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Greek Theatre
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Theatre | Place where performances are put on for an audience. Developed from religious ceremonies to entertainment purposes. |
| Chorus | A company of actors who comment (by speaking or singing in unison) on the action in a classical Greek play. Sing the dithyramb. They would sing and dance as well as recite lines. |
| Dialogue | Developed by Thespis. Chorus talked to the actors, rather than speaking/singing together. |
| Play | A performance wherein a plot comes to a climax and where characters are in conflict with themselves and others. |
| Mimic | To copy or imitate. Aristotle said that theatre is not the action but an imitation of the action. |
| Tragedy | From the Greek word tragos meaning “goat song." Developed from the dithyramb. Plot focuses on human suffering. |
| Comedy | From the Greek word komos meaning “revel” or “carousing.” A funny, humorous play developed from games. |
| Tragicomedy | A play that combines the elements of a tragedy and a comedy. It is, or can be, humorous. Usually a serious play with comic undertones. |
| Satyr Play | A type of tragicomedy. Preserves the structure and characters of tragedy while adopting a happy atmosphere and a rural background. Usually involved satyrs, which are Greek mythological creatures who are half man, half goat. |
| Dithyramb | A song like a hymn sung in unison by the chorus. Over time, went from being about religion to being about heroes, gods, and demi-gods. Usually dedicated to the god Dionysus. |
| Dionysus | Greek god of wine, fertility, sexual fun, and theatre. Roman name = Bacchus |
| Plot | The story or main idea of a play. Greeks already knew the stories of the plays they went to see. |
| Thespis | Creator of theatre as we know it. Separated actors from the chorus and created dialogue. The first “actor.” |
| Thespian | Greek word for actor. Comes from the name of Thespis, the first true actor. |
| Actor | A thespian. Person who portrays different characters on stage. In Ancient Greece, only men were allowed to be this type of performer. |
| Trilogy | 3 plays with the same theme. One story told in three parts. The Orestia by Aeschylus is the only existing example of a dramatic trilogy. |
| Orchestra | The area where the chorus danced |
| Skene | A small hut-like building behind the acting area. Served as the actors’ dressing rooms. |
| Machina | A crane-like device that would hoist actors playing gods into the air. The phrase deus ex machina, or “God is the machine,” is a plot device where the conflict was unexpectedly resolved when a god would suddenly appear from nowhere and save the day. |
| Tragedy | Involve conflicts that evolve from the clash between the will of the gods and the ambitions and desires of humanity. Shows how useless human efforts are in the face of fate. |
| 4th and 5th Centuries BC | The time period in which Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles wrote. |
| Aeschylus | This playwright expanded the number of actors and reduced the size of the chorus. |
| Aeschylus | This playwright is referred to as the father of tragedy and Greek drama. He was the first to develop drama into a form separate from singing, dancing, or storytelling. |
| Aeschylus | This playwright is known for the elevation and majesty of his language. |
| Aeschylus | This playwright wrote the only surviving Greek trilogy, The Orestia. It tells the story of the murder of Agamemnon, the revenge taken by his children, and the punishment and final acquittal of his son. |
| Aeschylus | This playwright wrote about the choices men make and the consequences that follow. |
| Aeschylus | Most famous plays are the plays of The Oresteia: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Euminides. |
| Aeschylus | Hilarious legend that he was killed when an eagle dropped a tortoise on him from a great height, thinking that his bald head was a stone that would crack the tortoise open. |
| Sophocles | Ranked with Shakespeare as one of the greatest playwrights of all time. |
| Sophocles | His plays often compared the power of the gods to the importance of humanity, believing that humans possess god-like qualities that make them want to change fate. |
| Sophocles | Characters in his plays were armed with the power to challenge the paths the gods set before them, which many believe was what made his characters some of the greatest to take the stage. |
| Sophocles | His play Oedipus the King is the story of a man who, through a combination of fate and his own character, unwittingly kills his own father and marries his mother. When he realizes the truth of his situation, he puts out his eyes in horror. |
| Sophocles | His most famous plays include Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Electra, and Antigone. |
| Euripides | It wasn’t until after his death that his plays truly earned public appreciation. He was the least popular playwright of his time, but was greatly appreciated by later generations. |
| Euripides | He was more interested in people's lives than in the religious views of his day. His plays emphasized human relationships and he was the master of pathos, human sorrow and compassion. |
| Euripides | This playwright is credited with creating tragicomedy. |
| Euripides | This playwright originated the use of the prologue to summarize the play for the audience before the action. |
| Euripides | His play Cyclops is the only complete Satyr-Play known to exist. |
| Euripides | His play Medea is about a woman who seeks revenge on her husband, Jason, to the extent of killing her own sons. |
| Euripides | Most famous plays include The Trojan Women, Medea, and Hippolytus. |
| Zeus | King of the Gods; God of Thunder; Roman name = Jupiter |
| Aphrodite | Goddess of Love and Beauty. Roman name = Venus |
| Apollo | God of the Sun, the Light, the Music and the Prophecy. Roman name = Apollo |
| Ares | God of War. Roman name = Mars |
| Artemis | Goddess of of the hunt, the moon, and chastity; the protector of pregnant women and the young. Roman name = Diana |
| Athena | Goddess of Wisdom. Roman name = Minerva |
| Demeter | Goddess of Agriculture. Roman name = Ceres |
| Hades | God of the Underworld. Roman name = Pluto |
| Hephaestus | God of Metallurgy and the Smith of the Olympian Gods. Roman name = Vulcan |
| Hera | Zeus's wife; Goddess of Marriage and Family; the protector of married women. Roman name = Juno |
| Hermes | God of the trade, the god of eloquence, and a luck-bringing messenger of the Gods. Roman name = Mercury |
| Hestia | Goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family. Roman name = Vesta |
| Poseidon | God of the seas, horses, and earthquakes. Roman name = Neptune |
| Chorodidaskalos | A choral trainer (called this) was employed for all festival productions, so this is how we know that the chorus was an integral part of each play. |
| 50 | When Aeschylus began writing, there were about ___ men in the chorus. |
| 12 | Aeschylus reduced the number of men in the chorus to _____, which would be more manageable. |
| 15 | Sophocles again raised the number of men in the chorus to ________, which is where the number remained for many years to come. |
| Half | In many plays by Aeschylus, more than _____ the lines were given to the chorus. |
| Reduced | Sophocles ___ the number of lines, and Euripides ____ the amount even more. |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Storytelling Device |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Provide link between the audience and the action on stage |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Provide expository or background information, bring the audience up-to-date and explain the situation. |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Comment on the action, emphasize the current emotional state |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Describe offstage action |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Interact with other characters |
| Functions of the Greek Chorus | Provide spectacle- they sang and danced and entertained |
| Common People | In tragedies- Often represented the __________ of the city-state ruled by the tragic hero or heroine; the audience members could identify with the feelings and ideas of these people |
| Modern Examples of the Greek Chorus | The Stage Manager in Our Town; The Mariachi Owls in Rango; Lizzie's animated self in Lizzie McGuire; The muses in Disney's Hercules; Future Ted in How I Met Your Mother; The "chorus" in musical theatre productions |
| Aristophanes | The most famous Greek comedy playwright |
| Lysistrata | A comedy by Aristophanes in which the women of Athens go on a sex strike in order to get the men to end the Peloponnesian War. |
| Aristophanes | This playwright wrote Lysistrata |
| Aristophanes | The only comic dramatist of Athens of whom we have complete plays |
| Aristophanes | Known as The Father of Comedy or The Prince of Ancient Comedy |
| Aristophanes | Plays are related to politics and social customs of his time; plays use social satire, buffoonery, personal criticism, and obscenity |
| Aristophanes | Wrote the plays “Knights,” “Wasps,” “Birds,” “Clouds,” “Frogs” – titles all taken from disguises of the chorus |
| Lysistrata | A theme of this play is "make love, not war." |
| Oedipus Rex | Characters in this play include Jocasta, Tiresias, and Creon. |
| Oedipus Rex | In this play by Sophocles, a man unknowingly fulfills a prophecy by killing his father and marrying his mother. |
| Medea | In this play by Euripides, a woman rages against her husband who is leaving her for another woman. |
| Oracle at Delphi | This famous place of prophecy is referenced in many Greek plays. |
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