2. Greek Authors Who are they? Try to guess!

3. Important to remember… Historians base our knowledge of Greek tragedy on 31 plays by 3 authors when there were over 1000 plays written by numerous authors

4. Aeschylus

5. 525-456 B.C. Founder of Greek drama and therefore, founder of all western drama Plays dealt with noble families and lofty themes Master of tetralogy Added 2 nd actor Reduced size of chorus Won first prize often-13 times while alive-plays produced after death Author of Agamemnon and The Oresteia-only surviving trilogy Famous soldier Wrote 90 plays Only 7 still exist today

6. Sophocles

7. 496-406 B.C. Author of Antigone and Oedipus Wrote over 120 plays, but we only have 7 in their entirety Died 90 yrs old Won 1 st place 18 times, never finished lower than 2 nd Civic leader, ambassador and Priest Superb plot construction Innovations in scenic painting Chorus from 12 to 15 Increased number of actors to 3

8. Euripides

9. 480-406 B.C. More modern due to sympathetic portrayal of women, greater realism, mixture of genres, skeptical of Gods Gods fallible and human-Euripides criticized Reclusive 92 plays written Only 5 awards received Wrote Medea 18 plays still exist today

10. Aristophanes

11. 448-380 B.C. Best known playwright of Golden Age Comedies reflect social and political climate in end of 5 century B.C. Middle class Bawdy with an open attitude towards sex 40 plays written 11 survive Wrote Lysistrata

12. Ancient play Critic!

13. Aristotle

14. 384-322 B.C. Studied with Plato Tutor to Alexander the Great Opened own school 335 B.C. in Athens 170 works covering logic, metaphysics, psychology, physics, theology, ethics, politics, biology, and literary theory. Detailed Observation leading to description and then theory-basis of scientific method Wrote The Poetics

15. The Poetics by Aristotle Studied through the Renaissance and by theatre scholars today! Analysis of drama

16. The Poetics-Basic Ideas 1. Plot-story-the arrangement of dramatic incidents 2. Character- people represented in the play 3. Thought-Theme-ideas explored 4. Language- dialogue and poetry 5. Music 6. Spectacle-scenery and visual elements

17. The Poetics-Definitions Katharsis-purge their feelings of pity fear and sorrow, cleanse restoring the soul to harmony Hamartia-character flaw Hubris-flaw of excessive pride Satyr-parodies of tragedies performed by satyrs- half-goat, half-man chorus, comic and vulgar, poked fun at Greek institutions (religions and heros)

18. Greek Playwrights ! Who are they? Aeschylus Aristophanes Sophocles Euripides

19. Greek Critic! Who was he? Aristotle