2. Sophocles The Greatest of Greek Playwrights

3. 496 – 406 BC ? Wrote 120 tragedies Festival of Dionysus Moral lesson
Introduced painted sets
“Theban Tragedies”
40 years
King Oedipus of Thebes
Started with Antigone

4. The Greeks…

5. Characteristics of the CHORUS
15 men
Sang lyric poetry
Performing was regarded as a civic duty
Wore robes and masks

6. Function of the CHORUS Often the voice of reason in the play
Reflected upon what happened
Asked or answered questions
Advised central characters
Separated scenes of action

8. Terms for Greek Theatre
Antistrophe
Strophe
Choragos
Ode
Orchestra
Parados
Paean
Prologue
Skene
Theatron
Thespian
Tragedy (see Aristotle)

9. The Greeks… Were notable for clarity of thought
Symmetrical, logical, balanced = UNITY
The Golden Mean
Purpose of drama was to entertain, educate and raise questions
Ambiguous: what is right? Wrong?

10. Aristotle: The Poetics
Mimesis: tragedies are imitations of real life
Plot is all important: a cause-and-effect chain of actions
The plot can not depend of coincidences

11. FORM is IMPORTANT There must be complete UNITY: Climax
Time
Place
Action
Climax
Rising Action Falling Action
Inciting Incident
Exposition Denouement
(Freytag’s Pyramid)

12. Aristotle: The Poetics
Desis: the character makes a choice
The rising action that leads to the climax must be caused directly by the character’s choices.
The resolution (lusis) must solve or resolve the problem created during the inciting incident.

13. Aristotle and Tragedy
The more richness and themes, the greater the value
Think of your different lenses and Ethan Frome (many themes)
Aristotle argues for BOTH a reversal of fortune (peripeteia) and a moment of recognition (anagnorisis)

14. Aristotle: THE POETICS
The function of tragedy is to arouse pity and fear in the audience so that we may be purged, or cleansed, of these unsettling emotions - Catharsis
Tragic Hero
Hamartia: flaw in the
character (tragic flaw)

15. Why read TRAGEDY? Strength of character Perseverance Courage
Inspiration
The dignity of the human spirit

16. According to Aristotle:
Aristotle hypothesizes that the audience will be bale to cleanse themselves of the same flaws as the characters (catharsis)
Aristotle’s theory of Tragedy intends to teach the audience about themselves by showing the dangers of not knowing themselves.

17. Oedipus Rex