1. Ancient Greek Theatre

6. Greek Theatre By the 5 th century B.C., drama was at its Golden Age Dramatic festivals and contests were the center of cultural life in Athens. The Dionysia was an annual festival held in honor of Dionysus. – 4-day extravaganza – March or April – Theater of Dionysus – 15,000 people gathered to watch variety of plays

7. Ancient Greek Theater https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAM 3PzGcow (5:31)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNAM 3PzGcow

8. Ancient Greek Theater Questions 1.Greeks built the theater in honor of what? 2.What was a huge part of Greek theater and performance? 3.List two reasons the Greek theater was designed/built the way it was. 4.Draw a sketch of what the theater looked like.

9. Who were the Greek Gods? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJCm8 W5RZeshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJCm8 W5RZes

10. 3 Types of Plays Three prominent types of plays emerged from the Greeks – Tragedy – Comedy – Satyre (Satires)

11. Satyrs (Satires) Also created by the Greeks A mix of tragedy and comedy, often called “tragicomedy” Often performed at The Dionysia after hours of tragedies were performed, in order to lighten the mood Often poked fun at the gods/goddesses Examples of where we get idea for shows today – Saturday Night Live – Mad TV – In Living Color

12. Comedy Comedies for the Greeks are not what we consider comedies today A comedy in Greek theatre was a play where you could laugh at someone’s blunders or mistakes but it did not cause serious pain or death (according to Aristotle) In other words, no one dies.

13. Tragedy A tragedy is a serious drama featuring a main character, often of noble birth, who strives to achieve something and is ultimately defeated.  The defeat could come from outside forces, or an inner character flaw or weakness called the tragic flaw (something you are born with).

14. Tragedy Tragedies evolved around the 5 th century Oedpius Rex is one of Sophocles’ three “Theban plays”—or, three tragedies about King Oedipus. –Antigone (442 B.C.) –Oedipus Rex (c. 429 B.C.) –Oedipus at Colonus (406 B.C.)

15. Interesting Notes Greek tragedies never used more than 3 main actors in a play. – Actors would change masks in order to represent a different character The chorus was made up of 15 dancer-singers. Women did not act in the plays. Actors who had tragic roles were elevated over others.

16. Interesting Notes Most Greek tragedies have a formal structure – Prologue—the opening scene – Parados—the first of Chorus’s lyric songs (odes) – Alternation of dialogue and choral odes – Exodus—concluding scene

17. Parados example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD8rm XwG9ZQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD8rm XwG9ZQ

18. Greek Theater Terminology Dialogue – conversation between 2 or more characters Scene – a stage setting Orchestra – the semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus. Choragus – the leader of the chorus Chorus – a company of performers whose singing, dancing, and narration, provided explanation and elaboration of the main character.

19. Chorus example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvpiw D7SHSU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvpiw D7SHSU

20. Sophocles Developed form of tragedy to a high art Plays focused on humans under the influence of the gods Stories taught moral and social lessons Oedipus Cycle: –Told the story of a great king who violated the rules of the gods (and society)

22. Sources Great Buildings On Line: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Theater_at_Epidauros.html