answers as we go over them • Name a few Greek Gods • Why does each Greek God have a different area that they control? Why? • Why did the Ancient Greeks believe that they were just puppets for the gods’ will? • How do you think this affected their everyday life? **NOW LETS MEET AGAMEMNON and his FAMILY – and learn more about their story and how they angered the gods

11. AGAMEMNON ATREUS _______________________________________________THYESTES AGAMEMNON______________________________MENELAUS m. CLYTEMNESTRA m. HELEN _______________________ IPHIGENIA ORESTES Chain of Crimes: • Thyestes seduced Areus’ wife. • Atreus killed Thyestes young children and gave him them as meat to eat. • Helen left her husband Menelaus for Paris, prince of Troy, which caused the whole war with the Trojans. • Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to promote the Trojan War.

12. At the end of AGAMEMNON---- Clytemnestra and her lover murder Agamemnon In the next play – Orestes kills his mother and her lover and breaks the blood curse on his family