1. The Golden Age of Ancient Greek Theatre
the origins of drama

2. The Origins Of Drama
Created to celebrate Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, and ritual madness and ecstasy. 
He was also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans

3. drama
The term comes from a Greek word dran meaning "action," which is derived from “to do.”

4. Thespian
from the name Thespis, the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play

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

6. Functions of the chorus
an agent: gives advice, asks, takes part
establishes ethical framework, sets up standard by which action will be judged
ideal spectator - reacts as playwright hopes audience would
sets mood and heightens dramatic effects
adds movement, spectacle, song, and dance
rhythmical function - pauses / paces the action so that the audience can reflect.

7. The Theatre of Dionysus
The first plays were performed in the Theatre of Dionysus, built in the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens at the beginning of the 5th century
These theatres proved to be so popular they soon spread all over Greece.

8. Amphitheatres Plays were performed out-of-doors.
The side of the mountain was scooped out into a bowl shape, something like our amphitheatres today, and tiers of stone seats in concentric semi-circles were built on the hill.
These theatres often seated as many as 20,000 spectators, with a special first row being reserved for dignitaries.

10. Theatron
The theatron (literally, "viewing-place") is where the spectators sat. The theatron was usually part of hillside overlooking the orchestra and often wrapped around a large portion of the orchestra.

11. Orchestra The orchestra (literally, "dancing space") was normally
circular. It was
a level space
where the chorus
would dance, sing,
and interact with
the actors who were on the stage (called the Proskenion - proh-SKAY-nee-on) in front of the skene. In the center of the orchestra there was often an altar.

12. Skene The skene - SKAY-nay (literally, “tent") was the building
directly behind the stage in
which costumes were stored, and was usually
decorated as a palace or building, depending on the needs of the play. It had at least one set of doors, and actors could make entrances and exits through them. Origination of the word “scene.”

13. The Actors All of the actors were men. No girls allowed.
The actors played multiple roles, so a wooden, cork, or linen mask was used to show the change in character or mood.

14. The masks were worn for many reasons :
1. Visibility
2. Acoustic Assistance
3. Few Actors, Many Roles
4. Characterization

15. Modern-day replicas Hero-King Comedy (Servant or Herald )
Tragedy (Weeping Chorus)

16. Working in the Space
Because of the distance between actors and the audience, the actors used broad gestures and histrionic speech.
The actor made himself taller by wearing thick-soled shoes and a high head piece.
The masks assisted in projecting the actor’s voice through a type of inside megaphone.

18. Costumes Consisted of standard Greek attire
Chiton: a sleeveless tunic belted below the breast
Himation: draped around the right shoulder
Chlamys or short cloak: worn over the left shoulder

19. The deus-ex-machina DAY-uhs eks ma-kuh--nuh (god from the machine) was a crane-like device occasionally used for lowering in a god to assist the protagonist in neatly solving his problems.

20. The City Dionysia Festival
In the sixth century BC, the Athenian ruler, Pisistratus, established the 'City Dionysia,' a festival of entertainment held in honor of the god Dionysus.
This festival featured competitions in music, singing, dance, and poetry.
Playwrights presented a series of three tragedies (a trilogy).
Interspersed among the three plays in the trilogy were satyr plays.

21. The City Dionysia Festival
The entire city would be in attendance.
All other businesses not directly involved with the 6-day festival would shut down so that everyone could attend.
The government even offered financial assistance to those who could not afford to attend.

22. Myths played a key role in Greek drama

23. The Myths – Why they were written
Explained the unexplainable
Justified religious practices
Gave credibility to leaders
Gave hope
Polytheistic (more than one god)
Centered around the twelve Olympians (primary Greek gods)

24. Explained the Unexplainable
When Echo tried to get Narcissus to love her, she was denied.
Saddened, she shriveled to nothing, her existence melting into a rock.
Only her voice remained.
Hence, the echo!

25. To justify religious practices
Dionysian cults in ancient Greece were founded to worship Dionysus, god of grapes, vegetation, and wine. “All hail the party god!”

26. To give credibility to leaders
Used myths to create family trees for their leaders, enforcing the made-up idea that the emperors were related to the gods and were, then, demigods.

27. To give hope
The ancient citizens of Greece would sacrifice and pray to an ORACLE.
An oracle was a priest or priestess who would send a message to the gods from mortals who brought their requests.
What is the origin of hope?
After unleashing suffering, famine, disease, and many other evils, the last thing Pandora let out was HOPE.

28. Mount Olympus…
…Where the
Olympians
lived.
Who are the Olympians?

29. The Olympians Are the 12 Main Gods

30. The Olympians

31. Zeus
King of gods
Heaven
Storms
Thunder
lightning

32. Poseidon
Zeus’s brother
King of the sea
Earthquakes
Horses

33. Hades Brother to Zeus and Poseidon King of the Underworld (Tartarus)
Husband of Persphone

34. Athena
Ares
God of war
Goddess of wisdom
Practical arts
War

35. Apollo Hephaestus God of fire Craftspeople Metalworkers Artisans
God of the sun
Music
Poetry
Fine arts
Medicine

36. Hermes Messenger to the gods Trade Commerce Travelers
Thieves & scoundrels

37. Dionysus
God of Wine
Partying (Revelry)

38. Hera
Queen of gods
Women
Marriage
Childbirth

39. Demeter Hestia Goddess of Hearth Home Community Goddess of Harvest
Agriculture
Fertility
Fruitfulness
Mom to Persephone
Goddess of Hearth
Home
Community

40. Aphrodite Artemis Goddess of love and beauty
Goddess of hunting and the moon.

41. Types of Greek Drama
Comedy
Satyr
Tragedy
Comedy and tragedy were the most popular types of plays in ancient Greece. Hence, the modern popularity of the comedy and tragedy masks to symbolize theatre.

42. Word Origin
The word “comedy” comes from the Greek word “komos” which means “band of revelers.”

43. Comedies
Not admitted to Dionysus festival until very late into the Greece’s golden age B.C.
The first comedies were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness
The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes
Style: exaggerated, farcical, focus on sensual pleasures

44. Satyr Plays
These were short plays performed between the acts of tragedies. They made fun of the plight of the tragedy's characters.
The satyrs were mythical half-human, half-goat servants of Dionysus. 44

45. Word Origin Does the term Satyr remind you of any modern day term?
The Satyr and the Satyr plays spawned the modern word “satire.” 45

46. Tragedy
The word tragedy came to be derived from the Greek tragos (goat) and ode (poem). Tragedy literally means goat song or goat poem.

47. Why read Tragedy? Strength of character Perseverance Courage
Inspiration
The dignity of the human spirit

48. Aristotle’s “Poetics,” an essay about drama in which he discusses tragedy and the tragic hero

49. Traits of the central character of a tragedy – tragic hero
of the Elite Class / mighty figure
suffers a Downfall / reversal of fortune
Neither Wholly good
nor wholly evil
Downfall is the
result of a
Fatal Flaw
Endures uncommon
suffering
Recognizes the consequences of his actions

50. Traits of the a tragedy
Misfortunes involve characters who are related or who are friends
Tragic actions take place offstage
Central Character has a moment
of recognition – “Oh, now I get it!”
Audience experiences pity and fear
Pity and Fear leads to a catharsis
Frequently used messengers to
relate information
Stories based on myth or history, but varied interpretations of
events
Focus was on psychological and ethical attributes of characters,
rather than physical and sociological

51. Sophocles The Greatest of the Greek playwrights51

52. Sophocles ( bc)
His plays are more character-driven rather than choric
His works include: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Electra
Sophocles’ surviving plays (written after 440 B.C.) are deeply troubling
These plays depict characters caught up in unsolvable dilemmas that test their faith in divine and human justice

53. Oedipus the King

54. OEDIPUS REX one of the world’s greatest tragedies
Said by Aristotle to be the perfect tragedy
The audience was familiar with the myth of Oedipus, so there would be dramatic irony when watching the play

55. OEDIPUS REX - Background
Sophocles opens his play with a situation very familiar to the people of Athens:
a plague
with no
end in
sight!

56. Themes & symbols Sight vs. Blindness Fate vs. Free Will
Action vs. Reflection
The Quest for Identity or Self
The Nature of Innocence and Guilt
The Abuse of Power
Sins of the Father
Even the Mightiest Can Fall
Crossroads
Swollen foot

57. The Oedipus Myth
The myth of Oedipus — which also appears briefly in Homer — represents the story of a man's doomed attempt to outwit fate.
Sophocles‘s tragedy dramatizes Oedipus‘s painful discovery of his true identity, and the despairing violence the truth unleashes in him.
Warned by the oracle at Delphi that their son will kill his father, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes try to prevent this tragic destiny.

58. Delphi

59. The Oedipus Myth
Laius pierces his son's feet and gives him to a shepherd with instructions to leave the baby in the mountains to die.
But pitying the child, the shepherd gives him to a herdsman, who takes the baby far from Thebes to Corinth.
There, the herdsman presents the child to his own king and queen, who are childless.
Without knowing the baby's identity, the royal couple adopt the child and name him Oedipus ("swollen-foot").

60. The Oedipus Myth
Oedipus grows up as a prince of Corinth, but hears troubling stories that the king is not his real father.
When he travels to Delphi to consult the oracle, Oedipus learns the prophecy of his fate, that he will kill his father and marry his mother.

61. The Oedipus Myth
Horrified, he determines to avoid his terrible destiny by never returning home.
Near Thebes, Oedipus encounters an old man in a chariot with his attendants.
When the old man insults and strikes him in anger, Oedipus kills the man and his servants.

62. The Oedipus Myth
The old man, of course, is Oedipus‘s father, Laius, but Oedipus does not realize this.
Outside Thebes, Oedipus meets the monstrous Sphinx, who has been terrorizing the countryside.

63. The Oedipus Myth
The Sphinx challenges Oedipus with her riddle: "What goes on four feet at dawn, two at noon, and three at evening?" Oedipus responds with the right answer ("A man") and the monster destroyed herself.

64. The Oedipus Myth
The Theban people proclaim him a hero, and when they learn that Laius has been killed, apparently by a band of robbers, they accept Oedipus as their king.
Oedipus marries Jocasta, and they have four children. Thus, despite all his efforts to
prevent it,
Oedipus
fulfills
the dreadful
prophecy.

65. The Final Curtain
By the time of Sophocles’s death in 406 BC, the golden era of Greek drama was ending.
Athens was overrun in 404 BC by the Spartans and was later torn apart by constant warring with other city states, eventually falling under the dominion of Alexander the Great and his Macedonian armies.
Theatre went on but did not return to the same creative heights until Elizabethan England two millennia later.