Page 248-249
Greek Theatre
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 Reasons for the theatre:
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Entertainment
Show religion
Advance and show loyalty to politics
Honor local heroes
Major social event
Competition
Discussion of philosophical issues
Origins of Greek Drama
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 One of the oldest forms of theatre
 Came from religion and myths
 Gained popularity in 6th century BC
 Performance Origins:
 Dionysus: God of wine; people danced and sang to
Dionysus at festivals
 Thespis: Lyric Poet; introduced us to a single actor
 *Today actors are called thespians!
 Aeschylus: Added a second actor
 Sophocles: Adding a third
Greek Theatre Vocabulary
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 Chorus: A group of actors that voiced attitudes of
the community
 Thespians: Actors
 Drama: Greek word for “doing”
In what ways are Greek dramas different from Homer’s
epics?
At the Theater
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 Athens
 15,000 people
 The actors had to exaggerate their movements or they
couldn’t be seen by the whole audience
 Only men performed
 Masks were worn
 Made of
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Linen
Wood
Wool
Plaster
At the Theater
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 Actors wore robes which seemed to evolve into
costumes
 Chorus members dressed in the roles they were
playing
 Examples: soldiers, priests, animals, etc.
 Open-air: Used natural light and heat
 Few props
 Only used as symbols to identify roles
 Example: A soldier would carry a sword and shield
At the Theater
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 A messenger would usually deliver bad news in
detail
 For Example: Violence occurred off stage
 Murder
 Suicide
 Battles
Greek Festival
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 Festival of Dionysus
 In Athens
 Drama competition
 Four greatest Greek dramatists
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Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Aristophanes
Topics of Plays
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 Comedies
 Made fun of society, politics, gods
 Tragedies
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Fall of a great man or woman
The Tragic hero is neither very good or very bad
The hero’s downfall is brought on my a flaw within their character
The tragic flaw encourages people to look at their own lives to define
their beliefs
 Familiar Themes
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Myths
History
Politicians
Humankind’s struggle to find meaning and self-understanding
Sophocles: Page 250
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 5th century BC during the Golden Age of Greece
 Political and cultural achievement
 Born into a wealthy family
 Handsome
 Athletic
 Skilled in music
 Studied tragedy, music composition, and
choreography
Sophocles: Writing
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 Wrote 120 plays
 24 won first prize at the festival
 Only 7 survived intact
 Oedipus the King is the one of the best!
 Innovation:
 Introduced a third actor to the stage
 Invented scenery
 Invented special effects
 Example: Lowing an actor from the sky
Oedipus Preview
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 Is it always better to know the truth?
 Would you rather have someone lie to you if it will
save your feelings?
 Give examples.
Oedipus Preview
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 According to Legend . . .
 Oedipus arrived at Thebes
 A sphinx (wings, lion’s body, woman’s head) was
killing people
 In order to save them, someone had to answer this
riddle:
 What walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon,
and three in the evening?
 Your Answer ____________________________________
Oedipus Preview
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 Oedipus answered correctly: Man
 Man crawls as a baby, walks on two legs as a man,
and uses a stick in old age
 When the sphinx heard this, she killed herself
 Oedipus became king
 Oedipus married the widowed queen Jocasta
Vocabulary
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 Chorus: Danced and chanted between scenes,
commented on action; express social and religious
views
 Dignity: The quality of being worthy of honor
 Vengeance: Revenge; The return of a harmful deed
for a harmful deed
 Denounce: To inform against, accuse publicly
 Dire: Terrible; bad enough to arouse dread
Lit Terms
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 Denotation: Dictionary meaning
 Connotation: Emotional meaning it evokes