2. Performed for special occasions Festivals Competitive Prizes awarded to best actors and playwrights Choral Singing involved Religious Stories based on myths or history Greek gods invoked throughout plays

3. Festival of Dionysus Yearly festival Groups would perform for prizes Semicircular theater Seats on the hillside Stage located at the bottom of hill Up to 14,000 people in the audience

4. Actors wore masks Large mouthpieces that amplified voice Mask styles reflected character's status: king, servant, etc. Actors were all men

5. Purpose of tragedy: “to arouse pity and fear in the audience so that we may be purged, or cleansed, of these unsettling emotions” ( World Drama 8). Tragic hero Rich, well-liked, admired Better than the audience yet still fails Hero has Hubris = arrogant pride Hero has Harmantia = tragic flaw

6. Wrote 92 plays in his lifetime Rarely won first place in play competitions Became more popular after his death Thus, his manuscripts were copied and preserved. References to his work in medieval and Renaissance literature

7. Usually focused on controversial issues, challenging traditional views Plays do not follow typical dramatic style Used minor myths or changed major myths Less poetic language than other Greek playwrights More realistic characterizations and dialogue

8. Medea: granddaughter of sun god Helios, has magic powers Medea meets Jason Helps him obtain golden fleece in exchange for his promise to marry her Uses her magic to help Jason obtain fleece and take revenge on his father's half-brother Pelias After killing Pelias, Medea and Jason (now married), go to Corinth, where this play is set.

9. World Drama. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston. http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/ancien tgreek.htm