Greek Theatre History

The Birth of Drama

Prologue: Origins of Drama

• Between 600-200 B.C. ancient Athenians created an outstanding theatre culture that has lasted 2 millennia and still influences plays today.

Prologue: Origins of Drama• Only two other periods in

theatre history have equaled that in ancient Athens:– Elizabethan England-

Shakespeare– 20th Century – 1,000’s of

plays and films

Cult of Dionysus• Dates back to at least 1200 B.C.• In Thrace (Northern

Greece) a cult worshipped Dionysus-– God of human &

agricultural fertility

Cult of Dionysus• Ritual celebrations

– Intoxications, orgies, human/animal sacrifice, hysterical rampages by women called maenads

• Most controversial practice-– Uninhibited dancing and emotional displays that created

altered mental states – ecstasis (ecstasy)– Important release of powerful emotions

• Cult spread through the tribes of Greece for 6 centuries– Rites of Dionysus became more mainstream and civilized

Cult of Dionysus

• Dithyramb– Key part of the Rite of Dionysus– It was a ode to Dionysus performed

by a chorus of 50 men dressed as satyrs

• Servants of Dionysus – Played drums, lyres, & flutes– Chanted & danced around an effigy

(likeness) of Dionysus– Wore phallus-like headgear– Began as a religious ceremony and

over time, evolved into stories, drama, and play form.

The Main Act: Golden Age of Greek Theater• By 600 B.C. Greece was

divided into city-states, separate nations, centered around major cities or regions.– Most prominent was Athens– In Athens, Rites of Dionysus

evolved into what we know today at theatre

Golden Age of Greek Theatre

• Thespis (of Attica): – Added an actor who

interacted with the chorus • Called him the protagonist –

main character of a drama• Thespian: “actor” – derived

from Thespis

Athenian Drama Competitions

• 534 B.C.- Ruler of Athens changed the Dionysian Festivals & added drama competitions– Thespis won the 1st

competition– Competition become popular

annual event

Athenian Drama Competitions

• Archon- Gov. authority would choose competitors

• Choregos- Wealthy patrons who financed the productions– In return for funding, the

choregos would not pay any taxes for that year

Amphitheaters• Major theaters were in Delphi, Attica, & Athens

-(Theater of Dionysus)• Built at foot of the Acropolis

– Hill where Parthenon (temple to Athena) is built – Could seat 17,000 people

Built at foot of the Acropolis – Hill where

Parthenon (temple to Athena) is built

– Could seat 17,000 people

Greek Theater Diagram

Parts of Theater of Dionysus

• Thymele: altar dedicated to Dionysus placed in the middle

• Theatron: “seeing place”– Origins of the word “theater”– Slope without any seating

• Orchestra: “dancing place”– Platform between the raised stage & the audience

on which the chorus was situated

Parts of Theater of Dionysus Continued…

• Skene “hut” or “tent”– On the side of the orchestra

opposite the audience– Place where actors could retire &

change clothes– Eventually was decorated for

backdrops for scenes

– Place where actors could retire & change clothes

– Eventually was decorated for backdrops for scenes

Parts of Theater of Dionysus Continued…

• Deus ex Machina– “God from machine”– Common occurrence in Greek

drama was the appearance of a god

• Actor would descend from air about the stage to the surface of the stage on a crane-like device called a machina (machine)

• Overuse of gods to resolve difficult dramatic situations led to a contrived (too perfect) ending

How Plays Were Performed

• Annual competitions took most of the day & were spread out over several days

• Performed in the daytime

Used little or no scenery • Most action took place

on the orchestra – Later action shifts to the

stage

Greek Actors

• Wore little or no makeup– Wore masks that exaggerated

facial expressions• Made of lightweight materials such

as bark, cork, leather, and linen• Had megaphone structure in the

mouth opening of the mask to project the actor’s voice

• Masks allowed actors to play many parts and change costumes/characters easily

• Masks were also called personas

Greek Actors Continued…• Actor wore a long, flowing

robe, dyed in symbolic colors- chiton

• Wore high platform boots called cothurni

Greek Chorus

• Composed of 15 men• Had to sing and dance• Had five major purposes

Purposes of the Greek Chorus• 1. Acted as a group character

who expressed opinions, gave advice, & threatened to interfere with the action of the play

• 2. Expressed the author’s point of view & established a standard against which all action s would be judged

• 3. Acted as the ideal spectator – reacting the way the author wanted the audience to react

Purposes of the Greek Chorus Continued…

• 4. Established mood & heightened dramatic effect

• 5. Added color, movement, & spectacle

Tragedy• Between 600-500 B.C., the

dithyramb evolved into 2 forms – Tragedy and comedy

• Tragedy- “tragos” (goat song)– Story intended to teach a

religious lesson – Weren’t just plays with bad

endings

Tragedy Continued…

• Depicted life voyages of people who steered themselves on collision courses with society, life’s rules, or fate– Tragic protagonist who refuse

to give in to fate (because of weakness or strength)

• Hubris: Protagonist’s main fault – arrogance

– Ex. Oedipus Rex

Tragic Form

• Aeschylus: the first playwright– 1. Turned the dithyramb into

drama– 2. Added a second actor

(antagonist) to interact with the 1st

– 3. Introduced props and scenery– 4. His masterpiece-Oresteia –

legend of Agamemnon, Greek war hero, who murdered his wife, Clytemnestra, and the pursuit of justice by his kids

Tragic Form

1. Prologue (prologos)-described the situation & set the scene

2. Parados-Ode sung by chorus as it made its entrance on the paradoi

3. Five dramatic scenes/episodes-Action performed by the characters

4. Each followed by a stasimon/ode- exchange of laments between chorus & protagonist -strophe and antistrophe (odes)

4. Exodus- chorus sings final lines while it exits the stage (climax & conclusion)

Tragic Form Continued…• Often presented in

trilogies with satyr plays between each – Men dressed as satyrs

making fun of their surroundings (birth of satire)

Aristotle Said…• Tragedy’s main purpose

was to arouse the audience in fear & emotion, & by doing so, purge the audience of those feelings– Catharsis

Periclean Age

• Aeschylus’ death marked a period in which the arts and democracy flourished– 456 B.C.

Sophocles

• Sophocles defeated Aeschylus at City Dionysia (theatre festival)

468 B.C.• Added a third actor to the

tragedy• Emphasized the drama between

humans rather than gods and humans

• Used irony in his plays• Oedipus trilogy

Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles

• Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex)• Oedipus at Colonnus• Antigone

* All are about the folly of arrogance & the wisdom of accepting fate

Euripides• 480-406 B.C.• His point of view resembled the

attitude of people today• Not about gods or royalty but REAL

people– Gave feelings of peasants & princes

equal weight• Portrays society’s forgotten: women,

slaves, aged

• Added the prologue – set the stage for the play & deus ex machina

• Trojan Women- anti-war masterpiece

Comedy

• Cast molds for many Roman, Elizabethan, and modern comedies

Old Comedy (Satires) -Aristophanes

• Made the opening chorus into the playwright’s address to the audience

• Humorous opinion piece that made fun of the gods

• “Sacred cows” were attacked (warriors, youth, intellectuals)

New Comedy Menander -• Aimed more toward common

people & less concerned with religious origins

• Mistaken identity, ironic situations, ordinary characters, & wit

• Less use of orchestra & more use of upper staging

• Menander’s characters were ordinary people- much like later comedy– Classic archetypes – grouchy old

man (The Grouch)

The Final Curtain• 406 B.C. (Sophocles’

death) golden era of Greek drama was waning– Overrun by Spartans,

constant warring with other city-states, and dominated by Alexander the Great

*Would not return to the same creative heights for 2 centuries- Elizabethan England