2. Greek Theater and Tragedy Aristotle & Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

3. Greek Theater  How did Greek drama begin?  It grew from religious celebrations in honor of the god Dionysus.  Writers introduced plots involving characters of dramatic importance  Most Greek Tragedies are concerned with the conflicts between men and the gods.  What are some of the conventions of Greek Drama?  Actors wore large, carved masks, no female performers

4. Ruins at Epidarus Orchestra / altar to Dionysus Parados proskenion skene Theatron

5. Ruins at Epidarus: Diagram (text, pg. 939)

6. What was the purpose of these plays?  Tragedy was performed in Athens at the 3 annual festivals of Dionysus.  Greek Drama grew from religious celebrations and never lost its religious significance.  Attendance at these performances was a civic and religious obligation as well as a source of entertainment.  The religious function of drama was to enable its viewers to experience a CATHARSIS: feelings of pity and terror (or fear); purgation of emotions.

7. What are the terms commonly associated with Greek Tragedy?  Hamartia = “tragic flaw” (moral or intellectual)which is instrumental in bringing about the character’s downfall.  Hubris = insolence of man who has been especially fortunate; sinful pride; the tragic flaw.  Nemesis = just punishment for wrongdoing.  Catharsis = feelings of pity and fear; audience reaction to the tragedy.  Tragic Irony = statement or situation that means to the something to the character in contrast to what is discovered to be true.  Deus Ex Machina = (literally, the god in the machine) technical device in Gr. Theater consists of a god suspended from a metal crane; used for unraveling in a miraculous way the unsolved problems of the tragedy.  Can you think of TV shows or movies that use this device today?

8. What are Aristotle’s requirements for Tragedy?  Tragedy must have serious action  It is dramatic  It should be long enough to show a character passing gradually from happiness to misery.  It should represent one complete action with the incidents so closely integrated that nothing can be deleted without destroying the unity of the whole.  The protagonist should be virtuous, come from a high estate and fall due to an error/flaw in his character (moral weakness which is marked by reversals (peripety) and discoveries (change from ignorance to knowledge)

9. Plots of Tragedy  Plots are either simple or complex.  The action, as 1 continuous whole is simple when the change in the hero’s fortunes takes place with out peripety or discovery.  The action is complex when it involves one or the other or both.  PERIPETY: the change from 1 state of things within the play to its opposite.  DISCOVERY: a change from ignorance to knowledge and thus to either love or hate, in the personages marked for either good or evil fortune.

10. Tragic Hero/Heroic Qualities  The protagonist should merit our interest  The tragic hero should not be perfect, yet he must be capable of understanding his circumstances.  In the face of an inescapable fate, the tragic hero must react with dignity.  The tragic hero must defend a noble cause  The world of the tragic play is turbulent.  A belief in his own freedom  A supreme pride  Capacity for suffering  A sense of commitment  Vigorous protest  Transfiguration  Impact

11. The Tragic Hero  According to Aristotle:  An essentially good person who, through some weakness of character or error in judgment brings doom upon himself

12. Requirements for a Tragic Hero  Tragic events happen to a person of great magnitude (come from a high estate).  Must discover the truth of his wrong choice and accept responsibility for his own actions  His error or flaw is marked by reversals and discoveries

13. Tragic Hero Continued  Choice that brought about failure must have been made to bring about results opposite to what really happens  Must be a more admirable man in defeat than he was before; must gain stature through the way he meets catastrophe  Moves the audience to pity

14. Oedipus  Meets Aristotle’s definition of the perfect Greek tragedy.  The chorus set the atmosphere of the play with their songs which comment upon the action of the play  The divisions of the play: prologue, parodos, first scene, first stasimon, second scene, second stasimon, third scene, third stasimon, fourth scene, fourth stasimon. Fifth scene, kommos.

15. Sophocles: Oedipus Rex  Oedipus Rex is a discussion of the conflict between faith and doubt. Oedipus represents any of us who wrestle with our own problems of faith and doubt; he represents all our hopes and our fears.  Sophocles wanted Oedipus to teach that man’s confidence in his own ability is an illusion if he abandons the idea of a higher power.  This play seeks truth about the cosmos. Every detail of Oedipus Rex is contrived so as to reinforce the conception of order disturbed and order restored.  Knowledge comes through suffering.  It was not going to happen because it was foretold. It was foretold because it was going to happen. Character is Fate.  The chorus set the atmosphere of the play with their songs which comment upon the action of the play  The divisions of the play: prologue, parodos, first scene, first stasimon, second scene, second stasimon, third scene, third stasimon, fourth scene, fourth stasimon. Fifth scene, kommos.

16. Characters  Oedipus  Jocasta  Creon  Chorus  Herdsman  Teiresias  Priest of Zeus  Messenger  2 nd Messenger  Mute Persons Thebes Corinth Lais & JocastaPolybus & Merope The Cast in Oedipus Rex Characters of the Exposition