1. Classical Greek Drama OR
Really Old Plays

2. Classical Drama
The drama of ancient Greece and Rome. It arose in Athens from religious celebrations in honor of the Greek god Dionysus (god of wine and arts)

3. Thousands of people attended these festivals
The Theater
Performed during the day in an outdoor theater built into the side of a hill
Thousands of people attended these festivals

4. Characteristics of Theater
Skene: long building built into the hill that served as both a dressing room and a backdrop
Orchestra: a spacious floor located between the skene and the audience
Theatron: where the audience sat to watch the plays

5. Actors All men Wore robes, elevated shoes, and huge masks
Three men played all of the main parts
Between scenes they would change masks in the skene when they needed to play other characters

6. Chorus A group of about 15 men who comment on the action
The choragus, or leader of the chorus, participates in the dialogue, talking to the main characters.
They danced and sang the commentary between scenes while the actors were changing masks.

7. Aristotle’s Definition of Tragedy
Must evoke pity because the audience must feel sorry for the tragic hero.
Must evoke fear because they realize that the hero’s struggles are part of human life.
At the end, the audience should feel a sense of waste because a great person’s life has been destroyed.

8. Characteristics of Tragedy
Recounts the downfall of a dignified, superior character, or tragic hero.
The tragic hero has a hamartia, also known as a tragic flaw, a weakness or error that contributes to his or her ruin.

9. Myths and Legends
The subjects of Greek tragedy are myths, traditional stories about gods and goddesses.
Another subject of Greek tragedy are legends, stories about people believed to have once lived. Antigone is derived from a Theban legend.

10. Sophocles Author of Antigone in 441 BC (estimated)
Considered one of the best Greek playwrights
Wrote 123 dramas, only 7 survive

11. Sophocles Sophocles was ground breaking because he:
Changed Greek tragedy by adding a third actor
Increased the size of the chorus
Added backdrops and props to the plays

12. Antigone
Antigone is the story of a sister who defies the king to bury her brother, allowing him to move on to the afterlife.
The play will examine themes of civil disobedience, pride and morals.

13. Civil Disobedience
:refusal to obey governmental demands or commands, especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.
Abstract noun