1. How Greek Drama Grew Out of Religious Ritual

2. Religious Ritual
Greek drama grew out of a religious ritual that honored Dionysus the god of wine and fertility
Dionysian celebrations became an annual festival with hymn singing and wild flute playing
Performances took place in Athens (present day Athens, Greece) in a large amphitheater
Thespis transformed these hymns into songs that honored Dionysus
Ancient Greek theater of Epidaurus

3. Innovations of Thepis 4th – 5th c. BCE 4th – 5th c. BCE
A chorus member would step forward and play the part of a hero or god
The actor wore a mask and entered into dialogue with the chorus
This actor wore a mask with an exaggerated mouthpiece that amplified the actor’s voice
These masks portrayed characters which were easily recognizable to the audience
All actors were men and the choruses were well-trained boys.
4th – 5th c. BCE

4. A Tragic Myth: The House of Thebes
A myth is an old story rooted in a particular society. A myth often explains human suffering in terms of the workings of the gods, of fates that cannot be avoided, or curses that haunt generations.
Antigone is a part of an old myth; it is The Myth of Oedipus.

5. The Myth of Oedipus
King Laios and Queen Jocasta of Thebes learned from the oracle that their newborn son would kill his father and marry his mother.
The King and Queen gave the baby to a shepherd with orders to leave the baby, ankles pinned together, abandoned at the side of the road. The shepherd took pity on the baby and instead gave him to a Corinthian shepherd who in turn gave him to a childless king and queen of Corinth who named it Oedipus (“swollen foot” or “club foot”).
Later in life, Oedipus was able to save Thebes from a Sphinx that had been destroying the city. The Sphinx would continue to destroy the city until someone could answer this riddle: What creature goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?
Oedipus successfully solved the riddle……….MAN who crawls on all fours as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, and leans on a cane in old age.

6. Oedipus was welcomed as a hero in Thebes
Laios their king had recently been killed
Thebans offered Oedipus the throne and the widowed Jocasta, as his bride
It was unknown to them that Oedipus was actually her son
Oedipus and Jocasta had four children: Polyneices, Eteocles, and daughters Antigone and Ismene.
Oedipus finally discovered that he had killed his father and married his mother, so the prophecy of the oracle and come true
When Jocasta discovered the horrible truth, she killed herself and Oedipus gouged out his own eyes
When Creon took over as ruler of Thebes, he exiled Oedipus
Oedipus wandered the countryside as a beggar with his daughter Antigone
Antigone returned to Thebes where her brothers eventually killed each other. Creon gave his ally Eteocles a hero’s burial and Polyneices was denied burial rites condemning him to eternal unrest

7. Conscience vs. Authority
When we feel that those in power are morally wrong, do we break their laws, or do we collaborate with them by obeying? Examples:
Holocaust
Japanese Internment Camps in the U.S.
Segregation
What other examples are there?

8. “I depict men as they ought to be….” Sophocles
496 ? – 406 B.C.E. Athens
He saw Greek culture at its height and at its decline
Won numerous prizes for his plays
He was extremely famous and well respected
He moved away from using exaggerated actions and instead relied on psychological depth
He broke the tradition of using only two actors
He reduced the role of the chorus and placed more emphasis on the actors
He used the chorus to establish tone
He wrote the most influential drama ever written Oedipus the King

9. Traditional Greek Theater

10. Orchestra or “dancing place”, chorus, and skene (for storing costumes
but later used as scenery).

11. The Typical Greek Tragedy
Prologue – exposition or opening speech
Parados – the chorus makes its first entrance and gives its perspective on what the audience has learned in the prologue
Episodia (several episodes) – heated debates that dramatizes the play’s conflicts
Stasimon (choral ode) – chorus responds to and interprets the preceding dialogue
Exodus (last scene and resolution) – follows the final episode