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Greek Theatre History.

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Presentation on theme: "Greek Theatre History."— Presentation transcript:

1 Greek Theatre History

2 Greek Theatre Grew out of religious ceremonies (rituals), which were prominent features of Greek society Ceremonies included funeral services, festivals celebrating the seasons, and ceremonies honoring the gods City Dionysia held a festival in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility

3 Festival of Dionysia Many believe that Greek drama originated in the dithyrambic chorus presented to honor Dionysus Dithyramb – a lengthy hymn, sung and danced by a group of 50 men (chorus) Chorus – group of men, elders that represented the voice of society There were 4 plays performed at the festival: 3 tragedies and 1 comedy

4 Greek Tragedy Tragedy – means “goat song” in Greek
The protagonist (main character) in a tragedy, usually does not reach his goal so tragedies have sad endings Tragedies are based on myths, which are stories or legends sometimes based on fact, which are handed down from generation to generation Three Greek tragedy playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes

5 Thespis Greek tragic playwright
Is credited with transforming the dithyramb into tragedy Added the first actor (hypokrite) to the play Hypokrite – means an actor speaking behind a mask Thespians (actors) are named for Thespis

6 Aeschylus “Father” of tragedy Added second actor to plays
Reduced the chorus from 50 to 12 men Wrote about gods

7 Sophocles Wrote about heroes Added the third actor to plays
Added dramatic action and defined plot structure Wrote 110 plays; 7 survived Most noted works: Oedipus Rex and Antigone

8 Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Ideal tragedy Tragic story of a man in search of truth Fate has preordained that Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother

9 Euripides Playwright who questioned life
Wrote about man not gods or heroes; more interested in human problems rather than religious interests Emphasized human relationships and emotions Reduced importance of the chorus Most famous play was Medea, a tragedy about a woman who seeks revenge on her unfaithful husband by killing their children

10 Medea by Euripides Most famous play was Medea, a tragedy about a woman who seeks revenge on her unfaithful husband by killing their children

11 Aristophanes Greek Comedy playwright Wrote 40 plays
Combined satire, wit and farce (slapstick comedy) to create the Greek comedy form Nothing was sacred – made fun of everyone and everthing Most famous play Lysistrata; women try to stop war by refusing to sleep with their husbands until they quit fighting

12 Lysistrata by Aristophanes
Most famous play Lysistrata; women try to stop war by refusing to sleep with their husbands until they quit fighting

13 Aristotle Greek philosopher
Published The Poetics, guideline for the arts Established six elements of drama: Plot Character Theme Language (Dialogue) Music (what you hear) Spectacle (what you see)

14 Conventions of Greek Theatre
No violence on stage Men played all the roles Only 3 main actors on stage at all times; these actors played multiple roles wearing masks Audience included all social classes Audience learned lessons from the plays Catharsis – purging of emotions – the audience feared the same thing that happened to the protagonist would happen to them

15 More Conventions Masks - Actors wore masks to change characters
Large stylized movements were needed to help audience understand the plot Periaktoi – 3-sided scenic unit to change scenery

16 More Conventions Special effects –
Ekkylema – a wagon used to bring characters onstage; often to reveal the results of offstage violence Deus ex machina – crane hidden behind the upper level of the skene; used for the entrance of the actor playing a god

17 Greek Play Structure Prologos – opening scene which begins the action and provides background information Parados – the chorus enters Choral ode – performed by the chorus Exodus – final scene in which all the characters exit from the stage

18 Theatre and Stage Area Orchestra – the circular playing space where the actors performed Parados – the entrance way for the chorus Proskenion – the bottom level of the skene or stage house Skene – the scene house behind the orchestra; used to present several locales; actors changed their costumes behind the skene Theatron – “viewing place”; where audience sat

19 Greek Theatre


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