Ancient Greek Theatre

(6th – 5th centuries B.C.)

Dithyrambs and Dionysus

dithyrambs= songs sung by a chorus

celebrated Dionysus (the god of wine and fertility)

dithyrambs evolved into plays

The Theatre

ofDionysus

the first plays were performed in the Theatre of Dionysus

Athens, 6th century B.C. competitive festivals that lasted for days

performed out-of-doors (daylight)

stone seats built into a hillside

often seated as many as 20,000 spectators

a special first row was reserved for “important people”

Big Community Event!!!

businesses shut down during the festivals

everyone was expected to attend gov’t paid for people who could not

afford to go

Greek Theatre: Main Components

Theatron: (“seeing place”) where the audience sits… theatre

Orchestra: (“dancing place”) circular area in which the Chorus moves; often an altar in the middle of it

Skene: “scene,” or backdrop building; stage for actors in front of it

Other Theatre Components

Parados: passageways

Periaktoi: three-sided, revolving scenes

Actors “hypokrites” all men played multiple roles wore masks elaborate gestures “over-acting” with

voice

Masks and Costumes

Masks were linen, wood, or cork showed change in character or mood had tube in mouthpiece to amplify sound

Actors wore fake chest and belly when playing a woman platform shoes and headpieces standard Greek attire for costumes

The Chorus

12 -15 men (reduced from the original 50) sang, chanted, danced provided exposition and commentary;

served as a bridge between the actors and the audience

provided sense of ritual

The Chorus, cont. chosen from the general population unpaid volunteers doing their civic

duty trained and costumed by a choregos

choregos = a wealthy citizen; chose this job as his way of paying taxes and raising his standing in the community (almost like a producer)

Special Effects

Ekkyklema: rolling cart used for bodies (ALL VIOLENCE HAPPENED OFF-STAGE!!!!!)

Mechane: crane used to “fly in” gods

“Deus ex Machina” “god from the machine” a cheap trick writers use a person or thing appears "out of the

blue" to help a character to overcome a seemingly insolvable difficulty

Now let’s talk about the plays and the

playwrights…

(Yes, let’s!)

In a festival, playwrights entered three tragedies and one satyr play.

satyr play = comic relief (mythology, physical humor, sex, drinking, etc.)

Comedy began years later.

Tragedy

“goat song” involves a tragic hero

a major character important person has flaw/makes mistake suffers downfall causes downfall of others

provides catharsis

catharsis = emotional purging or cleansing

The audience liked to see the suffering of someone else! It helped them purge their

emotions!

Thespis

supposedly the first playwright and actor

took on a role outside the chorus

“thespian” = modern word for actor

Aeschylus (tragedy)

playwright who added the second actor

“father of tragedy”

the Oresteia trilogy

killed by turtle?

Sophocles (tragedy)

playwright who added third actor won most awards Oedipus Rex; Antigone more-developed characters

Euripides (tragedy)

Medea; Trojan Women

not popular with audiences or other playwrights

strong female characters

focused on inner lives and motivation of characters

Aristophanes (comedy)

“father of comedy”

wrote satire (made fun of politics, society, theatre, etc.)

The Frogs; The Birds; Lysistrata

The End.