1. GREEK THEATRE

2. The first tragic dramas
Originally the theatre was a holy place, the setting for the cult of Dionysus- the Greek god of wine, fertility and revelry.

3. Religious rituals evolve into Greek theatre
Major celebrations, in honour of the Greek god Dionysus.
One of the elements of these celebrations was the dithyramb, a choral ode song to the gods by a chorus of fifty men.
Aristotle tell us that Greek tragedy grew out of the dithyramb.
Held at festivals in Athens

4. Theatres

5. Theatres

6. Theatres
500 BC
Outside- hillsides.
Acoustics
Sunlight

7. Epidaurus

8. Plots
The earliest Greek dramas, especially those by Aeschylus ( BC), drew their plots and characters from Greek myths.
Greek mythology is the legends and stories behind the Greek gods.

9. THESPSIS of Icaria First Actor First Playwright Chorus + 1 actor.
Thespsis won the first Greek tragedy contest in 534 BC.

10. Aeschylus (525-456 BC). Won 13Tragic Contests.
Wrote 80 plays - 7 survived…including the only complete trilogy: Oresteia (458 BC). He added the second actor, creating the possibility of dramatic dialogue.

11. Aeschylus

12. Aeschylus

13. Conventions
Men only
Masked
Stilts
Actor Audience
Chorus
Actors

14. Chorus

15. Chorus acted as a ‘character’ in the play, usually the townspeople.
sympathetic to the protagonist.
presented the writer's point of view.
the ideal spectator, their reaction to a scene would cue the audience on how they should react.
broke the drama into five dramatic scenes, each scene was separated from the next by a choral interlude.

16. Sophocles( BC)

17. Sophocles Sophocles won eighteen Tragic Contests.
Wrote 120 plays- only 7 have survived.
Tragedies
Added 3rd Actor

18. Sophocles

19. Euripedes
Tragedies

20. Euripedes

21. Euripedes

22. Comedy/Tragedy

23. Aristophanes
Comedies

24. Aristophanes

25. Aristophanes

26. Aristotle (384 -322 BC. ) Philosopher & critic.
He wrote about 100 years after Sophocles major tragedies were produced.

27. Aristotle’s Poetics Dramatic Theory Content One Plot One Story
One Time
Language, rhythm and melody
Tragedy : characters who are serious, important, and virtuous – Climatic structure.
Comedy: characters who are less virtuous, unimportant, undignified, laughable. Episodic structure.

28. Greek Theatre Is regularly performed today, and not only in Greece.
Still relevant to contemporary society.