Ancient Greece.  ANCIENT GREECE   developments: “Western Civilization”  history  politics ( theory, democracy )  architecture  sculpture  philosophy.

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Presentation transcript:

Ancient Greece

 ANCIENT GREECE

  developments: “Western Civilization”  history  politics ( theory, democracy )  architecture  sculpture  philosophy  medicine  mathematics  …  theater ANCIENT GREECE

  landscape:  mountains  plains  1/3 of Greece is/was rock  (can’t grow/graze)  desolation, separation, isolation  customs, laws, traditions ANCIENT GREECE

  geographic isolation   political/cultural individuation (city states)   governmental decentralization   external war & internal competition ANCIENT GREECE

  staples:  grain  olive  grape/vine (*DIONYSUS*)  fish  sea:  easier means of travel  fish  city-states = “like frogs […] around a pond” (Plato)  strong navy (Athens) ANCIENT GREECE

  First Invasion: Darius the Great  Battle of Marathon (490 BC), Athenian victory  Second Invasion: Xerxes I  (480 BC)  Darius’ son, successor  Battle of Thermopylae  (Leonidas & the 300 Spartans)  Battle of Salamis (greatest naval battle) PERSIAN INVASION

  city = burnt by Persian during war  naval superpower  relatively free of eastern domination (Persian Empire)   relatively unified Greece  celebration  young Sophocles led Chorus  see Chorus in Antigone for tone ATHENS

  Athens = Greek center  of culture, art, intellectual development, philosophy  demanded tribute from allies  money  ships  once voluntary/necessary, now compulsory  money used to fund  navy  architecture  public festivals   (1) RURAL DIONYSUS  (2) LENAEA  (3) CITY DIONYSIA ATHENS

 (1) RURAL DIONYSUS  mid-winter  stresses Dionysus as god of fertility  “Leader of Chorus” = headman in village  “tragedy” = “goat song”  goat = sacrificed on 1st day  goat = awarded on last day 3 MAIN FESTIVALS

 (2) LENAEA  January  merrymaking  Greek Comedy  post-harvest celebration  “satyrs” =  half-men, half-goats  attendants of Dionysus  their antics + rough horseplay of other village festivals  “comedy” = comos, revel or masquerade 3 MAIN FESTIVALS

 (3) *CITY DIONYSUS*  *all extant plays from this festival  Athens  in late March, early April  compulsorily attendance by ALL  attended by official representatives of federated & allied states 3 MAIN FESTIVALS

 DIONYSUS  god of the woods  vegetation god, the life-spirit of all green vegetation (ivy, pine, vine)  the Maenads = ecstatic women followers  masked or the mask itself (as portrayed in vase paintings)  worship = ecstatic possession, loss of identity in communal dance & wine  “rave-like” quality  wine  dance  orgies  ecstasy, rapture CITY DIONYSUS

 DIONYSUS  How do we move from fertility rites to theatrical productions?  ????  masks  loss of identity  singing & dancing  "democratic"  unlike other deities  late to the Greek pantheon  not in temples, but in woods  Dionysus = one of the people  popular rather than aristocratic figure  connected to anti-aristocratic move  received official status under burgeoning democracy (under which theatre blossomed)  dramatic performance = act of art & worship CITY DIONYSUS

  every spring  late March, early April  in honor of Dionysus  his statue was brought from the temple (in the theatre district) to “watch” the plays  “reserved seating” for priests of Dionysus  Day 1:  procession through the city  actors wore stage clothes, but no masks  Day 2-4:  devoted to tragedies  (later, would begin at dawn)  Day 5:  devoted to comedies  (later, comedies moved to evenings after tragedies) CITY DIONYSUS

  PRESIDING OFFICERS  received plays from poets  chose 3 plays to be performed  assigned a leading actor & patron to poets  PATRON: (“ choregus ”)  wealthy member of the community  paid all costs of production (as part of his civic duties) CITY DIONYSUS

  AUTHOR: 1) composed all the music 2) arranged the dances (choreographer) 3) trained the Chorus ( until specialists took over ) 4) chief actor ( until actors increased in number & importance ) CITY DIONYSUS

  AUTHOR:  TRAGEDIANS:  each had to submit 3 plays  trilogy on a theme OR 3 plays on a theme  plus, “satyr play”  bawdy comic comment on the theme of the tragedies  link to past early worship of Dionysus (religious element)  COMEDIANS:  limited to 1 play each CITY DIONYSUS

  “OSCARS”:  Best Production (good patron)  Best Comedy  Best Tragedy  Best Tragic Actor CITY DIONYSUS

 DITHYRAMBS:  lyric hymns  lyric = medium of emotional expression  sung & danced  by a chorus of 50 men  in honor/praise of Dionysus  flute accompaniment CITY DIONYSUS

 DITHYRAMBS:  changes in the dithyramb:  performance:  originally = frenzied improvisations (ecstasy)  Arion = 7 th -century poet who developed the dithyramb into a formalized narrative sung by the Chorus  themes  from the life & worship of Dionysus  to tales of demi-gods & heroes, legendary ancestors of the Greeks  wars, feuds, marriages, adulteries, destinies of posterity/children (HOUSES) CITY DIONYSUS

  CIVIC DUTY:  active in politics, public affairs  serve in military  attend festival  participate in festival  as organizer, director, Chorus member  ARCHON = festival director, organizer  CHOREGOS =  rich private citizen  chorus director, trainer  paid for rich costuming…out of his own pocket  not like Hollywood’s producers  but were chosen by public officials  “a form of enlightened taxation” (21) CITY DIONYSUS

 AUDIENCE:  14-15,000 spectators  sat in theatron  emotionally involved in Tragic Hero – a person like themselves  from “congregation” to “audience” CITY DIONYSUS

 AUDIENCE:  familiar w/stories, myths, legends from Oral Tradition  used for shock, surprise by changing part of the story  OR  used for DRAMATIC IRONY  audience knows what the character does not  gives Audience a god-like perspective  an omniscience, on the side of Destiny, Fate  knowledge of past & future  sees character’s actions/words against the backdrop of their destinies  gives them insight into the human condition  while life = unpredictable & suffering seems indeterminate/indiscriminating/unfair  yet there is a divine plan, a fairness, an order to it all  ( see THEME #2 below ) CITY DIONYSUS

 THEATER:  open-air amphitheater  see each other, actors, cityscape  (1) ORCHESTRA  center of the theater  circular dancing area  singing, dancing area  action  religious rites  the center of the orchestra = ALTAR (dedicated to Dionysus) CITY DIONYSUS

 THEATER:  (2) SKENE  means “tent” or “hut”  the backstage area & backdrop  changing rooms, entrances, exits  from which we get “scenery” (painted backdrop)  “PROSKENE”  area between the altar & skene  raised acting area, wooden stage  precursor of proscenium stage CITY DIONYSUS

 THEATER:  (3) THEATRON  “embankment”  seating area for the audience  tiered benches  seating for 14-15k  side of a hill CITY DIONYSUS

 THEATER: CITY DIONYSUS

 ACTORS:  priests  professional actors  masks  made of cork or linen  covered full head & hair  not grotesque caricatures  but realistic, naturalistic representations  of types  bearded king, old man, young girl  masks  NO facial expressions  word + gesture = characterization  (pantomime) CITY DIONYSUS

 THESPIS: (6th century BC)  **1st actor:  detached himself from the Chorus  added speech of actor to the songs & dances of Chorus  engaged in dialogue with Chorus  as a god or hero  1st manager, too  *1st unsanctified person who dared to assume the character of a god  (previously, only priests & kings, partly deified)1 st actor  “thespian” “thespian arts” “robes of Thespis”  leader of a dithyrambic chorus  from Icaria (eventually arrives in Athens)  *traveling stage> cart: floor & tailboard = improvised stage CITY DIONYSUS

 THESPIS’ changes lead to:  independent development of an “actor”  actors = choose plays, “servants of Dionysus” only by tradition  move away from temple (though always near)  *audience:  still conscious of religious significance of play  but play = work of art  play = entertainment (eventually)  spectators became “audience” not “congregation”  2 nd (Aeschylus) & 3 rd actors (Sophocles)  development of  dramatic narrative (between actor & Chorus)  dramatic relationship (between actors)  dramatic conflict (actor against actor)  complication of plot, characterization  * limits role of the Chorus (to commentator) CITY DIONYSUS

 CHORUS:  50, 24, 10, 12, 15 men  50 = 5 men from 10 Athenian tribes  Athenian citizens, not trained actors  citizen amateurs who represented their own tribes  civic pride to participate in the competition  represented singular identity (Theban elders, e.g.), although anonymous CITY DIONYSUS

 CHORUS:  surrogate for audience  expressing emotions, offering opinions, asking questions – that the average theater-goer may raise  vox humana  the mouthpiece of the people  function = emotional bridge between audience & actors CITY DIONYSUS

 CHORUS:  sang & danced the dithyramb  left-over from the religious ceremonies  from sole participant  to active participant  to narrator  spoke in a conventional Doric dialect  later, interacted with the actor/s  Koryphaios: Leader of the Chorus  Other functions:  exposition  thematic clarification, pronouncement CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYWRIGHTS:  (1) composed all the music  (2) arranged the dances (choreographer)  (3) trained the Chorus ( until specialists took over)  (4) chief actor ( until actors increased in number & importance)  each submitted 3 tragedies + 1 satyr play (comedy)  tragedy = trilogy OR related on theme  satyr play = lighthearted play on the connected tragedies  3 playwrights, 3 plays, 3 days  sometimes playwrights = actors  (Aeschylus, Sophocles for a while) CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYS: Tragedy  “tragedy” = “goat song”  goat sacrificed on 1st day  goat awarded on last day  more esteemed than Comedy  key aspect of theatre’s development  topics  number of plays  time of day  awards  start of day  CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYS: Tragedy  start at sun rise (focus of the day)  3 plays  trilogy  OR related on theme CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYS: Tragedy  Topic = related to legendary past ( not contemporary issues or people )  heroes, legends, myths  from Oral Tradition  historical  myths = only type of “history” they had  poetical  characters = symbols of human existence (death, ambitions, fears, …)  religious  relationship of the gods to men  explore the mysteries of divine purpose CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYS: Comedy  at the end of the day  satyr play  related to the themes of the Tragedies  Topic =  treatment of contemporary themes, issues, people  often ridiculing current person  ribald, frank “social satire” CITY DIONYSUS

 PLAYS: Attributes  (1) religious  to honor Dionysus  (2) civic  competition between tribes  civic duty & pride  (3) political  war orphans  democratic attributes  Theater = Democratic  inclusive  prizes awarded by 10 judges  judges = elected at start by lots  judges = sworn to impartiality  attendance = part of civic duty & pride  chorus = 50 men (5 from each of the 10 tribes of Attica) CITY DIONYSUS

 PELOPONNESIAN WARS:  BC  Athens (& allies) vs. Sparta (& allies)  tired of Athenian dominance  Athens surrenders by starvation  “pyrrhic victory” – both = too weak to defend themselves  Macedonian Invasion shortly thereafter END of GOLDEN AGE in GREECE